Stacked leather handle repair

T

teem-bung

Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
5
I'm trying to replace the stacked leather handle of an old hunting knife.
I have looked all over the web for materials, stamps, kits, instructions, any info at all and can't seem to come up with a thing, only people who offer that service.
Is this something that you have to do from scratch?
 
Depending upon how the pommel is attached and the nature of the tang, you might consider replacing the stacked leather with something a bit more durable, such as micarta, stabilized wood, or some similar material. Please do not misunderstand me, I have two Randalls with stacked leather hilts on them, one that is now 45 years old, and I love the look and feel of them but I also realize that it is a traditional way of making hilts that has been superceded by more modern methods. So, if you want to have a user knife, I would consider some other material. But, should you wish to go the route of replacement of the leather for whatever reason, you might try to contact the maker of the knife and see if they can help.

BTW, can you tell us who made the knife?
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

moving-van.jpg
 
Thanks for the info!!
Its a start!

The knife, by the way, is an old Western.
I still have my dad's WWII Navt Pilot survival knife, with stacked handle, and it is in excellent condition.
 
I don't know the condition of the existing handle, but if it's just dried out and not dirty or rotten, you might be able to fix it with mink oil.

I have an Ontario Air Force Survival knife that had a loose stacked leather handle when I got it. I globbed on the mink oil and left it in a warm, dry place. The oil soaked into the leather and conditioned it as well as causing it to swell to the point that the handle was no longer loose. The oil is also great for the sheath and prevents blade rust.
 
This is an old Western L66. The handle's leather parts have all dry rotted away, the nylon/plastic layers at either end are still in place, I'll have to remove the butt cap, cut some leather and stack it back up.
Just wondering if there was any commercially available kits for this sort of work, but I guess I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way, trial and error, pick up some leather from Tandy and go after it, learn something new.
 
Both Sheffields and Texas Knife have the leather washers/spacers I was looking for!!:D

Is this a great site, or what!!:thumbup: :thumbup:
 
:thumbup: Be sure to take some pictures and show how it's done! I'd like to see it taken apart, going back together and finished, would be very interesting to watch.
 
I have a small Cooper knife, new, made in Sheffield, Eng, and the leather washers are very slightly loose
is there anything I can do to tighten them? the pommel nut has been ground flush so tightening that would be tricky
 
Billy,
I saw a post a while back where a fellow cut a couple thin pieces of ebony, I believe, the approximate size of the handle. Cut them in half, slipped them in-between the leather,with some epoxy, in a couple choice spots. Make sure it all lines up again, then finish to the handle as needed.

This may not be exactly, but I hope you get the idea. Maybe someone else can add to this or have other ideas.

Richard
 
billy hargett said:
I have a small Cooper knife, new, made in Sheffield, Eng, and the leather washers are very slightly loose
is there anything I can do to tighten them? the pommel nut has been ground flush so tightening that would be tricky
Click to expand...

I have found a solution at this point. I had a loose leather handle and tightened it by heating Tried and True original wood wax, (which is a combination of linseed oil and beeswax, ) placed in an old spice jar in my microwave til nearly smoking, then put the handle down in the hot wax and let it cool, and it tightened up. Looks great after a little hand polishing of the wax.
 
I'm trying the mink oil method and leaving it above the heater/radiator thing. Warms it up to a nice cozy temp.

The thing is, I've put on 4 or 5 coats, and its still suking this stuff right up, is that normal?
 
I used to do coustom leather work and redid my crappy buck something or other that had a synthetic washer handle. thats a great link ripper, its funny that he drills the leather washers (typical non-leather worker aproach, like my carpenter fixed car;) ) a
small buckle slot punch is much easier and cleaner: http://www.tandyleather.com/products.asp?DEPT=206&Page=3 although this did just happen to punch slots that fit my tang perfictly, if the tang were too narrow or thin it wouldent have worked. the problume I ran into was shaping and finishing the handle without a belt sander, I ended up carving it with a knife and then if i remember a sureform and then hand sanding it, verry labor intensive.
 
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