On 12 Jun, 00:42, Lew Hodgett wrote:

Incidentally, there's an epoxy thread in rec.knives at the moment. How
do you best attach scales to a metal frame ?

What does the term "scales" mean in the above?

Flat bits of wood or antler. Typically a folding knife will have two
thin metal "liners" between these and the blade itself.

If you're making a knife from scratch, then you rivet the scales to
the liners (easy), then you rivet the liners together around the blade
etc. (rather more work) If you're _repairing_ one though, you often
need to re-attach or attach new scales to liners that are already in
place around the blade, lock and folding mechanism. This is awkward,
as it's impractical to use the scale rivets, owing to poor access.

The temptation is to glue the scales to the liners, which is dead easy
but doesn't usually work too well. There's a lot of bending here and
an inelastic adhesive will tend to break off. As many liners are
brass, it can be a real problem. Personally (for repairs) I like to
leave the stumps of old rivets behind as crude dowel pins.