The Purpose of Liners

[gunsandknives]

I assume the "liner" is the layer of material between the steel and the scale? I see they're typically black or white...are these intended as purely decorative or do they act as a "cushion" to fill in the miniscule flaws/gaps? I was thinking of using 1/16" thick copper to accent some copper pins. Any thoughts on this?

 

[JG Custom Metal Works]

purely decorative. Copper would look cool. All that matters would be that you get it flat.

 

[LARRYZ10]

I have to admit that when I have bolsters installed and they are not perfectly 90 degrees to the ricasso by a couple thousands I kiss them with a file but if they are in line with each other and one fits the scale perfectly and the other is just off a hair I would rather put a red liner of .028 or .030 between the bolsters and the scales as well as between the scales and the blade. When I use red pigmented epoxy and finish the knife it is impossible (usually) to see any difference. I can do it without the liners by carefully filing BOTH the bolster faces but using liners is much more predictable always seems to work. If the scales I am going to use are really beautiful I will drill out the pins and make new bolsters to get a perfect wood to metal fit but I have only done this once. I also (like Bob Loveless) like a thin red liner with some wood and on some knives. I now am using G10 but the thin red G10 has been a huge disappointment for me because the red does not finish out really vivid red like the "fish paper" that I sometimes use. I have been using yellow liners every once in a while with a file worked spine and black G-flex epoxy and it looks great ( in my mind). Larry