Scuff marks behind lanyard tube

Sean Jones

Sean Jones

Well-Known Member
I'm having a devil of a time cleaning up a Cocobolo handle I'm working on behind the lanyard tube. I'm thinking I'm approaching this wrong. In the photo you can see the scuff marks behind the tube. I've tried removing them with an 800 grit belt and also hand sanding. I went back to 400 briefly hand sanding and for what ever reason they aren't coming out. I'd rather not go back further in grit...at least I didn't think I'd need to.

So do I just persevere or am I missing something obvious?


Cocobolo-closeup.jpg
 
I'm afraid I don't have your answer, Sean, but I'm gonna be following this thread closely because I've had problems very similar to this. Someone will have the right answer.
 
AkWildman said:
It looks like you had a blow out when you drilled the hole,there are tell tail signs of that in the front of the tube as well,if you want to get rid of it your going to have to thin that handle down a little to get past it.
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Perhaps. I thought I had gotten past that...here is a profile view from the top. It wouldn't hurt to thin it out a bit more in the back so I will take your suggestion and try that first.
This knife has fought me from the very beginning. Ah well...live and hopefully learn!
Cocobolo-profile-top.jpg
 
I'd grind that thinner and re-sand it. Those would take FOREVER to sand out with 400 grit or finer.

But a quick bump on the belt with 120 and then sand back up.....should only be a couple minutes.

There's a time and place for superglue/sawdust but I personally feel this isn't it. Just my opinion.
 
I agree with J. I wouldn’t use glue and dust, personally.
There’s still plenty of material there to grind the deep spots out. You could likely get away with an x weight 220, then a pass or 2 with your higher grits.

If gluing scales together for drilling , I usually make the glued “inside” the outside of my scales, if that makes sense. IOW, once I have them glued together and drill my pin/lanyard tube locations, I’ll knock them apart, and the surfaces that had glue become the outside. I can then countersink for corbies, and ream for tubes. Btw, I would ream for final size for tubes. ;)

You almost never get blowout in between glued surfaces, and if the bottom of my stack blows out a little, it goes under the scale anyway and gives more room for glue.
 
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Thanks for the further input everyone. I'll grind it down a bit further and clean up. I'll report back on how it goes. Probably tomorrow
 
One thing about hand sanding around pins and lanyard tubes-
It’s my experience that hand sanding will leave high spots. I would use a backer board in that area and I think it would solve your issue.
I always use a backer board in that area for initial sanding and only as necessary in the final grits.
 
I think what happens also is since the tube is harder than the wood, it sometimes prevents the sandpaper from hitting the wood. You could be fighting that metal. I agree need to sand down the pin/profile to get that to disappear. That is a weird low spot right near the pin. It looks too even to be a blow out.
 
Mark Barone said:
I think what happens also is since the tube is harder than the wood, it sometimes prevents the sandpaper from hitting the wood. You could be fighting that metal.
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Yes I have that problem too and I think opaul's suggestion about the backer board is helpful to address that. And I try to sand with the grain so any remaining scratches blend in better.
 
J. Doyle said:
I'd grind that thinner and re-sand it. Those would take FOREVER to sand out with 400 grit or finer.

But a quick bump on the belt with 120 and then sand back up.....should only be a couple minutes.

There's a time and place for superglue/sawdust but I personally feel this isn't it. Just my opinion.
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If he has enough handle thickness to grind it out that would be the best approach. Seems like he does. Looking forward to seeing it finished.
 
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tkroenlein said:
Yup. There's a universal correct answer to almost every knife making question: keep sanding. :)
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That's very true.
The more I work on knives the more I find myself thinking I don't know what I'm doing. But it's still fun

I worked on the scales a bit tonight. I should have them finished up tomorrow.
 
I agree with a quick hit on 120 grit, then follow up with 400 grit. THEN, I would do a bit of wet sanding with the handle flooded with CA. That produces a bit of "dust" soaked with CA to fill pores in the wood. After wet sanding and handle drys, sand all the surface CA so only the wood is left, but those open pores and tiny scratches will disappear.
 
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