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  #16  
Old 05-01-2006, 08:07 PM
Seussbrother Seussbrother is offline
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Great pictures of great knives to portray the verbiage Ron. Very informative and interesting "bore". Thanks so much for taking the time to share your knowledge!

seuss
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  #17  
Old 05-05-2006, 10:32 AM
BoBlade BoBlade is offline
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Cap,

Every now and then I will bring Mr. Gaddis' book to the "throne room" and peruse chapters. This moring was such an event. On page 120 he talks about putting a Duralumin butt cap on a stag or ivory handle" "While it was definitely stronger than the pin and pitch used at that time to hold stag or ivory handles to the tangs, most customers just didn't like the looks of it." The context of this comment was the late 40's / early 50's.

Best,

Ron
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  #18  
Old 05-05-2006, 03:25 PM
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The "Captain" The "Captain" is offline
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Ron,
Are you speaking of fiberglass? Is that why you pointed this response to me? I know I had heard about it from Dave Griffin a long time ago over dinner. I probably read it as well, but...well...age! Thanks, dude. Keep up the good work. Best, Capt. Chris Stanaback


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  #19  
Old 05-05-2006, 05:15 PM
dirty water dirty water is offline
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Gentlemen, ,sorry,

Anyways, occasionally we do get an older knife that has separated from the stag, (non-pinned), on these we drill thru the bottom to reach the tang and you can smell the resin. I believe the "pitch" was used to fill the blood lines in the bottom of the handle so as to look like the stag. We now use stag pegs.

a little help?

---DW---
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  #20  
Old 05-05-2006, 05:25 PM
BoBlade BoBlade is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty water
Gentlemen, ,sorry,
DW,

I can't speak for the Cap, but in my case you should definitely use the term gentleman loosely

Any help from the shop on this stuff is really appreciated!

Best,

Ron
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  #21  
Old 05-05-2006, 05:31 PM
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DW,
Were, or I guess I should ask, have you noticed any, pinned stag that came loose? I was told, and again, I cannot remember exactly when and by who but I think Dave, that the fiberglass resin would "shrink up" and that was the reason for the pins. Could Dave have meant the reason for the pins on "repaired" stag? I thought he meant the "original concept". Advise, Buddy. He was your friend too. Best, Capt. Chris Stanaback


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  #22  
Old 05-05-2006, 05:40 PM
dirty water dirty water is offline
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Yes, Capn',

The reason for the pins were to help keep the handles together. The resin does "shrink" for lack of a better term, and the pins would keep it together.

Bo, if you look closely at some of your old pinned RMK's up to the light, I would bet that you'd be able to "see the light" thru to the other side. There's nothing that can be done to the pinned handles to close the gap, but the others can be "vised" back together.

Dave?, definitely a friend.

-----DW-----
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  #23  
Old 05-05-2006, 07:06 PM
BoBlade BoBlade is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty water
Bo, if you look closely at some of your old pinned RMK's up to the light, I would bet that you'd be able to "see the light" thru to the other side. There's nothing that can be done to the pinned handles to close the gap, but the others can be "vised" back together.
DW,

Yes, quite a few old pinned stags have a "gap" between the hilt and the spacers (or the spacers and the stag). I can understand why you can't tighten things up if the handle is pinned.

Best,

Ron
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  #24  
Old 05-07-2006, 01:23 PM
crutch tip crutch tip is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dirty water
Gentlemen, ,sorry,

Anyways, occasionally we do get an older knife that has separated from the stag, (non-pinned), on these we drill thru the bottom to reach the tang and you can smell the resin. I believe the "pitch" was used to fill the blood lines in the bottom of the handle so as to look like the stag. We now use stag pegs.

a little help?

---DW---

So DW, you are saying RMK used polyester resin and MEK catalyst when they set a stag handle in the pinned stag era? If that is the case, I am surprised as it was not readily available particularly in the 40's and into the 50's. Also, the stuff in the old days didn't have much of a shelf life, particularly if you continually exposed the contents of a can to the air. It would set itself.

Polyester resin doesn't have much strength in and of itself, it is used as a bonding agent with fiberglass cloth - the strengh. Poly resin also has limited adhesion qualities.

Epoxy resin does have inherent tensile and compressive strength, and superior adhesion qualities compared to polyester resin. I would think poly resin alone would be a poor choice for attaching handles.

I was of the opinion as Ron was that the early handles were attached with pine or tar pitch which was a common adhesive for certain applications during the 40's and earlier.
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  #25  
Old 05-07-2006, 03:38 PM
dirty water dirty water is offline
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Crutchtip,

You are correct in your assumption that pitch was used in the pinned-handled models. My apologies for suggesting anything different. The way we speak at RMK, pitch, resins and epoxies are all the same...just a way to keep the handles together.

When fiberglass replaced the pitch, pins were no longer needed. And THAT is the smell I was referring to. Pitch in itself was more adhesive to the tangs than the handle materials, thus making pins necessary.

Of course, Epoxy is used today with no problems of adhesion, unless we forget to stir them correctly! (which has happened!)

Hope this clears the "dirty water" a little better. Sorry for my wording.

-----DW-----
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  #26  
Old 05-09-2006, 12:32 PM
crutch tip crutch tip is offline
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Roger that DW
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