finish of knife pins

I noticed that when i sand over my texas star pins it grinds the star shape off.what do you do? Also what is the best way to cut the pins and cut them to the right length .:(
 
Not sure what a Texas Star pin is? If it's a Mosaic pin to resemble a five point star? You shouldn't be losing anything?

As far as cutting pin stock a Hand coping or Jewelers Saw works fine or a Metal cutting band saw if you have one. Over size the pins about a 1/8" so you can grind/Sand them flush.

Hope this helps?

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
yes it is mosaic pins and when i ran my sander over them i guess it got to hot and melted the brass and the shape did not look like a star anymore.but thanks that info does help me.laurence also would a scroll saw work cutting those pins?
 
Yes when you sand your mosaic pins you dont want to get them hot. It may melt the epoxy that is in side and distort them some. The closer you get to final the slower you run the belt.
 
A scroll saw may work? Or you may just bust a blade? Almost any handsaw that's for soft metal will work?
It's worth the bucks to get a Coping or Jewelers saw.
You will find many uses for it. Heck, Even a rusty Hack saw will work!

I purchased many of my hand tools " And still do" at yard sales and second hand stores if money is tight?

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/


www.rhinoknives.com/
 
A method that might help... it's what I've been doing lately on my handles... particularly if they have a lot of contour.

  • With the handles pretty well profiled (but still flat), I will epoxy everything up and use long pins to keep everything in alignment.
  • Once everything is clamped, pull the pins and let the epoxy cure for 24 hours.
  • Once set, I will contour the handle and get everything about 95% to shape.
  • Then I set the pins... for traditional pins, I'll use a tapered reamer to add a bit of room for pin expansion. Obviously for mosaic pins or a thing hole liner, you would skip this step.
  • Once the pins are set or the mosaic pins/thong hole liners are epoxied in place, I'll carefully use FILES to get the pins flush.
  • After that, finish is pretty straightforward. Even if you go back to a sander or grinder, you aren't trying to remove material, just get the handle and pins to a certain level of finish. If you are careful and don't try to do too much at once, you shouldn't scorch or melt anything.

This method has been working well for me. This biggest potential problem with doing things this way would be if your handle material shifted after you pulled the guide pins. I use several small c clamps and kant twist clamps to help eliminate this. Occasionally, I will have to drill out some epoxy that creeps into the open pin holes, but most of the time I can get the pins through without that step. Hope this helps.

-Mark
 
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