How to Remove a Knife Handle
- 1). Clamp the knife to a solid object such as a table or work desk---in some cases a vise may be used in fastening the knife. Ensure that the knife will not move or wobble under pressure as you remove the handle.
- 2). Examine the pins or rivets connecting the handle to the blade of your knife. If the handle is full-tang, determine which screwdriver head is needed to unscrew the fastening pins and manually remove the pins by applying force while unscrewing the pin in a counter-clockwise direction.
- 3). Remove the pins or rivets from the handle. If there are no areas for disassembling with a screwdriver, you will need to achieve leverage with the rivets. Cut shallow incisions around each rivet with a hacksaw---if the handle is not wood, use a dremel tool with carbide burr to make the groove. Insert flat head screwdriver and apply leverage to release the rivet, physically pulling it from the handle and blade tang.
- 4). Repeat for each rivet until each one has been removed from its individual side of the handle. Separate the handle materials from the blade: two separate pieces if the blade is full-tang, or one piece if the blade is half-tang. Clean the rust and dirt accumulated between the blade and handle.
- 5). Remove any separate pommel-guard attached to the handle by applying pressure between it and the blade with the screwdriver.
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