Nice job Buck...well done!

When I was working with this yellow micarta, I had some doubts about how it would turn out. The texture of the raw stuff made me wonder if it would really take a nice polish. With the use of progressivly finer abrasive papers (up to 1500 grit) and a couple of applications of Renaissance wax, it smoothed right out.
Here are a couple of photos of the work in progress.
- Buckspen

Thrilling.....

What kind of glue did you use? Are the pins just decorative or do they go through the holes in the handle? Looks good.

Pat - I used a slow setting epoxy. I didn't want the glue to set up before I got through adjusting everything. The pins go through the holes in the knife handle. I ordered large pins (3/8 inch) from Leo because I wanted them to be a relatively close fit for the holes.
I borrowed a belt sander from a friend for this project. Turns out the sander was just about worn out and I burned out the motor. Had to buy him a new sander!

- - - - Buckspen

This is probably a stupid question, but do you use the belt sander to grind down the size of the pins? In other words, how do you get the pins flush with the handle material.
Thanks

I asked the maker of the mosaic pins what the best way would be to work with these things. He said to use a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to cut the pins to the lenth I wanted. He emphasized that using a hack saw might damage the pins. Apparently these things are more fragile than they look. The varying hardness of the different materials used to construct the pins would cause the saw blade to drag and maybe damage them. I suspect that gently using a saw with a very fine toothed blade might be okay, but I did follow his recommendation. He also cautioned me to be very careful not to get the pins too hot as excessive heat could cause the epoxy to break down.
Before the gluing process, I cut the pins to extend about 3/8 inch on both sides of the handle knowing that I would be sanding the whole thing down to the proper size.
After waiting about a week to make sure the glue had seasoned well, I used the belt sander (carefully!!!!) to grind down the pins to the level of the handle material. The micarta slabs were a little thicker than I wanted so I used the sander on both sides until I had it to where I wanted it. I was careful; I used the sander gently and made sure to let the everything cool off before the heat built up.
I used the belt sander (gently!!!) and the Dremel tool with a sanding drum to remove the excess handle material and progressively finer grades of sand paper to finish it off and bring it to a final polish.
Patience is everything in a project like this. It is very easy to take too much off, and you can't put it back! Belt sanders are powerful tools and it's very easy to press a little too hard and ruin the entire project. Believe me, I know this from previous experience!
It was a fun project. I don't know if I will try this again, but I did get some Antique Gold paper micarta from Ken Davis recently and I may just have to do something with it.

- - - - -Buckspen

Thanks very much for the informative response. You did a really great job. The knife looks tremendous!

Thanks. I think it turned out well. About 15 years ago, I bought a Colt Single Action Army revover that came with a pair of unfitted "one-piece" ivory grips. I looked around and found a person who was well known in that field and had him fit the grips to my gun. A couple of years later, the grips popped off. In the meantime, I had met a man who is a master engraver and gunsmith. I talked with him about the grip problem and he told me that one piece ivory grips should always be fitted with pins long enough to go through the grip frame and slighty into each grip to resist side pressure. I later followed his advice when fitting ivory grips to a pair of guns when I was laid up for about six months with double knee surgery. I used his advice again when putting the handles on this knife. The pins are much more than decorative. They anchor the slabs of micarta to the knife and resist side pressure when the knife is used. I still use my Colt SAA's in cowboy action shooting with no problems and I intend to use this knife, too. I've attached a photo of my pair of revolvers.

- - - - -Buckspen

AWESOME!!!