Removing Knife handle scales

[Bucksaw]

I am wanting to rework some of my first knives to make them better (reshape, heat treat, polish) and I am wondering what would be the best method for removing the handles without ruining the handle material. THe handles are epoxied on, and some are wood others are antler. One or two have pins, but most dont. What do you recomend?

[simsknives]

the handles are pinned and epoxied so they wont come off easily. your best bet will be to sand off the handles and put new handles on. are they hidden tang or full tang?

[Bucksaw]

a couple of each.

Would heating make the epoxy let loose? I hate to ruin the scales. I dont mind ruining the pins, but some of the scales would hurt me to just ruin them.

[Bjankowski]

I usually just take a chisel and start at the end enough to where I can start digging it out, I wouldn't use a torch on it an take a chance of losing the temper. Once you do one side you can normally knock the pins out from that side and pull them out. I sometimes put on a 30 grit belt on my belt grinder and it's fast that way.

[Jason Fry]

Might could put them in the oven at 200 or so and get the epoxy to turn loose. Won't hurt the temper. Going to be real hard to get the pinned ones off without destroying the scales. If it was me, I'd leave them alone and focus on your next knife being better rather than going backward.

[Bucksaw]

I was just hoping to salvage them and possibly make them sell-able. One of them especially since the handle has red dymondwood with some white fiberglass glued in it making some parrallel white lines in the handle. Ide hate to not be able to use the scales again, but the blade isnt heat treated. Its sharp, but I know it wont hold an edge as well as it could if I had heat treated it.

I may try to oven idea on one of my less attractive ones, but if that doesnt work, Im just gonna have to chalk em up to learning mistakes.

[Bjankowski]

Sorry; I didn't read you were trying to salvage the scales....Yep the open trick will work, my problem is that I peen my pins. I don't depend on epoxy holding on the scales.

[Jermdog01]

Possibly a guitar or piano string they will work just like a saw

[Bucksaw]

Sorry; I didn't read you were trying to salvage the scales....Yep the open trick will work, my problem is that I peen my pins. I don't depend on epoxy holding on the scales.

When peening the pins, do you just whack em on each side to flare the end before polishing?

[Bucksaw]

Well, I tried getting the scales off today. I was going to use the oven method, but I got to thinking. The reason I was taking the handles off was to heat treat the knives and harden them, so I figured it wouldnt hurt to heat the blades and release the epoxy. But, before I took them to the torch, I figured it would be a bad idea to heat the blades that had wood handles. So, I took a cold chisel to them and tried to pop them off. Let me tell you, I learned just how much sturdier pinned handles are. The ones without pins popped right off. The ones with pins took a little work. The only one that heeded to be heated to break down the epoxy was an antler handled one with a hidden tang.

So, the scales are off, the blades are annealed, and all is well. When I get back from the Houston Livestock Show, Im gonna do some file work on them all, drill them all for handle pins, and reshape a few of them before i harden them. Then its back to fit and finish.

Just wanted to put that out there so any other beginning knifemakers are trying to determine whether to pin the handles or not. PIN EM!