Let me begin by saying that I am no pro. I hope one day I can be as good as some of the smiths on this site. I also apologize for low picture quality. 

Anyways, I just finished up this knife last night. It's far from perfect, but I am satisfied with it. The heat treat went very well, it fits my hand nicely, its sharper than sharp and it holds an edge well. But I am not a very good wood worker. The scales are rudimentary at best. The edges all the way around the scale are rounded, but the surface is flat. It feels a little too "square-ish." Any tips for a newbie? How do some of you guys make the scales so beautiful?! I know, practice, practice, practice, but anything besides that? I don't have a belt sander, which would help immensely! I made these with a wood rasp, a surform, and sandpaper.

Another question I have is regarding the pins. I hand peened them, as that's the only way I know how. When all was said and done the pins stuck up above the scale just barely, but enough that I can feel it. I filed them as flush as I could without marking up the scale, but it's still not where I want to see it. I can post more pics if need be. Any advice would be very helpful. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks in advance.

Will

As to the pins, counter sink the hole a  bit before inserting the pin. 

If you want a curved surface think about building a wide hacksaw frame and attaching a loose length of roll sandpaper. instead of the saw blade. Or you can just hold the ends of the sandpaper if you wish. The loose sandpaper will follow the contours of the wood, removing any high spots, and can create a radius.

If you don't have a belt sander, a half round wood rasp is the next best thing. Don't worry about marking up the scales. File the pins completely flush, and sand over everything, pins and all until you have a consistent curve with no flat places. On the other hand, depending on what your going for, you could make it more flat to give it a "primitive" look like many of the ML knives.

Thank you both for the advice. I really need to just get a belt sander already. It would help a lot. 

 

On 12/4/2016 at 11:00 AM, Glenn said:

think about building a wide hacksaw frame and attaching a loose length of roll sandpaper. 

That sounds like a good idea. I may just have to try that. Just curious, have you made one yourself?

 

 

 

Not the full frame. I have build end holders for roll stock sandpaper and use that much like a fellow putting the finish gloss on a pair of shoes to do sanding. You need to be careful how much material you are removing as it can go fast.

The hacksaw thing sounds like a good idea, but you can get great results just by starting with a half round rasp, than moving to a half round file, then switching to sandpaper. Start with 36g, and keep stepping up until you are ready for micro mesh. There's nothing like a good range of sandpaper.

Another choice is a flexible backed sandpaper.  That stuff stretches and allows you to sand corners and contours very well without ripping the backing for the abrasive material or creating folds.  At the lower grits (60 or lower) you can remove material pretty quickly, but once you get into the 200 - 300 grit range it's more about cleaning up and taking out small imperfections so you're not losing a lot of material.  At that point you are just refining your shapes a little and smoothing out the surface nicely. After that it's just about the finish you want on the handle. 

One thing I do for blades with no bolster or guard, like the one you show, is tape my two scale pieces together like they will go on the blade and then work the blade end of the scales together. Usually that amounts to simply rounding the ends of the scales and then sanding that portion to the desired finish so it's done before gluing and pinning them in place.  It's pretty hard to do a good job of shaping or refining that part of the scales without damaging the finish on the steel once they are permanently in place.  Other parts of the scales are accessible for sanding and finishing after that.