Home : News Archives : Catalogs/Lists : Galleries : Forums : Events : Workshop : Classifieds : Member Profiles : Gear
Back to the workshop main page.
Headlines :Site Guide : Contact Us











Fitting scales on my sheepsfoot knife 


   Here is the start. The blade is hand rubbed and I have flattened the scales and glued the liners to the wood.
Pins have been cut and the ends has been rounded.

The blade is covered by masking tape. The "shoulders" are also covered. On this one the tang is not tapered but the following is no different than if it was.

The blade is placed in the special made vise. Using this vise insures that the midaxis of the tang is perpendicular with the drill.

Now one of the scales is attached with a vise grip leaving plenty of material on the sides and in the front.

The vise is taken to the drill press and the holes are drilled. Note the wedges to avoid any flexing.

Now here is something a bit unusual. I use pins that are 4mm ( approx. 1/6"). The holes in the blade are also 4mm but to avoid trouble when inserting the pins I now drill the holes in the scales again with a drill size 4.1mm (approx. 1/25" bigger). Making the holes a bit bigger has made it a dream to put the pins in. No more cracks! The reason I don´t make the holes in the blade 4.1mm is that I will loose precision. In the wood the fit to the pin is very good with the 4.1 but in steel it is very sloppy.
To drill the holes I remove the blade and turn it upside down with the scale still on. Now I just use the holes made before to index the drill.

Now on side is done. I make the profile of the tang for easy spotting the right/left side. Note on the scale not drilled an arrow is drawn. This is pointed to the front and to the edge. I do this on both before any drilling. That way the scales match each other when the knife is done.

Now I take the project to the bandsaw. One scale is attached with two pins and excess material is removed. I saw very close to the steel to avoid to much grinding when glued up.

Here the scales are cut to profile. Note the fronts are not shaped yet.

With a can of beans for guide the rounded front is drawn on one scale. You can use what ever you feel like but this one suits me.

The one scale has been sawed to shape.

The two scales are put together with two pins and the front is sawed on the other scale following the first saw cut. Then I countersink the holes from the back and remove any burrs with a very sharp wood chisel.

With the scales put together again I grind an angle on the front with my diskgrinder...sorry the pic disappeared.

Be very careful not to grind into the liner and into the other side.

Now I put the scales still with the pins into my vise and hand rub the fronts to final grit wanted on the handle.

I use a small piece of micarta or an eraser to back the sandpaper.

Lightly coat the front and the front ONLY with danish oil. Do not get any on the liners.

Now I buff the front to final finish.

On this stage I use a rough and a fine compound especially for wood.

The pins are taken to the vise and small notches are filed in the middle for better glue bond.

Now I mix epoxy. I use a magazine with smooth pages for this operation. I like it since I always get a new clean surface to mix on. I put the knife together one scale at a time with the pins. Then I put in the lanyard tubing last. I fill it up with masking tape to avoid it getting filled with epoxy.

I put a clamp on it. I use vise grips but will change to Kant-Twis very soon. Much better control on the pressure. Note that the excess epoxy just flows out. I wipe it of with a rag with alcohol. The I put some more clamps on to avoid any gaps. And finally wipe it with alcohol again.

Then it is put aside in a vise to dry up.

And this is me all dressed up.


Other KnifeNetwork™ Resources For This Member
Currently Available Listed Work:
Search Site For Member News:
This Member's Photo Gallery:
Member's Show/Events Calendar:
n/a
Contact This Member:
 

Custom Resources : Production Resources : FAQ : Site Guide : Contact : Services : eCommerce : Advertising




KNIFENETWORK.COM
Copyright © - CKK Industries, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Powered by ...