shoulder thickness

[tomh]

hi guys.

hope you are not getting tired of all my newbie questions. i decided to give Ed a break and not call him too much!

how close in thousandths should my top and bottom shoulder on the ricasso be?
mine seem to all come out thicker on the top.

is this going to give me big problems on fitting my guards?

they are flat, but just tapered some. don't know if I have enough thickness left to make them dead even.

thanks again!

[Erik Fritz]

it will make life allot easier if they are equal in thickness. i had the same problem when i was first starting out and i did bother Ed with this question. do your best to make them the same and you will be further ahead.

[cdent]

It seems to help me as a reference if there's no taper, and it seems to be much easier to drill and hand file a parallel guard slot instead of a tapered one. Also, if your shoulder filing jig has good indexing pins, it'll be tougher to set a good shoulder.

Good luck with the knives, and I like the questions, Craig

[tomh]

thanks guys.
i just got back from the shop and measured the knives I made with Ed. They were pretty close to even, maybe .003-005 differences.
I was able to bring all my shoulders much closer in thickness, without making them too thin.

Now I just have to wait on some welding tanks so I can heat treat, and then come up with more questions on things I learned from Ed and did not write down!