Setting mosaic pins

quint

quint

Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
1,396
Hello all new to the forum, been reading a ton on making knives. I am not making any from scratch, ordered a couple of kits and a couple of blades from Gene Martin (one for myself and one for a present). Great forum here with tons of info.

Anyways to the question. I understand the basics of how to make the mosaic pins and what not but have scene them set in two different ways. One being epoxied in place and the other being pined just like you would a solid brass pin. I would think peening (spelling ....) them inplace would be a stronger hold but was thinking that this would cause the epoxy on the inside to crack or displace and possibly displace or move the internals.

What do you guys recommend and any input on the best method. Thanks and apologize if I missed a thread already covering this question.
 
Quint, you are correct. Peening mosaic pins will destroy them. Cut them to length
( I use a Dremel w/cutoff wheel), scuff the tubing a bit to add some bite, then glue
them in with a good epoxy making sure you seal the pin holes. Finish them along
with the handle. I sometimes add some hidden pins to lend some shear strength.

Try to resist making your own mosaic pins, rag micarta, home stabilized wood, etc...
Save your time & money and buy those things from the folks who are expert at it.
Ask me how I know. Good luck with your project.
 
Thanks for the info guys. So far I agree with what you have to say with one exception. Although just starting out with this stuff I did experiment with stabilizing some wood. Long story short I was able to get ahold of some very old maple burl for a good price and tried out the vacuum sealing a few scales with minwax hardener. It came out pretty darn good and I didnt get to leave it as long as I had wanted to. Not perfect but pretty good. Some more playing I think will yield pretty good results. I am beginning to whole hardly agree with the mozaic pins though. Looked at some tutorials and it looks like a real pain. Thanks guys and I am sure I will be looking for more advice as I go along. So far my first order from knifekits wasnt shall we say steller. The knives are good just the order was all fubared. Cant wait to get my blades from Martin though.
 
One of the most important thing to know about mosaic rivets/pins is that you need to "clock" them. They have to all be turned the same way. It really sticks out badly when they are turned different ways to each other.
If the pattern has a square, place a corner at 12:00. Diamonds are more pleasing to the eye than squares. If the pattern has points of some sort, make sure that one point is at 12:00 exactly on each rivet.
 
This is also optional but depending on your handle width you can also use two small pieces of mosaic pin with a "cheaper" material in the middle. For example if your handle were 1 inch thick you could use 1/4 mosaic, 1/2 steel/brass/whatever, 1/4 mosaic. This will extend the life of your mosaic, which can be expensive.
 
Ive been thinking about doing this.They are quite expensive compared to brass or s.s.Clocking them is something i always INTEND to do,but forget a lot.I try to buy the ones that are the same all around.
JW Knives said:
This is also optional but depending on your handle width you can also use two small pieces of mosaic pin with a "cheaper" material in the middle. For example if your handle were 1 inch thick you could use 1/4 mosaic, 1/2 steel/brass/whatever, 1/4 mosaic. This will extend the life of your mosaic, which can be expensive.
Click to expand...
 
A good trick on clocking your rivets is to saw a shallow groove down the 12:00/6:00 line. When installing the rivets, use a small screwdriver to turn the rivets to align properly. You can see the groove even when the end is rough and covered with epoxy.
 
Two points on the pins, from my limited experience.
1. clock both sides of the pins... is the point that is at the top on one side also the top on the other side... I.E. pin twist? I use a dremel to cut at high speed the pin, removing say slow bandsaw twisting of the pin. I usually get one side pins clocked, the other, not with the bandsaw cut.
2. Before final sanding on the handle, check the mosaic pins for missing/chipped out/bubble vacancy of the colored epoxy. Color up and mix new epoxy, fill then final sand.
 
bladsmth said:
A good trick on clocking your rivets is to saw a shallow groove down the 12:00/6:00 line. When installing the rivets, use a small screwdriver to turn the rivets to align properly. You can see the groove even when the end is rough and covered with epoxy.
Click to expand...

Very cool idea, Stacy!:thumbup:
 
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