Warping wood on Hinderer Vintage

wickettedge

wickettedge

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I have a Hinderer Vintage XM-18 with the walnut scales. Is anyone else noticing that the wood is separating from the titanium even though the screws are all tight. I am experiencing this, but not sure what can be done aside from epoxy the wood to the Ti liner.

EDIT: Added photos below in post #3.
 
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That shouldnt be happening if the wood is stabilized.
I would send them an email.
Post a pic. :)
 
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Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery yeah I will shoot them an email today. Out of all my knives, this is the one I carry and use the most, just a really good looking knife, but incredible action.

Here is the show side, all looks good here.

View attachment 1182121

The screws are on tight, as you can see below, but the warping is happening on the opposite side of the screws, so as you move away from the screws, it starts.

View attachment 1182120


This is a top-down view and probably the best way to see the separation.

View attachment 1182119

Good amount of daylight there.
 
I have micarta and g10 handles on the majority of my 8 or 9 (lost count) Hinderers. They all have that same slight separation. Yours is slightly more pronounced. Shrinkage might not be your problem. No pun intended
 
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Nice! I thought it was mark up really bad unlike DLC, but it looks to be holding up well. Thank you! How are you liking O1?
 
wickettedge wickettedge

Three possible causes...one, as i stated previously, if the wood isnt stabilized, then even moisture from being in your pocket can affect the wood. Even if it was perfectly flat, and the scale liner is perfectly flat, it would draw in moisture, therefore the wood could twist or curl.
Two, if it was stabilized, it would need to be surface ground flat, as well as the scale liner to have it sit flat. If it was done by hand, someone may have accidentally “rounded” the back of the wood scale trying to make it flat.
Third could be, and highly unlikely, but the scale screws are too tight. If the wood scale isnt too thick, overtightening the scale could cause this.
Hope that helps, and i hope you get some answers from hinderer.
 
Definitely not stabilized wood... The fact that it was just oiled Walnut that would change with time was part of the charm of the series. Mine still looks great, but I've only admired it so far. Older pic:

eXJtlul.jpg
 
Looks like we found the answer. Unstabilized wood will draw in moisture and cause this.
Even having it clipped to your pocket while working hard and sweating will cause the scale to draw moisture. Also, humidity in the air is mosture for the scale to draw in as well. Unfortunatly, this cannot be corrected without a new scale, or thinning this one down considerably. And then it will more than likely happen again.
Maybe get a good modder to make you a new scale out of stabilized walnut?
 
Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery good idea to get a replacement made.

Does anyone have experience gluing wood to titanium? For example with the CRK inlays that are glued in, what kind of glue is that?

Since the wood scale has some give to it and I can press it together, maybe I could just glue it to the titanium scale it rides on. I contacted hinderer via web form this morning, so we will see what they say as well.
 
wickettedge said:
Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery good idea to get a replacement made.

Does anyone have experience gluing wood to titanium? For example with the CRK inlays that are glued in, what kind of glue is that?

Since the wood scale has some give to it and I can press it together, maybe I could just glue it to the titanium scale it rides on. I contacted hinderer via web form this morning, so we will see what they say as well.
Click to expand...

CRKs use 3M tape for their inlays, not glue. Type is on their website.
 
It will be interesting to see what the company says. I bought a Carl Schlieper lock back Sod Buster with stag scales and both scales were not flush to the frame at the butt. I used super glue and clamped the scales so they were flush. That was two years ago and they are still holding, no more gaps on either scale. John
 
Well this doesn’t bode well for using the fixed blade...

Have been carrying and using my XM with textured scales quite a bit with no issues so far.
 
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