- Joined
- Feb 21, 2001
- Messages
- 4,238
A year or two ago, I bought a 15" Bura AK as a blem from Bill, because the scabbard was split. Well you know me, it was one of those things that I just never got to. Partly because I couldn't think of a nice looking way to do it, but mostly 'cause I'm just a procrastinator.
I had some .025" x 1/2" brass strips from another undone project. To make it into a V shape to go along the edge of the scabbard, I put it in the vise between a thick piece of rubber, and a triangular file. Tightening the vise slowly it bent pretty well into a V. Heating the chape with wifey's hair dryer softened the glue and I was able to pull it off. Using the edge of the workbench, and my fingers, I bent the strip so it fit the scabbard. It was kind of wavy, but ok. I soldered the brass strip to the chape with soft solder. Well that wasn't strong enough, and I didn't have any silver solder, so I just stuck the brass strip about 1/2" into the chape and used 2-Ton epoxy to glue the chape back on to the scabbard. I also put some epoxy inside the strip, and taped everyting together with masking tape to hold it until the epoxy set up. After the epoxy set up for 24 hours, I used a little hammer to smooth out the waviness of the brass strip. The frog slid back on, but was very tight. The brass strip goes about 1/2" under the frog. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it longer by an inch or so. I wanted to wrap something over the strip since it was just barely under the frog. Wire would have worked, but I didn't like that look, so I decided on rattan. After soaking the rattan in warm water for about 30 minutes, I wrapped it around the scabbard, just under the frog. The end of the rattan was tucked back under the wrap to hold it, and after it dried and shrank, it was as tight as can be. For decoration, a small butane torch was used to scorch the wrap. A coat of Tru-Oil finished it off. Maybe not traditional but I was tickled with it.
So what other ways have you guys fixed a split, besides wire wrap and the ubiquitous duct tape? I'm sure there are some other methods we could use.
Thanks for looking!
Steve
I had some .025" x 1/2" brass strips from another undone project. To make it into a V shape to go along the edge of the scabbard, I put it in the vise between a thick piece of rubber, and a triangular file. Tightening the vise slowly it bent pretty well into a V. Heating the chape with wifey's hair dryer softened the glue and I was able to pull it off. Using the edge of the workbench, and my fingers, I bent the strip so it fit the scabbard. It was kind of wavy, but ok. I soldered the brass strip to the chape with soft solder. Well that wasn't strong enough, and I didn't have any silver solder, so I just stuck the brass strip about 1/2" into the chape and used 2-Ton epoxy to glue the chape back on to the scabbard. I also put some epoxy inside the strip, and taped everyting together with masking tape to hold it until the epoxy set up. After the epoxy set up for 24 hours, I used a little hammer to smooth out the waviness of the brass strip. The frog slid back on, but was very tight. The brass strip goes about 1/2" under the frog. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it longer by an inch or so. I wanted to wrap something over the strip since it was just barely under the frog. Wire would have worked, but I didn't like that look, so I decided on rattan. After soaking the rattan in warm water for about 30 minutes, I wrapped it around the scabbard, just under the frog. The end of the rattan was tucked back under the wrap to hold it, and after it dried and shrank, it was as tight as can be. For decoration, a small butane torch was used to scorch the wrap. A coat of Tru-Oil finished it off. Maybe not traditional but I was tickled with it.
So what other ways have you guys fixed a split, besides wire wrap and the ubiquitous duct tape? I'm sure there are some other methods we could use.
Thanks for looking!
Steve
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