Bam, you'd be surprised how easy basic scales are on a full tang blade:
- get a decent blade for £20 or so.
- pick a chunk of your favourite wood, hack out a few billets.
- flatten one side of each billet, sandpaper on a flat plate works nicely.
- stick one billet on to the tang with double-sided tape.
- drill your pin holes using the holes in the tang as your drill guides.
- outline your tang on the billet then remove it.
- saw off the excess from the drilled billet: band saw is ideal but a jigsaw, scroll saw or coping saw will all work too.
- repeat with the other billet.
- insert pins to temporarily hold the two billets together (wire, rod or tubing, whatever you like and have on hand) and finish off the blade end of the billets (these scale ends would be hard to work and finish after final assembly).
- assemble the handle with billets in their proper place to check that all is well.
- epoxy the billets to the tang, i grease the pins so i can remove them after the epoxy has set.
- rough shape and finish the handle.
- at this point i remove the pins and ream the holes a bit so the pins can flare a bit when peened.
- put the pins back into place, i don't epoxy these but many prefer to.
- peen the pins into place, a gentle touch is good to avoid splitting the scales.
- finish shaping, sanding, polishing and finishing the handle.
- admire your handiwork, reflect on what you'd do better next time.
- start thinking about a sheath.
