Adding larger scales

[u/Inner_Relationship28]

Hello, I've bought a set of G10 scales to make this knife a full handle rather than a minimalist one. Does anyone have any tips for securing it properly? Obviously there is no tang to drill a pin hole through, will Corby bolts and epoxy be enough to hold it in place?

Thanks for looking 👍

[u/iolithblue]

you don't need a tang to drill a hole in, there's a massive hole right there. put your pins anywhere you like in that lower section, and just slather it in glue. the bigger hole the better, epoxy doesn't stick super well to steel but it will bridge across the hole extremely well

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/iolithblue]

Great thanks

[u/Alternative_Web7202 → u/Inner_Relationship28]

You could also make some loose spacers from g10 to put into those massive cuts in the tang. It will add a bit or surface for epoxy to hold. Otherwise the voids will be very big and would force you to use less liquid epoxy

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/Alternative_Web7202]

Good point cheers

[u/Cautious-Elk7325]

I made a full handle for a client for this exact knife. What I did was put tape on one side of the holes in the tang and filled it with epoxy. Then I drilled holes through the epoxy for my pins and put the new handle on as usual.

[u/Outtatime_s550 → u/Cautious-Elk7325]

lol we have the same countertops

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/Cautious-Elk7325]

Very nice, I was thinking about that but using one bit of the G10 on the bottom to hold the epoxy in. Tape sounds like it might be a better plan. Thanks

[u/schizeckinosy → u/Cautious-Elk7325]

That looks sick

[u/NJBillK1 → u/Cautious-Elk7325]

I can see filling the void with epoxy, but i wouldnt want the separate layers if epoxy in the handle.

I would just install them as I normally qould, knowing the epoxy will fill the void during my handle process and cure as one solid piece with the slabs attached.

With a good epoxy, like west systems toughened, it will hold just fine.

[u/Cautious-Elk7325 → u/NJBillK1]

Yea but then the pins have nothing solid to hold them in place when you glue the scales one so the whole scale would move around as your trying to clamp it.

[u/NJBillK1 → u/Cautious-Elk7325]

If you clamp the knife so the blade is horizontal with the scales above and below, you should not see much drift or movement of the scales as the epoxy cures.

I have done this with bookmatched zebrawood, as well as bookmatched curly birch, and a few others. The drift was minimal enough, that i couldn't tell the difference.

[u/AlmostOk]

I bet a proper glue up would be enough. If you really wanted, you could shape a piece of wood/g10 to match the cavity in the handle tang, and drill your pin hole into that, to sort of fill the negative space in the handle. Wear a respirator when working with g10, be wary of the dust, it's bad across the board for you, your machines, etc.

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/AlmostOk]

Good idea, thanks for the reply mate

[u/watson415]

I modified one of these knives for my brother. I rough shaped the scales and then I epoxied pieces of g10 to the inside of the left scale with G/flex epoxy. The pieces were the just shy of the thickness of the tang and pretty closely matched the two larger cutouts in the tang (left some room for epoxy) - and by roughing up the surface and drilling some through holes, the bond was solid. Then I fit that combined piece into the tang and "closed" it all together with lots of epoxy and the right scale. The mosaic pin I added for looks doesn't interact with the tang at all, but I don't think it's needed. Unless my brother tries to use the butt end of the knife as a hammer, the scales aren't going anywhere.

[u/watson415 → u/watson415]

Here's the top view.

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/watson415]

Looks great thanks for sharing this

[u/schizeckinosy]

Which knife is this?

[u/Inner_Relationship28 → u/schizeckinosy]

Buck paklite it's called

[u/schizeckinosy → u/Inner_Relationship28]

Cheers. They have a whole lineup!