Steel or brass??

[Only_Solo]

What do you guys' prefer... Brass pin's or Steel pin's to hold your fixed blade's scales together?? Or does someone recomend something else??

Thanks in advance

-Only_Solo-

 

[hank_rearden]

anything, as long as it doesn't show. i like a fully-insulating handle. for this, some knifemakers don't even use pins, just as long as there's a hole in the tang which you fill with epoxy. once cured, that epoxy will act as a pin, securing the tang to the handle medium.

 

[uyotg]

Epoxy should be more than enough to hold scales on, so pins are just backup and mostly aesthetics. Go with what matches the handle and blade colors best. Copper, aluminum, and Micarta are other choices for pins, as well as mosaic pins

 

[Robs92XJ]

I like corby bolts. Usually I color coordinate them. Brass goes on darker woods, stainless on lighter woods.

There is no structural reason to prefer one over the other. Brass is softer than stainless, which does make it a little easier to shape and finish.

 

[Bufford]

I use cutlers squeeze type rivets to hold wooden scales together. They come in brass and nickel silver. For guards and bolsters I use either stainless steel or brass. I use left over 1/4 inch pieces of 440C from cutting out knife blanks from the bandsaw for guards and pommels and use 1/8th inch stainless rods to hold them together. fit the pinstock through the hole and squeeze together the metal sandwhich in the vice until epoxy oozes out. Once set then grind the pins down leaving them the width of a quarter high, then gently peen to fill the gaps of the drill hole and then grind flush and finish. Done right the pin will not be visible.

 

[Shotgun]

I prefer brass for aesthetics. Brass, steel, aluminum...they all work just pick which you like more.

 

[CWL]

What do you guys' prefer... Brass pin's or Steel pin's to hold your fixed blade's scales together?? Or does someone recomend something else??

Thanks in advance

-Only_Solo-

Purely a matter of personal choice. Sometimes the style of a knife design may dictate one over the other, such as an early Bowie would tend towards brass. But since epoxy was invented, it is merely a cosmetic enhancement.