Pin and solder guards?

[jwfilion]

I have usually pinned guards on hunting knives, a good peening keeps them in place. These are generally thick and inflexible blades. However, I am about to put nickel silver guards on a very flexible fillet blade and was wandering if just pinning would be enough. I imagine that all the flexing would eventually wear on the pins.
Would it not be prudent, in this situatuin, to solder the guards as well?
If so, which would you do first...pin or solder?

[Frank J Warner]

I'm just finishing up a knife with pinned NS bolsters. It's not a fillet knife but it has some flex. So the situation is similar.

I used Terry Primos' JB Weld method as described in the tutorials ("how-to's" button above). Pinned and peined while the JB Weld was still soft, wiped away the squeeze-out, let everything cure and shaped and polished the bolsters. They look great.

Even a "very flexible" fillet knife shouldn't have enough flex in the guard area to worry about. The guard, in fact, should stiffen that area up significantly.

-Frank J Warner

[jwfilion]

I like the jb weld idea, however, what good does it do if you peen the pins so tight that you squeeze the epoxy out of the bolster area? Is there enough left over to at least insure a watertight seam? Is any epoxy good enough for this job? All I have is Brownells Accu-Weld and standard Devcon 2-ton.

[Frank J Warner]

In fact the pins will bear the brunt of any forces on the guard, but don't discount JB Weld. The stuff is brutal; at least as adhesive as solder when it is mixed and cured properly, and much easier and less error-prone to apply; no heat to ruin a perfect temper, etc. If you follow Terry's tutorial, you can get a bright, solder-like joint with no tears.

As Mikey used to say, "Try it. You'll like it!"

-Frank J Warner