Spacers.

[madra]

I want to put red spacers on my knife handle . I am using stabilized wood and mosaic pins.Do I epoxy the spacer to the knife and then epoxy the scales to the spacer? Any advice appreciated.

 

[Jim Rehrer]

I epoxy the spacers to the scales first...if your not putting bolsters one then finish up your ends first and then attach scales...

 

[GibsonFan]

I also epoxy the spacer to the scale first. That way it gets cut/shaped etc with the scale.

I wonder if fiber spacers make the bond stronger because they soak up a little more epoxy between the tang and slab? I don't know if it helps any but I don't think it hurts.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The engineering reason for fiber spacers is as a shock absorber. The porous surface allows a good bond adhesive between the tang/spacer and the spacer/scale surfaces. The plus is that the spacer material is tough and flexible (compared to metal,wood, ivory,etc.) and provides a microscopic "give" to the assembly. If you drop a knife with only a glue joint the joint may fracture and shear (even with rivets) due to the shock being transmitted down the hard surfaces. With the fiber spacer the bond flexes because of the "soft center".
Stacy

 

[GibsonFan]

Cool Stacy, I guess my brain was kind of on the right track, then ... I should probably go ahead and use spacers on my Trailmaster rebuild too.