Nearly 45 years ago I made a knife out of a file. It quickly became my wife's favorite for cutting her homemade noodles. I have instructions to "Never Sharpen it" because it is so sharp that she cuts herself very easily if I do. The handle I made for it was a hardwood and it was attached with two brass machine screws  with nuts. I coated everything with 2 part, 24 hour epoxy,  quick setting hadn't been invented yet. It has been machine washed hundreds of times and now is starting to show age.  I am making it a new handle out of some exotic wood scrap. It occured to me that I have seen knives that do not have screws or rivets. Is there a glue that will hold wood to metal that would serve this purpose. It sure would allow me to make a much more beautiful handle.  If not, do they make a special bolt/nut for this purpose  that looks good?

Edited February 2, 20188 yr by Ron Altier
spelling

they are also known as scales.

 

i've done a few knives, both from knife kits from Rockler, and an Ulu from another supplier (Jantz).

 

for the rockler projects, the scales were attached with both 2 part epoxy and little screws.

 

the Ulu was attached with blind rivets.  you pound them together and they capture themselves.  different sizes for different material thicknesses.

 

i'd stop putting a good knife in the dishwasher.  hand wash it going forward.  not has hard on the metal or scale material.

 

let me see if i can find a pic of the Ulu with the rivets.

Ulu with zebra wood scales:

For the ones I made, I bought some brass mosaic tubing from Jantz. I think the epoxy does ,ost of the holding and the tubing makes it a little stronger.

there you go.  two "experts" who have used Jantz Supply.  they have everything for knives.

Edited February 2, 20188 yr by DAB

This is the OLD knife. It isn't worth messing with, but she loves it. You can see I have some work to do

If you want something that screws together you need sex bolts.  Local bolt house or Grainger.

 

1 hour ago, HandyDan said:

If you want something that screws together you need sex bolts.  Local bolt house or Grainger.

 

I know those as Chicago screws. 

FWIW to you all..enjoyed the learning journey on this thread.

Thanks for the OP and responses.

7 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

FWIW to you all..enjoyed the learning journey on this thread.

Thanks for the OP and responses.

I got a knife handle needs replacing too, thanks for reminding me.

 

Herb

1 hour ago, DAB said:

I know those as Chicago screws. 

Same thing, just not as 'SEXY".

While you can certainly epoxy the scales onto the tang, the best and sturdiest way is to make a one piece handle and epoxy the tang into the handle. If you are going to attach two piece handles generally they are attached with rivets (DO NOT use Sex Bolts, sorry Dan). Some makers will use a Hidden Nut which doesn't enclose the threads like a Corby Head (sex bolt) does. Typically, the scales are riveted on. Once seated the rivet head will stick proud of the surface and then the entire handle is "Hafted" or contour sanded. This flushes the rivet head to the wood surface and shapes the final handle.

 

In any case, NEVER, put a wooden handled knife into the dishwasher. Constant exposure to the water will eventually, swell the wood or cause rot to start under the scale at the tang. Several of my wooden handled Case Cutlery kitchen knives show signs of swelling, after four decades of use, just from hand washing. Dishwashers accelerate this process exponentially.

 

Every piece of flatware that was shipped out of the Case factory had a blanket warning not to put them into a dishwasher (I believe all quality cutlery companies provide the same warning). However, we were constantly replacing handles under warranty, even though we knew that the instructions had been ignored by the owner.

 

With the advent of cheap, imported, throw-a-way kitchen knives most of the domestic knife companies no longer make "flatware" (kitchen knives). Even back it the 70's it was a low margin profit product. Fewer people were willing to pay the price for premium, quality knives. It was starting to become a profit loser. Case no longer makes flatware. They have turned to pocket knives exclusively and cater to the collector with boutique offerings. I cringe when I look at a new case pocket knife and see all of the defects that would have never made it past final inspection.

 

In any event, look to a quality supplier, like Jantz, to find your fasteners. Put some nice wood scales back onto that knife and use it for the rest of your lives.

 

 

 

 

if it was me, i'd fix up that old knife, maybe with waterproof scales of some type, and also pick out a kit for a proper chef knife and make that too as a present.  a twofer!