Handmade Burl Wood Scales for the Gayle Bradley 2

[WilliamMunny]

I finally found the time and tried to make a set of wood scales for my Bradley 2. It was done without a CNC machine. I primarily used a drill press and a band saw to cut the wood block to thickness.

The factory scales were only about .11” thick, this was achieved via bandsaw but I think next time I will try a table saw for a smoother cut.

Next I traced the shape of the scale on the wood and shaped it on my drill press fitted with a sanding wheel. I tried a router with guide once but it caught the grain of the wood and blew it apart.

From there I used double sided tape to connect the original scale to the wood one. It allowed me to sand the wood scales very close to the original and drill the screw holes. For the holes you need “numbered bits” 1-60, to have all the needed sizes.

I used mill bits I got from Amazon for short money to recess the screw heads with a flat bottom. I also used them to drill out the recess for the lock bar. The stick was used as a guide to keep a straight line.

From there I did some test fitting and a lot of sanding. I went use the following grits and no finish 100, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 then a buffing wheel attach to my drill.

The final product came out very nice but not perfect. It was very hard to get the correct scale thickness and centering the screw counter sink holes on the screw holes. The scales were stabilized but I don’t think they would stand up as well as the original ones. The knife is centered well and seems to function perfectly.

The project was hard, a lot harder than the mule handles I have made. The mule handles are fun, just add up money wise to keep buying mules to put handles on when I generally don’t carry a fixed blade. I continue to have a whole lot of respect for Sal and Spyderco in how accurate you need to be to make these knives.

Please feel free to ask questions I can go into a whole lot more detail.

[RustyIron]

Nice work! Very pretty.

[JoviAl]

Beautiful work sir

[ladybug93]

[p_atrick]

Those look awesome.

[Mushroom]

Nice work, William. The scales look great!

[bleasure]

outstanding. thanks for sharing, very useful as a guide beyond being nice to look at.

edit: where would one look to find similar quality burl? other than knife supply sites i guess, or is that the simplest place

[kennethsime]

Great work. Are the liners still exposed, or did you cover them up?

I’d love some contoured Micarta that defeats the proud liners.

[WilliamMunny]

outstanding. thanks for sharing, very useful as a guide beyond being nice to look at.

edit: where would one look to find similar quality burl? other than knife supply sites i guess, or is that the simplest place

I got that specific burl from Woodcraft.com, its Red Coolibah that was about 2"x2"x6". I then sent it to K&G Finishing Supplies to have them stabilize it. I just don't do enough stabilizing to justify the $200+ worth of equipment to do it myself.

I also source wood from on my travels. Last year I picked up a good size block of Gaboon Ebony when I was in Ghana. Not cheap at $100 per board foot here in the US, but it was a bit cheaper at the source and has a great story behind it. Its considerably denser than oak, just need to find a good knife to use it on.

Probably the easiest way to just look on Ebay for "stabilized burl". They have a ton of really good-looking blocks and scales to choose from that are already stabilized for $20-$50. I personally have my eye on one, but I don't have another knife that needs scales yet, hahaha. You do lose the cool story behind the wood but to be honest a lot of them look better and it's so easy to go that route.

[WilliamMunny]

Great work. Are the liners still exposed, or did you cover them up?

I’d love some contoured Micarta that defeats the proud liners.

I kept the lines exposed because I like the look and contrast to the wood.

It would be fairly easy to make them cover the liners. Just instead of tracing the scales trace the liners onto the new material you are using for the handle. Just make sure you don't over sand the edges when you get to that part or make them 1/32" big all around before you start sanding.

[jdw]

Nicely done! Beautiful work.

[Manixguy@1994]

Great job , love the wood . MG2

[TkoK83Spy]

Well done! Impressive work!

[Sharp Guy]

I agree with the above! I think they turned out very nice!

[clinton1]

I think they look great, William! Classy looking knife!

[Paul Ardbeg]

Wow! The most classy GB i've ever seen Great job on the scales

[jdawson08]

Those turned out great, burl was a fantastic choice!

[wrdwrght]

Nice look. Nice work.

[bdblue]

Those look awesome, I can just imagine how much work it was. Burl is not very strong because the wood grain is so disrupted by the burl so it was a big win just to have them stay in one piece for the whole operation.

[WilliamMunny]

Those look awesome, I can just imagine how much work it was. Burl is not very strong because the wood grain is so disrupted by the burl so it was a big win just to have them stay in one piece for the whole operation.

Very much so, had a router blow apart a set while using a bearing bit as a guide on the original scale. It’s why I switched to a sanding disc on my drill press to shape the scale since they are so thin.

Stabilizing helps to make them a lot stronger. I also used black Starbond CA glue in the of the larger voids to further strengthen them. I will use the knife as normal and see how they stand up. If they do break down it will give me a good reason to try and make another set. Woodworking is a hobby so I just bring my dog out in the garage and we have fun working on stuff.

Mules tend to be a lot easier just because you can make the scale thicker and/or you have room enough to back the Burl wood with thin G10 with epoxy to further strengthen it.