More Newbie Questions

[Billl223]

Being a woodworker, I have a bandsaw. I'm using a purchased finished blade and making the handles. I have some Big Leaf Maple Burl blocks laying around and decided to use that as a scale material. To practice and avoid screwing up good wood, I have made three sets of prototype scales from scrap wood. After planing the scales to about 3/8" thickness, I stuck them together with double sided carpet tape ( a technigue I learned from pattern sawing on the bandsaw). I then traced the outline of the blade and blade holes on one side of my scale "block". Drilled the holes and then bandsawed the rough profile through both scales. I haven't read of this method. Is there a risk I don't realize? My second question is that after using a small drum wheel to final profile the wood to the blade, I ran the assembly through my router with a round-over bit to establish the starting radius on the handles. Again, is there a risk to this technique?

[Cold Steel Cult]

In my experience, unless you are using a very hard or stringy wood, there is really no need for finesse in profiling, just be careful. The idea of sticking the scales together is a good idea, as the biggest problem I have had with scales is getting the holes to line up. My only suggestion is to also stick the scales to the blade, and then drill straight through the existing blade holes. This will get the holes pretty dead-on. Ive also tried putting in the pins without the epoxy and rasping or filing to the metal.

[TexasJack]

Yeah, there are some risks here.

First, it's easy to drill through wood, but not hardened steel. Therefore, the steel dictates where the holes should be. You're better off to rough cut the wood and drill the holes in each side seperately - going through the holes in the steel first. After you've drilled a hole, put the pin in that hole to keep the wood aligned.

Don't get the wood too thin or too close to the final shape. Use your sanding to get to the final shape so that you have the tightest fit all around.

As to using the router, you just have to be very careful that the bit doen't get anywhere near the steel! You might want to consider doing that before mounting the wood on the blade.

[Billl223]

Thanks for the advice. After a little more experimentation, I've determined that using the router (mounted in a table) is a little scary cutting the radius on the long edges of the scales and doesn't give a satisfactory contour without a lot more work. However, it looks like a good way to radius the front edge of the scales on a guardless knife. With my first attempt 90% complete, I took it to a shooting match today where there was one serious collector and one serious user to get their opinion. I will incorporate some minor mods and it looks like my first attempt wil complete and an enjoyable experience.