Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Handle scales coming off

Cut them off and reglue? Replace with something else? I dunno what to do.

what is the material? Horn?

Yeah its buffalo horn

Does it have pins? It needs pins. Use Accra glass for epoxy. Use pins and cut shallow notches with a Dremel or hacksaw all along the pins except the very ends, so the notches will still be well hidden within the handle material. Make some inclusions in the sides of the pin holes from the inside of the handle material if possible. Rough up the inside of the holes with a needle if that's the best you can do. Just make sure they can't be seen from the finished side. Try to glue it so that the epoxy makes a mechanical bond rather than a glue only bond.

Oh it has pins.....mosiac pins to be exact

Buffalo is notorious for moving, You really need a pin about 3/8 from the front edge. Once it starts moving it's pretty much gonna have to be taken off.

Electrical tape?

Looks like it has warped like horn material will do, if you re-secure it may do it again. I'd remove those scales and replace with new ones.

Contact the maker. I would remove the scales and reglue them with a good mechanical bond with an epoxy that has the least shrinkage. That's why I recommended Accra glass, not the gel though. For that matter, you could do it with several internal pins and leave the mosaics alone. Make the bottoms of the internal pin holes larger than the tops and cut shallow notches in the pins. Use the Accra glass and clamp that sucker good. I've made several that way and you won't remove a scale without destroying it. I've tested it.

I'll never own a buffalo horn knife because they all do this over time.

Not gonna happen.