Just to clarify, the vulcanised fibre liners are put in place to protect the tang from water and moisture. The idea is; if your fitting wooden scales, they will allow water to seep through them and attack the metal underneath. Because the scales are fitted, the corrosion will continue unchecked until it simply rot's through or becomes unusable. If you fit fibre liners and do NOT drill holes through them, it will only leave the edge of the tang exposed. This you can see and address any corrosion. To give the epoxy something to grip onto, them please start to drill the liner but do not go through, just leave like a counter-sunk indentation or a few, on the surface. If you drill through it, you'll compromise the integrity of the liner.
Yes, some people take advantage of the fact that they can look nice and this is a bonus, but please, if you go to the trouble of making or re-handling a knife, particularly in O-1 or a steel that is prone to corrosion, remember that there is about half of the knife that you cannot see, let alone treat for corrosion. Anyway, the weight you would save if you did this would be next to nothing.
If you used any dissimilar metals remember that these can accelerate corrosion and really should only be used on shown knives or knives that will probably not be used in the field. Remember, stainless is only stain resistant so corrosion is still a threat.
Hope this helps
