between the scales and the blade stock?

is this for aesthetics, or something more meaningful like stress relief between the materials that expand and contract differently with temperature changes?

if it helps keep the sclaes on, what's the favored spacer material?

any feedback greatly appreciated!

spacers are primarily for aesthetic purposes, to add a nice contrasting colour to things. They also have the benefit that they can hide slight in accuracies in fit. It used to be one of those little touches that the higher priced handmade knives had, but now it's used so much it's become almost standard practice (it's so common, it's lost it's appeal to me at least)

Some people say it's to stop certain woods from corroding the metal, but that's rubbish since there is a hermetic seal of epoxy between the parts anyway!

To cheapen the look of an otherwise very well made knife ?

Mike