Stacked Leather Hilt

I'm planning on making a sheath knife and was considering using stacked leather for the hilt.

What adhesive is generally used for this? I can get anything from cyanoacrylic [crazy glue] to old fashioned hide glue.

Any comments or advice would be helpful.

Leon Jester
Roanoke, VA

You should check out Wayne Goddard's "The Wonder of Knifemaking" for great advice on this subject. I've heard of super glue, but I would think epoxy (the two-part kind) would be vastly superior to super glue. I'm inexperienced (very) but if you could use Acra-Glas from Brownell's, that would be the way to go. The stuff's indestructible. The leather would be there long after the steel rusted away to nothing. I doesn't shrink, swell, and is immune from everything short of an act of God.

I think that many leather washer handles are just compression fitted also.

on the one pictured I used epoxy 24 hour set. I made a piece of would with a hole to fit the tang and then after each 3-4 washer I gave them a good whack or two with a hammer. I used thin stock on the blade so I could not tread the tang but instead ( and what I actuallty liked more and will use again) drilled a hole in the tang and in the butcap. I then compressed the whole thing..checked for coreect fit..added washers as need and then inserted a pin while it was compressed. This ended up having a very thight fit.

That's really nice work! I'm going to make a knife like that when I grow up.

this knife by the way is made using no other powertools than my drillpress...NO GRINDERS

Thanks to all of you for the advice, and the really neat pic of a great-looking knife. When I get something worthwhile, I'll take a shot or two and scan them in.

Leon Jester
Roanoke, Virginia