shaping scales?

J

Jason Fry

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Jun 5, 2008
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How do you shape a set of wood scales? I have been pinning them together while I shape them, but I'm doing a small neck knife that I'm not going to pin. Can I superglue wood scales together and get them separated? Any secret ways I don't know about to stick them together for shaping before gluing to the blade?
 
There are many more knowldedgeable makers here that are more eloquent than I am but here is what I do.

Really the only part of the scales you need to shape prior to glueing up are the front edges (near the ricasso). If you aren't using exposed pins you can just use some hidden pins of just clamp the two pieces together. The sides don't have to be shaped until after your all glued up.

Hope this helps,
SDS
 
It is a kind of hidden pin: You may drill some holes inside the scale half way through. And also drill some on the tang. When they are filled with epoxy it will serve as a pin, but not as strong as peened pins...

Also dont finish the tang area and scales to a fine grit. Just leave them coarse. The glue must have something to hold on, the scratches of coarse grit will serve that way. Be sure to clean the surfaces good, then rub with acetone. Let them dry completely. Dont forget to mix epoxy well...

At least thats what I do... Good luck..
 
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you can use some duco cement in a small ammount to hold them together. just a tiny dab is all it takes. experiment some first to see how much or little it will take.
 
jkf96a said:
How do you shape a set of wood scales? I have been pinning them together while I shape them, but I'm doing a small neck knife that I'm not going to pin. Can I superglue wood scales together and get them separated? Any secret ways I don't know about to stick them together for shaping before gluing to the blade?
Click to expand...


A small c-clamp or vise grips with a scrap of rubber to keep from marring.
 
I don't know if this technique would work. Glue the scales together with white glue with a piece of news paper between them. After you are done shaping and sanding, use a sharp chisel along the glue/newspaper line and split them apart. It should split along the paper. Then scrape and sand off the glue and paper. We used to use this technique when attaching a wood block to a face plate to turn bowls in wood shop. Try it on some scrap stuff first.

Ric
 
I just use a small clamp to hold them together when I sand the front of the scales. All other shaping is done after it is all glued and pinned up.
 
From one n00b to another, NOW this is a question I can answer. :)
The problem with glue is that you have to then get it off.

If you purchased the scales in pairs, and you need to make them uniform in thickness and shape, then I would recommend cutting out a stencil with a piece of paper or cardboard, tracing the stencil on the blanks, and then hog off the waste with a bandsaw, jigsaw etc., also a coping saw works well if the wood isn't to hard (wore myself out cutting Cocobolo pistol handles with that!)

Then for shaping, you can use a pair of small clamps (I use quickgrips for the rubber pads, but small C clamps with a thin piece of scrap pine work well too) to hold the pieces together while you file, sand, grind, plane, or carve the handles to desired shape.

A LIGHT TOUCH is critical the closer you get to the final shape. Keep in mind wood is much softer than metals, and is less forgiving in the final shaping stages.

I used this method with my existing skinning knife because I didn't like the rubber handles & didn't want the nickel finish marred by any sandpaper. My Cocobolo made NICE handles. Interesting thing is that the same block of Cocobolo yielded a blood red on my pistol, but a nice brown with purple highlights for my Buck skinner.
I finished both with Finishing Wax.
 
OK so the scales are pined and glued. Now if you are working with Damascus and you touch the tang as you are sanding ( no matter how careful I seem to be) you remove some of the etching. So any suggestions as to how to adhere the scales to the tang sand and finish then remove them. Then I will be able to re-etch and reapply the scales in a proper fashion. I am about to start on this project with Ironwood scales and could use a suggestion.
 
Simplest thing I can think of is to protect your blade while shaping the handle - wrap with a layer of saran-wrap and then duct-tape.

Also, I learned from a sage maker to use masking tape on the tang sides of my scales, then glue the two scales together via the tape. Then you can shape as if you had a tang between them.
When done, you simple pry the two pieces apart - the tape simply pulls off each scale.
(proper credit goes to Robert Dark for that)
 
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