How do you correct tiny gaps?

H

Heartlander

Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
11
I know I made a mistake and apparently did not get adhesive on every bit of the two pieces but... I have a knife handle that shows a slight gap between the wood scale and colored paper liner. Normally, depending if it was actually an indentation in the wood or paper, I might try to fill it with appropriately colored CA glue. If the gap was just a gap and there was no indentation, I might fill it with just clear CA. In any case, I would follow up with a clear coat of urethane or epoxy. But I'm curious, how do you guys handle that? The gap in question might be an inch long and a few hundredths of an inch wide, like the thickness of a playing card.
 
I would remove the scale and start over if it was a saleable knife. I would fill it with CA glue and chuck it into the box of mishaps I use for shop knives or give away to people if not.
 
Ever hear the joke about the guy who went to the doctor?
He walked into the office, held his arm over his head and said, "Hey, Doc, it hurts when I do this."
The doctor said, "Don't do that."
I'm sorry - I'm making light of your question and situation, but as time goes by, you'll be sure not to proceed with permanent steps until you are certain that all your T's are crossed and all your i's are dotted.
It's a pain to work backwards.
 
agree with the above. I made a good number of knives, before i got it through my thick skull that getting things REALLY flat is critical. scales, liners (after being glued to scales) get hand lapped on 80 grit paper glued to my granite plate right before I clean them and glue them up. Tangs get final flattening (even if I'm "sure" they already were) on the flat platen with light pressure to minimize belt bunching up on the lead edge. If you aren't selling it, your current process is what I would do to make it look better.
 
Don't trust paper liners, maybe it's thinner in that spot


keep-calm-try-again.jpg
 
Yup, same here. Have the unfortunate drawer of costly mishaps.. Seem to be adding less and less to the drawer as time passes.
 
The scrap bucket beside my bandsaw always has some knives in it.
All part of learning. I've got piles of partially completed knives I'll probably never finish, simply due to them not being something I'd make anymore.
If you find someone who never scraps a knife, they either have low standards or don't make many knives
 
+1 on lapping on a flat surface prior to glue up. I have a piece of thick glass with a wood backing I spray glue 80 grit on then figure 8 everything flat prior to glue up. Being glass makes it so I can razor blade it clean and easy for a new sheet of sandpaper. Being flat is key.
 
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