Not sure if the CRK faithful go in for this sort of thing. Anyway, had a little free time this afternoon, so whipped these up. Cocobolo, from Panama (pre CITES treaty from the early 80's) Enjoy.
I'm gonna get me some play dough and work all night to make custom scales for my chopper ... crayons for color ... with lincoln logs for fasteners ... you just wait ... mine's gonna be purdy too ... and the faithful tube sock sheath ... I may add an athletic supporter for a drop sheath ...
Looks like you did an awesome job. I actually hate the Nyala’s stock scales. I find them terribly uncomfortable when you have to bear down hard on the knife.
That was my first thought when the knife arrived. The shadow-box tang also had me wondering. With smooth scales the balance point came out pretty well and the overall shape is really pleasant. The exposed tang is not noticable. Original handles kind of remind me of the heavily ground "rock texture" you see on fixed blade handles. Looks like hanging onto, ...well, a rock, as a knife handle. That went out with the stone ages.
Simply beautiful! Wish I had the talent/equipment to make something like that. Perhaps I'll have a go at it for a project (and then turn it over to a pro for finishing...LOL). I agree with the above opinions that the factory handle is not as comfortable as it could or should be. A case of "l'art pour l'art" - doggedly sticking with the African game theme? I have three Nyalas (one regular early without the Idaho Made marking - interestingly, the machining on that is actually detailed on the bevel surfaces , like elevation lines on a topographical map, where the later ones are just flat -, one later with the marking, and one later Insingo - all picked up at auctions for a good price). Which brings me to my questions: What's the best way to remove the stock handle slabs? There's some adhesive in addition to the screws, right? Also, did you try or consider to have the slabs fully cover the tang, i.e. do away with the exposed tang? It would add some volume to the rather slim handle profile and would look even better, IMHO (why stick with factory idiosyncrasy?).
I made them. @TC a very thin edge scraper worked under the front edge to pry them off. These ones had been taken off once before I got them. All I did was pop them off because of a little remaining residue.
Did you make them on a CNC router or by hand? I really dig them. You did a great job. I have a CNC router and have thought about making some Nyala scales for my personal knife but haven't tried it yet.
I get asked quite often if I use a CNC router. Truth is, I make all my scales 100% with a drill press and a belt sander I have set up on a bench top, by hand. The only precision instrument I us is a set of calipers to make sure they are the same thickness as the original ones and it is all by eye and by hand. No CNC. No router/duplicator.
TRfromMT, I'm so impressed with those lovely Cocobolo handles! I was inspired to modify my own Nyala. I decided to try and cover a little more of the tang, and extend the handles to the butt of the knife. The wood is Jatoba, also known as Brazilian Cherry.
I really I like that! It looks even better with handles that extend to the end of the tang. Very well done Sir.
