Here's the scenario: full tang etched blade at 2000 grit. I attach the handle scales, then file/sand them to shape, then finish. Part of the finishing operation involves polishing the spine, as it inevitably gets scratched up during the handle shaping process. Then I usually coat the handle and spine with finish, usually CA. Seems to work ok on bright finish knives, but how do you get the spine etched to match the blade?
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What to do with the spine on an etched blade?
- Thread starter Jason Fry
- Start date
There's a couple of schools of thought on this. One is to fit everything together with temporary pins/bolts and get everything finished before etching. It helps here to put a TINY chamfer on the edge of the scales to help avoid the inevitable mismatch of .001" or so that always happens. Basically, put some 600 grit paper on a hard back and give one or two passes around the edge of your finished and fitted scales at about a 45 degree angle. then glue up/pin and clean up squeezed out epoxy before it fully sets.
The other way is to completely finish the knife before etching the blade. Then, use nail polish to mask off the handle/pins/etc and dunk the whole works in the etch. Clean off the nail polish with acetone and VOILA!
-d
The other way is to completely finish the knife before etching the blade. Then, use nail polish to mask off the handle/pins/etc and dunk the whole works in the etch. Clean off the nail polish with acetone and VOILA!
-d
MSCantrell
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Mar 12, 2005
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- 1,213
Some makers leave the flats and the bevels etched, and the tang and spine bright!
(This isn't my favorite, but it works for some guys who are much better knifemakers than me.)
(This isn't my favorite, but it works for some guys who are much better knifemakers than me.)
That's what I did on the first few I etched. Turned out OK, but I wanted the total look for this particular knife.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2008
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"It helps here to put a TINY chamfer on the edge of the scales to help avoid the inevitable mismatch of .001" or so that always happens."
Deker, I understand the problem of a mismatch when assembling preshaped scales but I'm not understanding how the tiny 45 is gonna help.
the way I'm thinking you'ld end up with scales that appeared to not quite fit tight against the tang.
I'm interested in this topic not only in the case af an etched blade but also for speeding up the process of fitting scales to a fileworked tang.
If you would explain this a little further it would be greatly appreciated.
jfk96a - GREAT question, thanks for asking it
-Josh
Deker, I understand the problem of a mismatch when assembling preshaped scales but I'm not understanding how the tiny 45 is gonna help.
the way I'm thinking you'ld end up with scales that appeared to not quite fit tight against the tang.
I'm interested in this topic not only in the case af an etched blade but also for speeding up the process of fitting scales to a fileworked tang.
If you would explain this a little further it would be greatly appreciated.
jfk96a - GREAT question, thanks for asking it
-Josh
"It helps here to put a TINY chamfer on the edge of the scales to help avoid the inevitable mismatch of .001" or so that always happens."
Deker, I understand the problem of a mismatch when assembling preshaped scales but I'm not understanding how the tiny 45 is gonna help.
the way I'm thinking you'ld end up with scales that appeared to not quite fit tight against the tang.
I'm interested in this topic not only in the case af an etched blade but also for speeding up the process of fitting scales to a fileworked tang.
If you would explain this a little further it would be greatly appreciated.
I suppose I should have explained it a bit, and I also forgot to mention that you do the same to the very edge of the tang before etching. If it's just a subtle rounding/chamfer, it's a very slight design element that has the bonus of taking up the slack if things shift a little bit. When done right it doesn't look like it's a bad fit at all. I have been looking and can't find a good picture to illustrate it. I've seen this done with the junction between handle and spacer on full tang knives as well and it's a nice little touch in design. One that springs immediately to mind is a bowie Kevin Cashen did a couple of years ago that I got to see at Ashokan. I even seem to recall a collector or two commenting on this practice in a complementary way. Something along the lines of "soandso does this to be nice to our hands". It makes certain there's not a single little edge to catch you.
Hope that makes sense.
-d
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2008
- Messages
- 437
Deker,
Thank you for taking the time to explain this tip more thoroughly to a newbie I understand what you mean and will likely be giving it a try soon.
Thanks again -Josh
Thank you for taking the time to explain this tip more thoroughly to a newbie I understand what you mean and will likely be giving it a try soon.
Thanks again -Josh
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2000
- Messages
- 5,179
An additional benefit to easing the edges of the scales and tang is the case when the handle changes its shape slightly due to absorbing humidity or drying out. The chamfered edge is more comfortable. I've found this to be valuable when I send knives someplace with a different relative humidity regime than Iowa's, like Arizona. Unstabilized wood and horn are notorious for this. Just a thought. Oh, and it really does look intentional when you do it on purpose. 