whats the purpose of spacers

Chris S.

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So in knife making I see many spacer material between blade and handle material. Any point to it other than asthetics? Does it even out any issues with blade and scales? Provide better bonding of materials? Just curious. Originally thought helped with any uneven issues with the blade by its ability to compress but more I see it used seems to be mostly a design statement.
 

Foot Patrol

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Most spacer materials do not compress so I can not see how they would even out issues between an uneven blade and scale. I give my customers the ability to choose spacer materials, pins materials, full or hidden tang, blade finish and file work so they can custom design the knife they want.
 

Chris S.

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Thanks for the input. I've never done anything other than put a handle on a knife once and that was just wood to metal so was I item I always was curious about. I wasn't sure if spacer material actually had some give to it or not.
 

Echoashtoreth

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Sometimes its simply to make up space if u really wanna use a certain material thats too thin to be a complete handle itself..... or you can use it to give texture to the underside - say by using a neoprene...

But it can also be a lifesaver w stuff resistant to glue like high resin/waxy woods - just adding a spacer gives a good bonding surface between the metal and wood.... if u dont want to add plastic/primary colors, i have used veneer and 1/32 thins u can find at woodcraft in basic flavors - walnut, ash etc...
 

Chris S.

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Just love woodbarter, always someone around to provide knowledgeable answers.
 

Echoashtoreth

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Glad to help! Have a beautiful scrap knife in my whittling bag that was a learning curve w a waxy wood.. still makes me sad....
 

Chris S.

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I have a corner of shame in my shop where items are "carefully" placed in when get messed up past point of no return. Think we all have that piece that just didnt work out no matter how much we tried.
 
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