- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
About a month and a half ago, maybe two months, I made an inquiry about spacer materials. This is a brief synopsis of two I used. The first I received was with a bunch of other stuff from the always generous Chris of Top of Texas Knives. Among the materials he sent was what he called "real spacer" material, which is vulcanized fiber board. Oh, by the way, I used theese materials on full tang knives between the tang and the handle scales, as recommended by Loveless in his book. Also true to Loveless form, I used red! Anyway, the fiber board appeared to be like heavy construction paper upon initial examination, but as I cut it, I realized it was more plastic than I thought. Some people recommend putting lots of holes in spacers like this for the epoxy to go through, but I did not do this, so we'll see how it holds. I prepped the material by drilling the pin holes, then sanding both sides.
The handle stuff I used was granadillo wood. The spacer performed just as I would've hoped...sanded easily, retained its color throughout all my sanding and grinding procedures, and finished up nicely. When there is escess that is being ground down, it builds up on the edges rather than falling away, making the edges of the material ragged and thick. Once its edge evens up with the handle scales, though, the spacer material edges clean up just fine, as there is no way for it to build up anymore. Anyway, I was happy with this stuff. I can't tell if the material is really noticeable or not, though, as I am somewhat red/green color blind, and to me it is justa hint of red that is hard to discern from the wood. Oh well!
The second knife I used with spacers was also a full tang knife. I got a bunch of plastic samples from Don (don't know his last name...sorry!) who uses them in an industrial application. Anyway, he sent two types in a variety of color, and again I settled on red. I am not sure which type of plastic I used, as he sent two types. This one was soft and very bendable, as opposed to the other which is more plastic-y and less rubbery. Don will tell us which I used, hopefully!
In any case, this stuff was easy to cut (I used a folding paring knife, AKA Benchmade Mini-Spike) to cut it to size. I also sanded both sides, and this time I drilled numerous holes throughout it because of its slicker, more rubbery feel. It glued up fine, and I used black linen Micarta scales over it. As I ground it to the tang with a sanding wheel on my Dremel, the red color was very evident. Unfortunately, it turned gray as I sanded with finer and finer grits. Once the handle was finished, the spacer was a gray color instead of red. I suspect that it is so soft that the dust particles embed in it and throw off the color. Anyway, it cleaned up a bit with a stainless steel polishing brush on the Dremel, again, but not great. I then used red buffing compound (sold under the Dremel name) and a felt wheel to buff just the edges, and this helped clean more of the dust out and enhance the red color somewhat. It looks reddinsh, but still not great. My fiancee (whose color sense is better than mine)
says it looks like a maroon/burgundy/brown color, whereas it was more of a traditional fire to brick red in its original form. Maybe some more buffing would clean it up. I'll try that later. Anyway, she said the original fiber material, with the wood handle, looks brick red and seems nice.
Now, my impression is that the traditional fiber material works great, and I would recommend it highly. The nylon stuff was usable, but has the problem of being too soft. The question remains, however, what would've happened if I had traded handle materials? Would the wood dust not have tainted the nylon, and would the Micarta have embedded in the fiber spacer, or is the fiber spacer a better material to use all around? Unfortunately I don't have the capacity to do more projects, so I won't be able to answer this question!
Many thanks to both Chris and Don. I will probably use one of Don's harder platics on something in the future, so we'll see how a harder plastic works out. I'll also try to clean more dust out of the rubber, and see if that will help in bringing out the color. So, Don, to answer one of your questions, I would recommend against using the softer material you sent in knife applications of this type.
------------------
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
The handle stuff I used was granadillo wood. The spacer performed just as I would've hoped...sanded easily, retained its color throughout all my sanding and grinding procedures, and finished up nicely. When there is escess that is being ground down, it builds up on the edges rather than falling away, making the edges of the material ragged and thick. Once its edge evens up with the handle scales, though, the spacer material edges clean up just fine, as there is no way for it to build up anymore. Anyway, I was happy with this stuff. I can't tell if the material is really noticeable or not, though, as I am somewhat red/green color blind, and to me it is justa hint of red that is hard to discern from the wood. Oh well!
The second knife I used with spacers was also a full tang knife. I got a bunch of plastic samples from Don (don't know his last name...sorry!) who uses them in an industrial application. Anyway, he sent two types in a variety of color, and again I settled on red. I am not sure which type of plastic I used, as he sent two types. This one was soft and very bendable, as opposed to the other which is more plastic-y and less rubbery. Don will tell us which I used, hopefully!
In any case, this stuff was easy to cut (I used a folding paring knife, AKA Benchmade Mini-Spike) to cut it to size. I also sanded both sides, and this time I drilled numerous holes throughout it because of its slicker, more rubbery feel. It glued up fine, and I used black linen Micarta scales over it. As I ground it to the tang with a sanding wheel on my Dremel, the red color was very evident. Unfortunately, it turned gray as I sanded with finer and finer grits. Once the handle was finished, the spacer was a gray color instead of red. I suspect that it is so soft that the dust particles embed in it and throw off the color. Anyway, it cleaned up a bit with a stainless steel polishing brush on the Dremel, again, but not great. I then used red buffing compound (sold under the Dremel name) and a felt wheel to buff just the edges, and this helped clean more of the dust out and enhance the red color somewhat. It looks reddinsh, but still not great. My fiancee (whose color sense is better than mine)
says it looks like a maroon/burgundy/brown color, whereas it was more of a traditional fire to brick red in its original form. Maybe some more buffing would clean it up. I'll try that later. Anyway, she said the original fiber material, with the wood handle, looks brick red and seems nice.
Now, my impression is that the traditional fiber material works great, and I would recommend it highly. The nylon stuff was usable, but has the problem of being too soft. The question remains, however, what would've happened if I had traded handle materials? Would the wood dust not have tainted the nylon, and would the Micarta have embedded in the fiber spacer, or is the fiber spacer a better material to use all around? Unfortunately I don't have the capacity to do more projects, so I won't be able to answer this question!
Many thanks to both Chris and Don. I will probably use one of Don's harder platics on something in the future, so we'll see how a harder plastic works out. I'll also try to clean more dust out of the rubber, and see if that will help in bringing out the color. So, Don, to answer one of your questions, I would recommend against using the softer material you sent in knife applications of this type.
------------------
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
