Bolster pins showing, please help

[mookster]

Hi to all. I'm just doing the handle on a knife for my wife, and have run into a problem. It seems that I've ground so much away that the peened part is gone, and I'm left with the pins showing horribly.
The question is, should I try and push the pins out, ream, pin, peen and finish, or should I try and start again?. The rest of the knife is turning out nicely, it's just that it's her birthday tomorrow, and I need to get this sorted today!
Any advice gratefully received.

[Richarpo]

Hi. I would not try and remove the pins at this point of the build. You could try and gently peen the edges of the pin where it meets the bolster and go ahead and finish the bolsters, when polished up they will look a lot better even if you can see the pins.I make a lot of bolster type knives withh SS an completely finish the bolster before pinning. I undercut the pin hole slightly with a countersink and leave the pins a little less than 1/8" protruding from either side. I peen the pin as flat as i can with the flat part off the hammer than peen the pin to refine it. This fills the undercut section pretty slick.I than grind the face of the pins down to match the bolster and remove any coining that may have ocurred. I have never had any pins showing or had any boslters come loose. The secret here is to do your shaping and contouring before you permantly mount the bolsters. I hope this helps but I am sure your wife will love the knife anyway. Good luck Rich "Richarpo" Rotella

[mookster]

Thanks for the info. In the end I just hammered out the pins with the new ones and peened them as I would normally. It worked a treat. I'll attach photos of the finished knife later.

[mookster]

As promised, this is how the pins worked out.

[rscoffey]

Good Job! I think you got very lucky! Good for you!