How to insure symmetry in handles

[jdltd]

Im just getting to the end of finishing my first kit knife and ran into a problem I had not really considered. I am having a bit of trouble getting the two sides of the handle to be symmetric.

So far I have been just locking the blade down in the vice then hand sanding both sides carefully. I roughed out the handles on the drum sander but It didn't seem precise enough so I went on to hand sanding with a soft block. Anyway, my question is. How do all of you do it? Any advice would be great!

[nwknight]

Hey maybe you could lay both scales flat on table and press clay or playdoh around each and let harden a little then pull off and compare, in art if you put your sketch in the mirror it will show you the problem areas, might be worth a try, I am a newbee to.

[Dave W.]

Usually you tack the two sides together somehow, then rough shape/sand them both as a unit, then split them apart (carefully!) and then attach them to the handle and do the finish sanding etc...

Best of luck!

Dave

[TexasJack]

What I found was tricky is that you can get each side unevenly sanded - and it can happen quickly on a good belt - so that you look at one edge and it looks like a side is too thick. You sand and look at the other side and now it's too thin.

You can use a marking guage to check the thicknesses and keep them even. Most important is to slow down and inspect the work as you go. No guages, jigs, or sanding techniques will cure or replace that.

[jdltd]

thanks for the help guys. I had them profiled but I didn't even think about sanding them to shap before attatching them to the handles. Thanks again. Anyone else want to share what they do?

[chrisinbeav]

As I am also a newbie, my advise may not be the best, but it seems to work. Starting off with already cut and glued together scales (stripes, lines, etc...) Place one half of the handle against the blade. If you are using bolsters fit them as tight as you can. If you see any space at all, sand the end with about some 120-150 grit sand paper laying flat on your work area. Now that it fits real tight, tape, tack, hold it, or however you want to do it, drill out the pin hole closest to the bolster. With the new hole slide in a piece of your pin material (brass, stainless, nickel-silver). Now with this pin in place, if you got your handle tight enough to the bolster the handle shouldn't be able to move to much back and forth against the blade. Go ahead and drill out the other or other two or three holes. With each hole you drill make sure to put a pin in it. Now you have one side all drilled. Take the drilled half off of the blade. remove all the pins. Now line up your lines or stripes on the two halves of the handle. Again tape it, tack it or whatever. Through your already drilled holes, carefully drill again all the way through the predilled half and the undrilled half. Again, with each hole you drill put a pin in it. (A helpful hint. Use a drill press!! Doing this by hand can really screw up a good set of scales. If you get the holes just slighty off the pins won't go through the scales and blade.) Now that both pieces are drilled you should be able to sand down the front edge of the scale you last drilled to fit the bolster. Pin and glue away!
Chris