Cutlery Rivets

[TimW]

I have a nice stainless steel French chefs knife which over 30 years has
had the brass(?) rivets dissolved by dishwasher chemicals so that the
ebonite(?) black melamine(?) sandwich handle/grips have come away
completely. I would like to at least fix back the handles, maybe make
new rosewood handle if get the urge, but I am unsure of the hardware
needed for fixing them back.

There is a bewildering array of rivet options when I search online. Can
I just use a brass rod and hammer the ends? What are the strange rose
pattern rods for? Or use epoxy resin to fill the holes and glue
everything together? Or is there a proper traditional way to rivet a
knife handle onto a blade (would prefer that).

There are things called Corby Bolts, Cutlers Rivets and Loveless Bolts
but it's difficult to see how they work, which is appropriate and they
often aren't the right size, and I while I could saw file and polish
brass to flush it to the handle surface I couldn't do the same with
stainless parts (could I?).

Anyone attempted this ?

TW

[TimW]

Post by TimW
I have a nice stainless steel French chefs knife which over 30 years has
had the brass(?) rivets dissolved by dishwasher chemicals so that the
ebonite(?) black melamine(?) sandwich handle/grips have come away
completely. I would like to at least fix back the handles, maybe make
new rosewood handle if get the urge, but I am unsure of the hardware
needed for fixing them back.
There is a bewildering array of rivet options when I search online. Can
I just use a brass rod and hammer the ends? What are the strange rose
pattern rods for? Or use epoxy resin to fill the holes and glue
everything together? Or is there a proper traditional way to rivet a
knife handle onto a blade (would prefer that).
There are things called Corby Bolts, Cutlers Rivets and Loveless Bolts
but it's difficult to see how they work, which is appropriate and they
often aren't the right size, and I while I could saw file and polish
brass to flush it to the handle surface I couldn't do the same with
stainless parts (could I?).
Anyone attempted this ?
TW

NB The first small knife I am looking at has a handle total thickness
13.5 so 6mm grip + 2mm thick steel + 6mm grip. Three through holes of
4.5 mm dia with the rivet heads sunk in a little and 6mm dia.

[John Rumm]

Post by TimW
I have a nice stainless steel French chefs knife which over 30 years has
had the brass(?) rivets dissolved by dishwasher chemicals so that the
ebonite(?) black melamine(?) sandwich handle/grips have come away
completely. I would like to at least fix back the handles, maybe make
new rosewood handle if get the urge, but I am unsure of the hardware
needed for fixing them back.
There is a bewildering array of rivet options when I search online. Can
I just use a brass rod and hammer the ends? What are the strange rose
pattern rods for? Or use epoxy resin to fill the holes and glue
everything together? Or is there a proper traditional way to rivet a
knife handle onto a blade (would prefer that).

The traditional way (at least what I can tell from watching a few
episodes of "Forged in Fire") seems to be to epoxy the scales onto the
tang, then use a brass rod that is a light interference fit through the
tang and scales, and then peen over the ends, file to a pleasing shape,
and sand, or epoxy the brass, and grind off flush if you prefer that
aesthetic.

Post by TimW
There are things called Corby Bolts, Cutlers Rivets and Loveless Bolts
but it's difficult to see how they work, which is appropriate and they
often aren't the right size, and I while I could saw file and polish
brass to flush it to the handle surface I couldn't do the same with
stainless parts (could I?).

You probably could with mechanical sanding (belt, or dare I say it,
angle grinder!)
--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/