Thinning a scale

[Mark_Henry]

Hello!

This seems kind of a silly question but, I'm hoping there's a better answer out there than the most obvious one....

I've been building fixed blade kits for a while now and have just started on folders. I like the look of Dymondwood, as well as African Bloodwood and would like to use them on a pair of 605's I bought.

My question is, the Dymondwood comes almost 1/2" thick - much too thick for a folder. How do you guys thin it down? To me, the obvious path is to grind it down, but that seems wasteful. Do you cut it with a bandsaw and a fence? Or is there a supplier for "thin" scales?

Thanks,

Mark Henry

[mike koller]

Mark,
Have a look here http://www.kitknives.com/ and also look under folder(s)/ folder parts at the other supply places, they may have thinned scales as well.

If you have a good bandsaw and going to cut your own thinner; buy blocks next time, they yeild more material.

[Osprey Guy]

For me it's usually a question of how thick the material...

For folder scales I normally require a little less than an 1/8" each side. If I think I've got enough to re-saw in half (without butchering precious material), and I'm feeling especially gutsy that day ...then I'll give it a go.

If it's close and I know the material is inherently difficult to re-saw (such as snakewood or ironwood...seems I'm always getting nasty bandsaw blade drift with these) then I'll just take my lumps and grind off the excess. I recently all but destroyed about 3 1/2" of primo-figured snakewood in an attempt to squeeze an extra set of scales out of a piece about 5/16" thick...never again. It's just not worth the risk.

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

[Nifmakr]

What I do to make two thins out of a thick, is first I scribe a C/L all the way around the piece, then start sawing alittle(making sure I'm in the center) then lift the piece and cut up the line alittle ways. Then turn it over and the same from the other side of that end. Turn it around to the other end and do the same thing to the other end. Keep lifting a little more each time you turn it over or around. It's the same principle as turning a round piece as you cut it on the bandsaw so that you end up with a square end on your piece.

Hope I explained this well enough. It's sometimes harder to tell someone how to do something than it is to do.

Steve

[Osprey Guy]

I'll have to try that next time...

I recently took a newly acquired, good-sized piece of snakewood over to an old woodmaker who lives nearby. He's got a very expensive, very high-end, Italian-made band saw...he used a new blade 1 1/4" wide!!!...and with almost no hesitation, he rather quickly cut the wood very precisely into 1/8" strips...it was amazing! I guess that comes with 50+ years of experience and a hell of a nice saw...

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

[wrathlord]

um yea a good bandsaw,and cut it,a fence would be good to keep the pieces even,I frequently cut 3/8"polyester pearl in a benchvise with a hacksaw ,no probs.

[mike koller]

The 1 1/4 in wide blade is the ticket, if you are looking into buying a good saw and plan on using it for resawing always keep in mind how wide a blade the saw can take. WIDER IS BETTER and that isn't just for Pontiac's

[Ray Rogers]

Wider blades are better when it comes to resawing, that's for sure. But, it can also be done with a narrow blade. I use a 1/4" blade on my 14" Grizzly saw and had no trouble cutting 6 1/8th" scales from a block of ironwood a few days ago.

When I first tried to cut scales with a narrow blade it seemed like there was no way it would ever work. I use a narrow blade because I use the saw like an oversized scroll saw. It's much more precise that my real scroll saw.

Eventually, I figured out what the trick was to getting that narrow blade to work. Bring the two blade guides together as close as possible to make the blade stiffer - like a wide blade would be. Then, be sure that the blade is actually resting against the guides and supported everywhere that it is supposed to be. I was surprised to find out the saw would run fine with the blade on one guide only and sometimes even canted at an angle across a guide. Of course there is no way it will cut straight when adjusted that way.

Use a new blade, and a good guide fence and it works just like Dennis said his friend's saw worked...zip...zip...zip...

[Osprey Guy]

Ray-

By the way I should mention..I really got a kick out of your website. I especially like the way you've got the shop tour set up ...that is very neat...just click on the shop item in the drawing and there you are!...and great shop too I might add.

Thanks for all the info and look-see...

Dennis

Yeah Baby!

[Ray Rogers]

Thanks, Dennis! I hope you took the time to meet the bears also and maybe even got to visit the Wauconda Winter Olympics...

[KBurney]

I have to comment on your fantastic web site as well, Ray. Very neat. The shop tour and the knives were inspiring! Also looks like you have yourself quite a lifestyle there.

[Ray Rogers]

Thank you, Mr. Burney. It's taken a lifetime for me to work myself into a position where my current lifestyle would be feasable. I don't know how many years I have left to spend this way but you can bet I will try to make the most of it.

As for my website, knife making is supposed to be fun so I figured the website should be fun too.....

[SharpByCoop]

I agree with everyone. first of all on the great knives, secondly on an entertaining and informative website. Your shop diagram is a GREAT first!!

I love those 'cubs' ! Nice air on the Olympics, too!!

Coop

[Ray Rogers]

Thanks, Coop! I tried to set up the Shoptour and the tutorials so that an interested person could go directly to what they wanted to see. I hate having to step through layer after layer of superfluous text and graphics to get to what I want to see.

As for the Olympics, B?rn Luzer doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'!! And quite a few other words too.....:confused:

[Frank Niro]

If you are resawing thin pieces they can be difficult to guide and dangerous if you get careless. What I do and this works great for odd shaped material as some Mammoth ivory pieces can be, is to cut an angled slot in a piece of 3/4" plywood a couple of inches deep that will allow the material to be jammed and to to be held in the cutting position. The following the line thing will go great if you have checked your guide position and have a reasonable sharp blade. Hope this helps some. Frank