Rust under Kraton handle. Advice?

[timichango]

If you want to just neutralize the rust, and not mess about, just get a can of rust converter and use a straw to spray some of it under handle rubber —*it'll convert any of the extant rust from iron oxide to iron tannate (ie. red rust to black rust), which should neutralize any active rust and form a protective barrier. Squirt squirt, no worries. Better than WD40, as it's not a lube or solvent, so won't eat-up or make-slip your kraton.

You could also dunk the thing in soda water for a while first — the sodium bicarb in the soda water should neutralize any acid residue from the vinegar that's left over under the handle.

 

[slight]

I think all you would really need to re-handle your knife (ideally) is 1 block of material, a drill (hand, press, or brace and bit,) 1 drill bit, small round file, epoxy, solvent, sandpaper, face mask, and a bench vice. Of course, I have only put handles on some Green River blanks so there could be something I am overlooking.

Shaping the handle will be the most tedious part. A belt sander or dremel would really help. I used a hack saw, wood rasp, and file for roughing my handles out and it isn't bad once you get in the zone.

If you have most of the tools, I would think that you could do it fairly cheaply. Probably take up an afternoon after you gather everything.

If it doesn't sound like fun, I would send it off to someone personally. They should already have everything but maybe the material and a smaller knife maker/modder probably won't charge too much for labor.

Though make sure to weigh the cost of a new knife against the cost of the re-handle; it might not be worth it to you.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

If you want to just neutralize the rust, and not mess about, just get a can of rust converter and use a straw to spray some of it under handle rubber —*it'll convert any of the extant rust from iron oxide to iron tannate (ie. red rust to black rust), which should neutralize any active rust and form a protective barrier. Squirt squirt, no worries. Better than WD40, as it's not a lube or solvent, so won't eat-up or make-slip your kraton.

You could also dunk the thing in soda water for a while first — the sodium bicarb in the soda water should neutralize any acid residue from the vinegar that's left over under the handle.

Never heard of such a thing. I'll look into it.

Thx.

 

[killgar]

Just had a thought.

Ive already looked around all over for handle tutorials in the past, and didn't find exactly what I want, but I learned the gist. I've made basic inquiries here, and in the Knifemakers subforum. And did the YouTube/Google thing.

Since we are here tho, I'll ask everyone's thoughts.

I envision a one piece black micarta or G10 handle shaped like the existing Kraton one, including the small guard, but slightly more oval in cross section and thinner. Kinda like the Survive! GSO handles.

I MIGHT consider wood if I could get the color and durability of those synthetics. It would definitely make the process easier.

Either way, I'm not sure whether to use one solid piece, and drill for the tang, or to sandwich multiple slabs together. Both are beyond my skill and experience. Plus, by the time I purchase materials, plus the proper tools to do it, I wonder if the cost would equal what a professional would charge, anyway.

Any advice on which method might be best for a guy with limited tools?

Tutorials?

Service providers?

I'll keep doing my own research as well, but anything new I could learn would be most beneficial.

Much obliged.

Here's how I would do it.

First, the type of method I would use for making the handle would depend a lot of the type of tang.

If the knife had a rat-tail tang, I would secure a block of material under a drill press, and using a drill bit slightly smaller than the thickness of the tang I would drill straight down through the block. Depending on the width of the tang, I might drill two holes side by side. If I drilled one hole, I would use a narrow file to custom fit the hole to the tang. If the edges of the tang were squared I'd use a square file, if the edges were round I'd use a round file. My desire would be to get the closest fit possible.

If I had drilled two holes, I would run the blade of a hand coping saw down one of the holes, then cut through to the other hole, doing this twice to cut out a slot for the tang, then finish the slot with files.

The reason I would use a drill bit slightly smaller than the thickness of the tang is because during filing and/or sawing of the hole the thickness of the hole can become enlarged. The idea being, in pursuit of the closest possible fit, it's always possible to remove excess material with a file as needed, but you can't put material back on.

For shaping the handle, hand files, rotary tools with sanding drums, and a belt sander could all be used, sanding drums can also be used in a drill press if it's fast and powerful enough. Shaping could be done entirely with files, but it would take awhile. Of course that's the way they did it back before power tools.

How I would attach a block handle would also depend on the tang. Does it have a threaded end, does it have a hole already in it somewhere, or will I have to drill a hole. If it's a hole, then a pin, screw assembly, or other fastener could be used (inserted through the handle and tang holes). Epoxy could also be used, but as I said earlier in this thread, I like being able to remove handles. If the hole is a little loose on the tang, epoxy would be needed (fill the hole with epoxy, push the tang into the hole).

If the knife has a wider tang, but not a full-tang, then I would use a double slab inlay method (two matching pieces of flat material with a hollowed out space). I don't have a mill, or access to one, so I would use a drill press. This is how I hollow out space in the micarta handles of some of my switchblades for the release mechanism.

For this method, I would trace the tang onto one side of each slab (using a silver sharpie on dark material), then using a drill press with the depth setting carefully adjusted to about 1/16" less than half the thickness of the tang, I would use a 1/4" drill bit to drill out as much material as I could inside the traced area.

Then I would finish milling out the area by installing a dremel grinding attachment (chainsaw sharpening stone #454) in the chuck of my drill press, putting the press on the fastest speed, and after adjusting the depth setting to the exact half thickness of the tang I would grind out the traced area. This involves moving the slab of material around on the drill press platform with one hand while lowering the chuck with the other hand. It's a slow process, as the bit only removes a thin layer at a time, and it takes a careful hand around the edges of the traced area, but using this method it's possible to achieve a uniformly flat cutout in the slab to match the tang, both in shape and thickness. It's possible to achieve a high degree of precision using this method, but that depends on the skill of the person.

Depending on the power of ones drill press it's possible to use a larger dremel grinding bit (grinding stone #932), the key factor being that the top of the bit needs to be flat to produce a flat bottomed cutout.

Again, shaping of the handle slabs can be done with hand files, or power tools.

To attach the scales I would want a removable method. If there is only one hole in the end of the tang I would use a carbide drill bit and drill a few more small diameter holes so that I could attach the handles using screw assemblies. But this isn't necessary to attach the handle slabs, one pin, grommet, or screw through the tang hole, and epoxy, can secure the handle scales forever.

That's how I would do it.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

Pics I found of the Master Hunter show it to have narrow, full tang. The methods above were pretty much what I was thinking.

Unfortunately, my biggest limitation is the lack of access to a drill press. That is the main reason I'm so hesitant to dive right in and do it myself. Too much possibility of screwing something up.

Thank you, Killgar.

 

[Puerco]

Without tools like a router or drill press you can do it like this: take a strip of wood that's exactly the thickness of the tang or sand it till it is so. Now trace the tang on this strip and using a saw and files remove the middle portion so that the tang fits in there tightly. Now glue the wood for the scales to the sides of this strip, you can either glue the whole tang in or just glue the wood together so you can slide the tang in like the original kraton handle. Now secure the whole thing at the hole at the end of the tang, maybe glue a (brass or other material) tube in there so you can use it as a lanyard hole.
Now you can shape the handle with files and or sandpaper and finish it.
You can use a contrasting color for the strip and the sides if you like.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

Thanks.

That was the method I had in mind when I mentioned layering.

Can't wait to do this. When it finally happens, I'll post pics.

Don't hold the breath, tho. It'll be awhile lol.