Handle Scales Not Perfectly Flat

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PayneTrain

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Oct 24, 2013
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So I'm not actually making a knife, just modifying one, so if this is in the wrong place I apologize. I'm re-handling a cheap knife using even cheaper methods. For the handle slabs, I'm using an old cutting board that I cut to size and fileted. My work is far from exact, and I can't seem to get the faces of the scales completely flat and flush to the tang. Will the epoxy tolerate this? Should I try to make some kind of liner? I'll see if I can get a pic of exactly how bad the fit is. It's not awful, but obviously not flush.

Edit: I can't really get a picture, it's that small of a gap.
 
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First, determine what is not flat.

If it is the scales, then tape a piece of 120 grit sandpaper to the counter top and rub the scales in a figure eight pattern.

If it is the tang, then check for old glue, pieces of metal sticking up, etc. Clean it up and CAREFULLY file as needed.

Sometimes a close fit is the best you can get. Coloring the epoxy to match the scale color will make tiny gaps nearly invisible.
 
I checked with a straight edge, and the tang is good aside from the holes I drilled which needed a little smoothing. It's definitely the wood. I've been sanding with a piece of 60 grit on a table on and off for the past hour or so, trying to get it perfect. I'll try the figure 8 motion, because it seems the more I sand, the more the edges get rounded off. I'll try higher grit too. Maybe I'm just being obsessive and it is in fact good enough, it's so darn close. I'm just worried that if it isn't perfect, it might delaminate some day. This is going to be mostly used on salt water fishing trips as a bait chopping knife. Hence, I'm using a "marine epoxy".

Edit: Would the use of liners help at all here?
 
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Liners still need flat places on both sides.

A straight edge only measures straight....it does not measure flat. Take a soup can and put the straight edge along the side from top to bottom....yep, its straight....but it sure ain't flat.

Use a fresh sheet of sandpaper and make sure it is taped down tight. Sand in a figure eight with light and even pressure. It should only take 60 seconds for plain wood like a cutting board.
 
I made the mistake early on of sanding scales with a back and forth motion. Even when I had a perfectly flat sanding surface and thought I was using even pressure I couldn't get scales flat. Then I read here on the forums that you should only use a pulling motion and don't push. I tried that and got much better results.
I haven't tried the figure 8 method but if Bladsmth recommends it then it should work just fine.
 
if corners are rounding then you are not keeping the scale flat or paper is buckling. even pressures are needed.
 
So a new piece of paper and some extra care keeping even pressure got them pretty darn flat. I went ahead and glued and pinned it all together, so we'll see tomorrow how it comes out. Apparently there's such a thing as too much clamp pressure, which I only just learned so hopefully the first two hours didn't kill it. The assembly is sandwiched by some pretty soft wood so hopefully it acted as a buffer.
 
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Well it seems to have worked ok. I had the knife in the clamp for a good 24hrs and then it sat for another two and a half days till I got a chance to finish it today. I rough shaped it with a DA sander and then went to work with strips of paper. I hammered the pins down (peened, I guess) as best I could. A smaller hammer would have done better, but they're pretty well rounded and out of the way. There are no gaps to be seen, and though the handle is thick and blocky, it feels pretty good. I'll have to wait and see how it holds up to salt water and fish blood. Speaking of which, if I could field another question, what should I use to protect the wood? Should I seal it with something, or just keep it oiled down?

Here's my lab rat so far. Next I'll be experimenting with paint removal and blade polishing!
DSCN2179.jpg

DSCN2185.jpg
 
You could round the handle scales a bit more by using strips of sandpaper and using a "shoe shine" motion. You can back the strips with duct tape to keep them from tearing.
 
Maelstrom78 said:
You could round the handle scales a bit more by using strips of sandpaper and using a "shoe shine" motion. You can back the strips with duct tape to keep them from tearing.
Click to expand...
That's what I did actually, but I didn't wanna go too far in and didn't wanna touch the flat faces. As you can see in the first pic, that old cutting board had a little conversion chart pressed or engraved into it, and I didn't want to ruin it too much. The other side just looks like the old used cutting board that it is. Just kind of a cool character thing that I thought I'd like to preserve. Now I know that I could have sanded the inside face a little further to make them thinner, maybe even flatter. But it seems to have bonded quite well, which is all I was really worried about. The next one will be better, I promise! It was definitely a fun little project that I can see myself doing again when I have the time. Maybe even make the blade too...
 
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