Re-Handling an old Western Knife Knife

[Toddzio]

My Girlfriends father asked me to re-handle an old Western Knife Skinner. It has a tang that is composed of two rectangular pieces of steel running parallel to the blade with the old butt cap on the end. Originally it had dumbell shaped leather spacers composing the handle which slid between the two steel tang stick things. This knife was manufactured by Camillus met a long, long time ago. By girlfriends father is 82, and he believes the knife originally was owned by his father. It has a partner, which is a boy scout sheath knife, (not a folder) that dates to about 1947 - 1950 or so with the same type of handle that is also falling apart.
But I ramble. What I need to do is re-handle the knife. He wants antler slabs. My question is A) can antler slabs be done, I don't know if I have ever seen antler slabs. B) flat slabs would leave a void between the two of them, Would this be a big problem? C) I don't think I can pin the slabs to anything. Could I use an expanding epoxy to fill the gap?

On a related tack, does anyone know of a source for Stabalized antlers?
I know you can stabalize wood at home, can Antlers be done the same way?

[Ray Rogers]

Maybe someone who has seen a tang like that will come along with better advice. I haven't seen one so I might be off the mark here (a pic would help) but I think I understand what you are describing. Sounds like you could use slabs and Loveless bolts to clamp them to the tang sticks. The gap between the sticks would be filled with a really good quality (non-expanding) epoxy which the bolts would pass through. This would prevent the scales from sliding. An alternative would be to cut a piece of Micarta to fill the gap for an even more solid tang and a lot less epoxy needed.

Yes, Stag is available in slabs and, yes, it can be stabilized. Some knife supply houses carry Stag and specialty places like Culpepper should have it. Try a net searchor look at the ads in Blade, there should be plenty of sources...

[Carey Quinn]

Ray is right all the way. If Loveless or Corby rivets seem like they would be too large, you could pin it through each rail with small brass or copper pins similar to the way some of the coffin handled bowies are done. You can pien them and not have to worry about grinding them flush and messing up the stag like you would with the rivets.

Culpepper at http://www.knifehandles.com/ has some of the prettiest amber dyed stag I've ever seen and you can get it either first or second cut. The second cut is less expensive and it would take an expert to tell the difference. Figure out the thickness you need and they will fix you up.

As a side note; if I recall correctly, the pommel is pinned on and you can drive it out to remove the pommel and get a good fit on the scales.

Have fun,
Carey

[NJStricker]

Ray, the knives made by Camillus and Western had a split tang, and used H-shaped leather washers for the stacked leather handles. For whatever reason they chose to do it this way, it provided a stacked leather handle with the appearance of a full tang.

Anyway, Carey is right. You will have to drift out the pins that hold on the pommel, which is likely cast aluminum. If the pommel is already missing, you will have to come up with a replacement to finish off the back. Unless, of course, you are hoping to use the slabs and fit them between the guard and pommel.

I wouldn't use an expanding adhesive, because as it tries to expand it will ooze out through any gap it can find. This is one of the problems with Gorilla Glue.

I would take Ray's approach. You'll need to find a spacer material such as micarta and cut and mill it to the same with and dimensions as the gap between the 2 parts of the tang. Then, fit your handle slabs to either side of it. I doubt you'll be able to drill through the tang for pins. So, you will have to rely on pins and epoxy through the handle slabs and passing between the tangs, through your filler material.

Your other option would be to remove the pommel, take a solid block of wood or micarta, and mill channels for the 2-piece tang. This block would have to be slid into place from the back of the knife, epoxied into place, and then the pommel replaced. You would need a tight fit all the way around for this to work, and unless you have access to some precision milling equipment I doubt this would be a direction you'd want to take.

[Toddzio]

Yeah, I tried to remove the pins, at some time somone "repaired" the knife. It looks like epoxied the pommel back on then bashed some new pins through. They are definately not original. If it was my knife I would just get rid of all the hardware and start from scratch- but it's not.