Tips for using fibercard spacer material>

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nailcreek

Joined
Sep 21, 2003
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One of the knives I've started working on is a full tang knife ... with a brass guard and oak scale handles. I'm thinking of placing a red colored fibercard between the metal and wood on each side. I've never worked with this material and would really appreciate some ideas on pluses/minuses and what to look out for ~ thanks!
 
Easiest way to use it is to glue it to the wood first,then the scales go on just like normal.When the spacer glue-up is dry ,trim to the wood edge,and drill a lot of shallow 1/4" holes through it into the wood (a good idea even without spacers). If you are going to put it on at the same time as the scales,punch a lot of holes in the fiber board with a hole punch first. That will allow the epoxy to bridge through it for a stronger joint.
Stacy
 
What Stacy said.

I will cover a board with Saran wrap. Epoxy the spacer material to the scale and then use a couple of spring clamps to clamp it to the board covered with Saran wrap the the spacer material (not the handle material) closest to the board. The Saran wrap makes for easy cleanup after the epoxy sets up and none of it sticks to the wood.

I don't remember if this is something I figured out on my own or something someone else told me...I'm usually not smart enough to figure stuff out by myself. :confused:

One other thing you do is this. For a good looking fit, get a small triangle file and cut a groove in the spacer material with it, far enough into it so you can bend it 90 degrees. (It will be almost all the way thru.) One side will be glued to the scale that will be next to the tang, the part you bent over, will be between the guard and end of the scale. This makes for a nice fit and a good looking knife. (I didn't figure that out on my own either.) If you want, you can color your epoxy the same color as the spacer material or just use a clear epoxy. Either way works well.

Craig
 
I'm kind of in the same boat with nailcreek on this one. Same thing here, full tang, oak handles, corby's, black fiber... but I'm using small pieces of double sided carpet tape to temporarily hold them in place. I don't recommend it. :o I'd like to hear more suggestions and sincerely thank all that share! -Matt-
 
Greas-man,
Please be more specific. What exactly are you having trouble holding in place? I'm a little slow this morning but just not following what it is you're having trouble with.
Matt
 
Matt, I must apologize! I must have been half asleep myself when I wrote my post. I worked some OT yesterday and was pretty tired, and after looking a bit closer, Stacy actually gave the solution I was looking for. Not sure how I missed it when I read it the first time.

I was having trouble figuring out a way to treat the spacer and wood as one unit so they would grind to the same dimensions and not come apart. I used double sided carpet tape to adhere them to the wood and tang. It worked ok, but I think a proper glue up, as Stacy and Mr. Wilkins suggested would be better than the tape. Back to "nailcreek's" question, any plus/ minuses that anyone can think of? Particular do's/dont's? Thanks. -Matt-
 
The only thing I could add is to go slow because it WILL burn and discolor. Also instead of saran wrap as Mr Wilkins mentioned, I prefer wax paper, just a little easier to work with in my opinion. Also make sure the board you are using to back up your piece is DEAD FLAT.
Matt Doyle
 
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