All About Pocket Knives

Does anyone know of a source for pre-cut leather washers for the Western line of knives? I've got a couple here I need to re-handle and am hoping someone already makes washers. I can make enough washers for a KaBar handle in about 15 minutes, but the split-tang Western handle looks like it would take a while.

Then again, maybe not. While writing this I got the idea of making up a bunch of leather squares, gluing up a block, and then grooving them with a thin-kerf tablesaw blade. Actually, the stack would be short enough to kerf on my bandsaw . . . Hmmm.

OK, how does this sound?

Buy or cut a strap the right width (so strap width equals or is wider than the thickness of the knife handle). Cut pieces to length. Trace one of the old washers onto each piece. Cut the grooves in the washers on the bandsaw. Install on the knife, gluing between each washer with Gorilla Glue. The Gorilla Glue should expand, get crazy, and go everywhere--filling all the gaps between washers, and any spaces between the washers and tangs.

Then I can just shape the handle, polish, and finish with an appropriate finish.

Does that sound like a functional plan?

Jim

coffeecup wrote:Does anyone know of a source for pre-cut leather washers for the Western line of knives?

Nope, ya gotta' cut 'em yourself! I am grinning because I have tried it before.......NOT fun.

coffeecup wrote:
OK, how does this sound?

Buy or cut a strap the right width (so strap width equals or is wider than the thickness of the knife handle). Cut pieces to length. Trace one of the old washers onto each piece. Cut the grooves in the washers on the bandsaw. Install on the knife, gluing between each washer with Gorilla Glue. The Gorilla Glue should expand, get crazy, and go everywhere--filling all the gaps between washers, and any spaces between the washers and tangs.

Then I can just shape the handle, polish, and finish with an appropriate finish.

Does that sound like a functional plan?

Jim

It might work as long as strength is not an issue.
Polyurethane glues (like Gorilla glue) typically have very little strength when it comes to filling gaps like in a stick tang.

Let us see how it comes out.

Dale

I'm working on a paper for class tonight, and periodically looking over at the bird-and-trout that will be my proof-of-concept piece. First thing I'm wondering about is if those pins in the pommel are peened or just set in place and filed flush? I knocked a pin out of Ka-bar pommel last week to replace a washer, once I had the pin moving it came right out. Is the Western going to be that easy or will I need to drill out one end of each pin before I can drive them out?

I've got one Western here with the pommel broken off, so I used it as a test bed. I sawed the tangs off so I had two parallel tangs to work with. Once I got a template made, I was able to saw blank washers with no problems. They fit the tang "well" but not perfectly, alongside the tang I had a couple of gaps I could just barely get a piece of .006" shimstock into. How closely should I be fitting these? I figured the Gorilla glue could eliminate the visual appearance of gaps alongside the tangs, wasn't relying on it for any real strength.

I don't really want to use epoxy in this application, I did a Ka-bar a while back and used Accraglas to bed the tang in the washers. It penetrated the leather in places and made finishing the handle a pain.

I also cut a few Western washers out of some scrap wood I had lying around (padauk, I think it was). They fit snugly alongside the tangs, so maybe I need to play with blade selection for the bandsaw, or fit a zero-clearance insert for the blade (more likely, cut into a piece of hardwood and clamp it in place as an improvised zero-clearance "table").

Jim