Wood Scales: how thick or thin?

incaorchid

incaorchid

Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
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How thin can you safely make a wood scale for a liner lock folder?

I know it depends on type of wood, finish treatment, etc. but how thin
is safe?

Plastic knife scales are very thin but still strong because of the material.
Wood sometimes looks nice as a replacement but only if it is of the same
thickness as the factory.
Bulky wood replacements don't look so nice.
 
Well if it's for a liner lock, you'd have liners to support it. But otherwise, I've seen scales at 1/8", but I think anything underneath is a bit sketchy.
 
I've made some wood scales for a couple of linerlocks (Tenacious, Chill, Half Ton). The scales ended up between 1/8" and 1/4". The Chill has the thinnest scales at 1/8", but they could have been thinned down more.

If you shape the handles carefully, they won't look chunky. The thicker scaled on the Tenacious really help the ergonomics especially when I use it for an extended period of time.

The woods I used are osage orange and ipe. Both are quite hard. The ipe is dense enough to sink in water.

Ric
 
1/8" is probably as thin as you can use.
I'm learning how to make scales for my BM585 and as I was wandering through Home Depot the other day I noticed the flooring dept and saw samples of wood flooring...for free :)...I grabbed a bunch of them and they are great for learning how to make the scales.
I used my table saw, with a guide, to thin the samples to 1/8" thickness.
They work great. They are veneers so you get little "good" wood for the finished product but for practice they work great and don't look terrible.
 
Flooring scraps are a great source of material. Check some of the places that sell recycled building supplies. I've found walnut, oak, ipe, maple flooring scraps for pretty cheap, all solid.

I usually start with material thicker scales and then thin them down once they are fitted to the knife. I figure it's easier to sand off some wood if it's too thick than trying to make it thicker.


Ric
 
Thanks for the replies.
I did a scale for a Kershaw TILT that didn't look good until I got it down to about 1/8".

I was hoping that someone had successfully made something even thinner.

Phydeaux, do you have any tips that you could share on how to shape so as not to look chunky?
I still haven't gotten that one figured out.
 
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