Thread: looking forward to this one but need a little advice

Scales are Bone

could be the pins are a little swollen on the ends from the peening. try carefully drilling a little deeper with a small drill if you can.Or if you can pull it apart just enough to get a fine jewelers type saw (if you have one) in between the scales and cut them through.

Pins swell up as originally peened and rust/crud get in. They will need to be drilled out to keep from breaking the bone.

Might try pressing them out on a soft surface (mouse pad works) with a fine punch or nailset,Has worked for me.

I use a 1.6mm pin punch that I also slightly tappered to remove the pins once drilled out enough
it should clean up nice when done

I think I would go Sharptonn's way if it didn't come apart easily. A relative term I know but it's your intuition of too much versus what if.

Scales are bone. They could be glued on the wedge end.
The pins do swel when pinned but bone is pourous and the pins oxidize, the oxide acts like cement and blocks the pin.

The safest way to remove the pins with no dammage is:
1.mask the scales with 1-2 strips of tape.
2.file down the ends(or use a dremmel + sanding wheel)
3.use a drill bit 1-1,2mm as a tap and gently nock the pin out while the scales sit on a surface that alows the pin to come out the oter side.
if no.3 fails...drill them out...don't slip!)...dont pry to hard on old bone...it brakes.
4.if the scales are glued use a cutter blade or any thin blade to split them apart.

Thanx guys. I managed to get the pins out

I ground the heads off with a dremel and but a few drops of mineral oil on top of the pins and let it soak in over night. When i came back the next day they popped off quite easily


Edit: The dam thing also bit me ! Upto now all the ebay blades ive got have been pretty blunt. This one however is quite sharp and i stupidly grabbed the blade when i was taking the scales apart.........result two cut fingers