Try something new, for me anyway

Hmmm... if the scales are drilled when flat/square, then you mount them on a taper and shape... the holes are no longer perpendicular to the centerline of the knife. Wouldn't you risk ending up with ovals instead of rounds when you shape the handle? :confused: I'm probably way over-thinking this...
 
Things that make you go Hmmm, indeed.

I suppose a guy could remove some material and taper the inside front of the scales to account for the fatter tang there.
 
I mark the end of the tang and chamfer it the same way I mark and chamfer the edge before grinding the blade. Gives a sort of "target" to grind to. Since I stop my taper at the back of the bolsters, I just scribe a line there. Does that help?

As to lining up the holes in the scales to be perpendicular to the blade, there are probably as many ways to do that as there are makers. :) But my way to do it is to first grind an angle in the end of the scale where it matches up to the bolster. Because I taper from the bolster back, it's not a 90 degree angle there. That is a trial and error process for me, and I just adjust the angle of the table on my disk grinder until I get a no-light match between the scale and the bolster.

Next I superglue the first scale to the tang. Just a drop or two will do it. I learned that trick here and have found it works so much better than the clamps-and-pins method I used to use. Then I superglue a little popsicle stick shim to the end of that scale. It supports the end of the tang just enough to make the centerline of the blade perpendicular to the drill press table, because it's about the same thickness as the steel I've removed from that end of the tang. Then I drill all the holes through that scale. At some point, either before or after drilling, I (try to remember to) use a sharpie to draw around the tang on the scale. That gives me an accurate line to trim the scales to before glue-up, which saves grinding a lot of the scale edge off when I start shaping the handle. Then just popping the edge of the scale against the workbench is enough to break the it off the tang, and I repeat the whole process for the other side.

You'd have to use a shim the right thickness for this to work. I try to taper the tang to a very thin edge at the end of the handle, so the popsicle stick is the right thickness for the 3/16" stock I normally use. I have sanded a bit off the shim at times when the taper isn't as deep as the shim is thick, or when I tapered 1/8" stock. Like Tinker I use slightly oversized drills, which allows a bit of fitup slack, but not so much as you'd see it. (Unless you're using colored epoxy, in which case think that through first. ;))

I hope this clears it up a little. Again, just my way of doing it.
 
Dave if I may be so bold as to say.,I looked at the picture for at least 3 minutes and I didnt notice the pins being off UNTIL after reading the other posts. That is a sweet looking knife.
 
On tapered tangs, I glue up one scale with epoxy. After it is cured, I clean up the excess on the tang, and then sand the scale surface parallel to the plane of the blade. Once that is done, I drill the holes from the tang side. Then I epoxy on the second scale Square it to the blade plane, too. Re-drill from the holes on the first scale, and the holes will be perfectly perpendicular to the blade. I takes longer to type than to do.
Stacy
 
Thanks again to all of you for the great tips in this thread. Clearly, there's more than one way to skin a cat. :)
 
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