Shaping removable scales on a fixed blade? FOLLOW UP!

So to be clear, you are going to temp. Attach the scales and sand finish everything. Then cerakote the knife and bolsters. Once that's complete you will attach the scales and its complete?

I would use super glue. Rubber mallet and Pop them off then acetone and scrub the residue off the tang and the scales.
 
Ok, here's a little follow-up on this project. I pretty much tried everything you guys suggested. I already had the blade hardened when I started this thread so drilling specific holes for alignment pins was not going to happen. However, I was able to use my drill guides as pins. The guides are just 1/4"x1/4" aluminum standoffs that I drilled out to #27 on the lathe so I could accurately align the screw holes in the scales. When I do final assembly of the knife, I will use 6-32 stainless standoffs of the same size. To fit the scales with the standoffs a shallow counterbore is required and this became my pin locating system for temporary assembly. I quickly found the CA glue does not stick to African Blackwood very well. I think the oily nature of the wood causes some bonding problems. I was able to attach one scale by putting it in place and filling the holes in the tang with hot glue. This did not work for the second scale; the glue hardened too fast and kept the scale from seating. The hot glue was easy enough to peel off the back of the scale during several failed attempts. I finally ended up wiping the back of the scale down with acetone and using what seemed like way too much CA but, it worked.

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Once the scales were securely mounted, they never came loose. I did a lot of shaping on the grinder, then with files and finally sanding with a block and polishing on the buffer. They stayed firmly affixed. When I was ready to remove them, I first tried just pulling them off by hand. That wasn't happening. I pulled out a very small flat tip screwdriver and pried the CA side up starting in the lanyard hole at the butt. It slowly popped loose. I then used the same screwdriver to dig all the hot glue out of the holes and then pried the other scale off.

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Next time, I will stick with the CA and I will know to wipe down the surface if I can't get good adhesion. Thanks to everyone for their help.

Bob
 
Awesome! Glad to see/hear that it all worked out. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
 
RangerBobTX said:
Ok, here's a little follow-up on this project. I pretty much tried everything you guys suggested. I already had the blade hardened when I started this thread so drilling specific holes for alignment pins was not going to happen. However, I was able to use my drill guides as pins. The guides are just 1/4"x1/4" aluminum standoffs that I drilled out to #27 on the lathe so I could accurately align the screw holes in the scales. When I do final assembly of the knife, I will use 6-32 stainless standoffs of the same size. To fit the scales with the standoffs a shallow counterbore is required and this became my pin locating system for temporary assembly. I quickly found the CA glue does not stick to African Blackwood very well. I think the oily nature of the wood causes some bonding problems. I was able to attach one scale by putting it in place and filling the holes in the tang with hot glue. This did not work for the second scale; the glue hardened too fast and kept the scale from seating. The hot glue was easy enough to peel off the back of the scale during several failed attempts. I finally ended up wiping the back of the scale down with acetone and using what seemed like way too much CA but, it worked.

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Once the scales were securely mounted, they never came loose. I did a lot of shaping on the grinder, then with files and finally sanding with a block and polishing on the buffer. They stayed firmly affixed. When I was ready to remove them, I first tried just pulling them off by hand. That wasn't happening. I pulled out a very small flat tip screwdriver and pried the CA side up starting in the lanyard hole at the butt. It slowly popped loose. I then used the same screwdriver to dig all the hot glue out of the holes and then pried the other scale off.

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Next time, I will stick with the CA and I will know to wipe down the surface if I can't get good adhesion. Thanks to everyone for their help.

Bob
Click to expand...

Lookin good! 👍 glad that CA glue worked out for Ya. I wish I would have remembered to tell you to acetone everything because CA doesn't like oil very much. I've had experiences with it not liking oily woods much. good job and keep at it!
-joe
 
Ok, this knife is back from the coaters and the sheath makers and I have finished it up. The technique of holding with pins was very useful and I am currently doing another knife in a similar manner that held together just fine with two 1/4" through pins and no adhesive whatsoever. Thanks for all the tips guys. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

Bob

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr

Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
 
Awesome knife and awesome sheath, I love the contrast between the different shades and textures of black. Did you have any issues with gaps at the mating surface between the African Blackwood and the cerakoted tang?
 
Thanks everyone. I think it looks a lot better in person. I'm going to try to get some decent photos before I ship it out.

Bob
 
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