sometimes you just mess up

[Case XX 6383]

got a xx 6392 rough black with a tested shield
and a tested hawkbill

the hawk had a loose blade and scale

tightened the blade

tried to tighten the scale and boom. done this successfully several times but you have to fail sometime

[Steve Warden]

Ouch

[Mumbleypeg]

Time for some zap-a-gap, or similar.

Ken

[Case XX 6383]

might just hang her on the wall as a reminder. man needs to be humble

[Doc B]

[Dinadan]

Look at the positive side. That loose scale will never annoy you again!

[rea1eye]

Sorry things did not work out for you this time. You tried.

Bob

[cody6268]

Put some stag on it! I've been saying that, well, because I'm thinking about having one of my hawkbills rehandled from the big pile of Kleins I've got from family and friends in the mining industry, bought used (both locally, and in lots), and bought new for some reason despite me needing another like a hole in my head.

Reminds me of the time I had a sweet little Browning lockback (mini of the hunting knives they had in the '70s) with a bent blade tip. Usually, a jeweler's anvil and ball peen hammer does the trick. Nope, the 440C used in that knife was so hard, the tip broke first strike. Still in my toolbox as a reminder.

[herbva]

Ouch! (Or, live and learn.) I bet we've all had similar miscues. From what I can see from your picture, all is not lost. I think this can be repaired.

[OLDE CUTLER]

Yes another tale from the file of "you win a few and you lose a few". Been there done that.

[orvet]

That plain old hurts to look at it!
Probably had a piece of dirt or lint under the bone, something that held it up just high enough to make it break.
Ask me how I know that will cause a handle to break....

[Case XX 6383]

I would like to hear options

[Old Folder]

I would like to hear options

Like cody6268 stated above "Put some stag on it" But only the damaged side. Would be a good conversation piece, and beautiful, usable hawkbill.

[herbva]

I would like to hear options

Case XX, since you asked, I would try repairing it. (If you don't like the repair, you can always go for full surgery and replace the bone scales with stag or anything else that strikes your fancy.) I'm sure there are many ways to approach the repair, but here is what I would do. First, carefully remove the loose bone pieces (which look like they are fully detached from your pictures). Then thoroughly clean and sand the exposed parts of the outside of the metal liner. Then clean the inside and side parts of the broken pieces that you are going to put back in. I like to use rubbing alcohol with a q-tip on all parts before glueing or epoxy. Remove the old pin and glue the pieces down on a bed of epoxy or zap-a-gap gel or whatever adhesive you are going to use, clamped down nice and tight to the liner. Quickly wipe off any excess adhesive that squishes out. After the adhesive fully cures, replace the pin very carefully! Make sure the inside of the liner is fully supported with your stiddy or whatever you use before you tighten the pin. As a final measure, you can run some zap-a gap into the crack or patch with epoxy dyed to match the bone. I know, this sounds a bit obsessive , but you asked.

[Jeffinn]

I would like to hear options

It’s worth trying to repair. Herb detailed the approach I would take. The tricky part is re-pinning the repaired section. It needs to be just “tight enough” without cracking the repaired section again.
Jeff

[TPK]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that!

[carrmillus]

....everything I've tried to fix like that in the last couple of years has turned out like that!!!....could be old age!!!............. .......................

[stumpstalker]

Walnut gunstock repair has come a long way in recent years with epoxies and greater interest in restoration. Not knife repair?

I have a treasured-by-me vintage, stag-handled, lock-back English Jack that had a crude patch put into the handle covers, from the looks of it, long, long ago. It still conveys the inherent mystique of the pattern and era it was manufactured, with maybe now an added and distinctive dash of “character”, given the repair.

Was it just two pieces that separated from the whole with your knife?

I wouldn’t “wear a hair-shirt” over the affair. You might use the unfortunate turn of events to develop new skills in repair, gain back some confidence by making the proverbial Lemonade out of Lemons and show us later how nicely it worked out.

As for a cost (time spent) vs. benefit ("investment value") analysis: I long ago considered that none of this hobby was going to be economic, all just a Labor of Love.

[TPK]

Walnut gunstock repair has come a long way in recent years with epoxies and greater interest in restoration. Not knife repair?

I have a treasured-by-me vintage, stag-handled, lock-back English Jack that had a crude patch put into the handle covers, from the looks of it, long, long ago. It still conveys the inherent mystique of the pattern and era it was manufactured, with maybe now an added and distinctive dash of “character”, given the repair.

Was it just two pieces that separated from the whole with your knife?

I wouldn’t “wear a hair-shirt” over the affair. You might use the unfortunate turn of events to develop new skills in repair, gain back some confidence by making the proverbial Lemonade out of Lemons and show us later how nicely it worked out.

As for a cost (time spent) vs. benefit ("investment value") analysis: I long ago considered that none of this hobby was going to be economic, all just a Labor of Love.

Very good advice, nicely put & well conveyed!