T. Turner cutler to her majesty w/ crashcarta

[randyt]

I have this old marlinspike folding knife with jigged bone scales. the scales are all busted up and the joints are a little loose. I decided to try my hand at making crashcarta and rebuilding this old knife. last night I knocked the pins out and mixed up a batch of crashcarta. I made the crashcarta from some tan carhart material. For pins I figure to use drill rod, it's probably tough enough as is with out heat treat. I'd like to use some kind of red liner material along with the crashcarta. here's a few photos.

here's the victim in question
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here's the victim taken down. in the back ground is the crashcarta. I'm curious why it is black instead of tan. It must have something to do with the resin.
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[Winter]

Cool, that looks like a fun project.

[crashdive123]

Great looking project. The color will change some as you sand and buff the material. Can't wait to see the finished project.

[Ted]

Thats a cool old pocket knife. Can't wait to see it finished.

[rebel]

That is a cool project. It gives me an idea about a couple of old folders that need new scales.

Was the resin the foam type? I used that once and it turned a green color.

[randyt]

thanks for the comments.

I'm not sure what kind of resin I have other than it's a polyester base. no foam to speak of

[crashdive123]

I use fiberglass resin, but you'll be fine with poyester resin.

[randyt]

I had to go to the cellar to check my resin. it said "polyester fiberglass resin" that's a tad bit confusing. as long as it will work that is the bottom line.

[crashdive123]

I use Bondo or Elmers if that helps. Depends if I'm shopping at Lowes (gallon size) or Wal Mart (quart size).

[randyt]

here's my progress so far. I'm debating on a lanyard ring. I'm not sure if I need to seal the handles. they get dirty from my grubby fingers, not sure on the long term.

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[Camp10]

Sure is looking better then in the first picture!! Cant wait to see it finished!

[oldtrap59]

Looks to be a job well done. I would find something to seal the scales with if it was me. They seem to have a bit of texture and probably would look and wear better if sealed. Just my thoughts.

Oldtrap

[randyt]

I have not done much with this. What would make a good sealer for the scales?

[crashdive123]

If you use finer and finer grit sand paper there is no need to seal.

[MrFixIt]

Giving that old knife a new life!
It's gonna look good when you get it finished!

[randallss7]

Cool looking knife and great project. For the pins a mild steel rod or something pliable will work just fine and make the peening process go a lot easier. If its not to late. Looking good.

[randyt]

Thanks for the comments. What is the best hand method for sanding the crashcarta? Stick in a vise and "shoeshine" it?

[crashdive123]

Thanks for the comments. What is the best hand method for sanding the crashcarta? Stick in a vise and "shoeshine" it?

I use the slack belt portion of my 1 X 30 with worn out 220's and 400's. After that I had sand any little spots out (just pressure with my fingers). In lieu of the belt sander - just finer and finer paper and finger pressure on a piece that small should work fine. Start with maybe 220 and go from there.