Scales replace or not ?

justold52 · Post by **justold52** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:52 am

Scales: Any material used to make the handle.

What are some reasons why I should replace my handles?

I have 4 Schrade 296Y. That I got on E bay 280028700973.
Only got them for every day use but then I started thinking.
Will they be worth it to costume the handles?
They are not used but are far from mint.
What are some of your reasons that you men replace the scales?
Do custom knives keep their value? Or is it just a point of love one has for the old things from dad you want to save? or is it the custom knife maker's name?

O well so much for thinking they only cost me $5.00 each and no Love for them. YET but if I get a Red Heart Abalone on one I could learn to LOVE it

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:40 pm

Hi justold52. I had an old CASE delrin handled small stockman knife customised by our very own Jeff Jones a.k.a. agteacher2. He and others here are very talented and can transform the ordinary into something special. If you really want a schrade abalone, I say go for it. It will be one of a kind. Here is the link to the 's-k project' you can see the knife before and after and follow the steps involved. Good luck

s-k

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... t1018.html

muskrat man · Post by **muskrat man** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:29 pm

absolutely, I would do at least 2 of the 4. A customized knife has more meaning to me, than a stock one in most cases. With them being the yellow delrin, and the shield missing ect, they are great platforms for many projects. Alot of the knives I cusotmize are Schrade, sure, they are out of buisness and all, but I never plan on selling them, just keep them for my own use, and who knows 20 years down the road, aftermarket "backyard" rebuilt schrades may be a desireable collectors item?

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:38 pm

Knowing me, if they are all damaged, I would customize them all. http://www.knifehandles.com is all out of Red Heart Abalone, I got the last piece from what I was told and they did not know when they were going to get more. They were also almost out of Green Heart Abalone, which I also purchased. (I'm speaking of the Mosaic or laminated abalone) Since there is no longer a commercial abalone industry in California it is going to be hard to get any more. The Mother of Pearl Company (knifehandles.com) had some shells on hand but did not know when more will be made.
Mexico is the only other source for shell for these 2 abalone species but they are not reliable. Well Ken, this is why I'm hanging on to my abalone handled knives. The Paua will be following the footsteps of the Red and Green abalone due to excess pressure on the fishery. An estimated 90% of Paua Abalone is poached, illegally caught and sold on the black market. This includes undersized juvenile Paua Abalone that are to immature to breed. Because I am an abalone diver, I follow what is happening to the abalone resources around the world. Many years ago, South Africa sent many of it's Game Wardens to Sonoma County to be trained in combatting the illegal take of abalone. (I was there mimmicking a poacher, quite fun actually)(that is with the exception of being handcuffed, they though it was funny, WHO HAS THE KEY). The situation in South Africa was real bad,

the poachers were referred to as The Pirates of South Africa and were armed with automatic weapons and RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades). Some wardens lost there homes, shot up and burned out! Australia and New Zealand (Most Paua is from New Zealand) need to follow South Africa's lead and come to California (Sonoma County has covert operations to capture poachers and I don't think many are left, if any) and be trained in how to stop poachers. Poaching Abalone is an offense in California that is punishable by the following: 3 YEARS IN PRISON, loss of boat and vehicle, loss of house, and $40,000.00 is the largest fine I've heard of. The charge is felony conspiracy against the state of California and poachers have been fined all of the above!

RIGHT ON!

The largest pieces of Red Heart Abalone I know of currently are at http://www.knifehandles.com and they are the full natural pieces at 2 3/4 inches long. For any project longer than that, a cigar band will be needed. Plan on spending $80.00 to $100.00 for materials, BUT for the reasons I've listed above it is a very worthy investment.

Sorry to run on, I saw Red Abalone and I thought I'd put my $10.00 in. If things don't change, abalone of any species will be very hard to come by and existing abalone handled knives should fetch a premium price.
I hope you all find this to be informative.

justold52 · Post by **justold52** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:04 pm

smiling-knife ; That was a super show and a much improved knife I fell.

I am thinking more on the doing it now.

Hukk ; Do you have any Red Heart Abalone that you are willing to part with????? We can make this a history knife ?

Hukk will you be willing to get or buy some from that place for me?
You know much more than I do about them. It looks like I need them 3"by 3/4" long to fit in my knife ? and thats done size. O sure I will send you the money in advance. Or I can send you the knives. Cuz I know you can be trusted. Or is this some thing I not say here? I know You have a super handle replacer or custom knife man.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:24 pm

justold52 wrote:smiling-knife ; That was a super show and a much improved knife I fell.

I am thinking more on the doing it now.

Hi justold52. I agree

That 'show' was courtesy of Agteacher2. He did the work and took the photos to share the process with all of the members of the site. Personally, I think there are plenty of great wood options and I like buffalo horn too. You might try a selection of different materials, if interested. Good luck.

s-k

Hukk · Post by **Hukk** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:42 pm

Jeff Jones a.k.a. agteacher2 has done all my rehandle work. I don't have any Red Abalone on hand, I have some shells for my son, but none of them are good enough to use for knife handles due to worm holes and boring clams (they live in the shell itself). Only 0.5 to 1% (approximately) of all abalone shells is usable for knife handles, that's why they went to the laminated products and many of those are excellent.
I would recommend calling them, they are always very helpful. Another recommendation I would make is for your knife maker to order them because I have no idea how thick the abalone scales would need to be. They can be shimmed if they are to thin. Jeff is 100% honest and we have done business many times. Please read my comment about working with custom knife makers. http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... php?t=1874
Putting a middle man into customizing a personal knife is not a good idea. At the moment, I do not think that they have the mosaic abalone in Red Heart, but they may have green and they had Paua select. You can see a picture of the Paua that Jeff did at the following link. http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... php?t=1582
Give them a call at (828) 524-6842, they have always been great to work with and are very helpful. Go to http://www.knifehandles.com and click on Mosaic Abalone. Anything they have a picture of is good quality. STAY AWAY FROM THE BLACK AND BROWN PEARLS, they will show every lamination line.
If in doubt, always work with your knife maker. Good Luck!

knifeswapper · Post by **knifeswapper** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:25 am

If you want the practice those are very good ones to start with. Take the backspring pin out and the liners/bolster slide off leaving the blades and backsprings still one piece. At least that is the way mine have been.

If they have problems as-is, they are probably good candidates.

justold52 · Post by **justold52** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:39 am

Hukk ; (Putting a middle man into customizing a personal knife is not a good idea.) Very good point man. 3rd party between rock and hard place.
That could end up in bad or lost friendship.

See you know I am in LOVE with one of your wife's oops knive's still. She is still on my desk top too. Just did not know if the Schrade 296Y was worthy of whereing such a beautiful dress.

I did send Jeff an email just to let you all know I am still thinking about it.

knifeswapper ; That ended up looking like one of a kind. That’s KOOL looking.

But your measuring stick ? made in China? When you use it are you all ways 1/16 th off too?

If any one wants to SHOW a custom knife here please do so. It will only help me and I love looking at KNIVES.