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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 02-02-2014, 03:37 PM
Devin Devin is offline
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Would love some advice re how to do this!

Good afternoon everyone! I've been making one style of knives for the last year or so; Full-tang. I friend showed me a little Ruana knife he has and I just love the style, but don't know how it works. I'm guessing there is a hidden tang inside of the hollowed out antler tip??? If so would it just be exoxy holding it in there? Doesn't seem like that would be strong enough, but the knife feels sturdy. Would love some advice on how to do this. See attached pics. Thanks for any and all advice!
Devin
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Old 02-02-2014, 04:01 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Difficult to be sure but that looks like maybe it is only held in by the epoxy. He probably put some holes in the little tang so that the glue could get a good grip but on a knife that small it may have been enough for light duty.

But, if you want to put a pin through one, which is what I would do (never trust glue by itself), this is the best way I have found to make a stub tang single pin handle that really works:

http://www.rayrogers.com/stubtang.htm

You should try to come to the Chat Room tonight, this is exactly the kind of stuff we talk about ...


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Old 02-03-2014, 06:33 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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I agree with Ray, appears to be blind socketed in with epoxy, can't see any pins.
I put pins in all the ones I make like that. Epoxy eventually degrades somewhat and I like the additional confidence of a mechanical lock the pin gives. However, that being said, I recently did a cracked handle repair for a customer. Ran over the knife with his truck......didn't ask. Knife was made a little over 20 years ago and I still had to crush the antler with a hammer to break it up enough to get it off. Nip the pin and drill out the hole in the tang to replace the handle. Epoxy was still holding strong to the antler. Yeah, still installed a replacement pin in the new handle.

Tip: If you are going to make these and install a pin post epoxy, make sure you "soften" the portion of the tang you intend to drill with a torch before glue-up. Also make sure you will hit the tang directly perpendicular to it's surface. Otherwise you chance the possibility of the drill bit skating and wrecking your hole.


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Old 02-03-2014, 06:41 AM
jemoran jemoran is offline
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I made something similar by welding a SS lag screw to a stub tang and screwing the antler on. Install the guard or bolster before welding on the screw.
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Old 02-03-2014, 01:20 PM
WBE WBE is offline
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Epoxied hidden tang is SOP with Randall stag gripped knives since the sixties, or sooner. I have never seen nor heard of one letting loose. I would guess at the epoxy being Acraglas. I would not bother to pin unless for historical reasons, which is the only reason I pin mine.

Last edited by WBE; 02-03-2014 at 01:22 PM.
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Old 02-06-2014, 10:52 PM
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GHEzell GHEzell is offline
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I've been making knives with the same type construction for 5 years now after becoming interested in the seax. I haven't been able to get the epoxy to fail without destroying the handle in the process. I use acraglas, roughen up the tang, and cut channels in the tang for the acraglas to grip. The tricky part is hollowing out the handle while keeping a good fit to the blade, the slot must be no wider than the tang is thick....


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Old 02-07-2014, 12:13 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Here's an idea from Dave Stevens. Drill the hole as large as the tang is wide and fill the cavity about half way with that putty epoxy, the stuff that comes in a tube and you then kneed to activate it. You then coat the tang with petroleum jelly as a release and push the tang down into the hole. You can then pull the tang out and let the epoxy harden. You then have to attach a guard or bolster to the knife to conceal the hole.

Doug


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Old 02-22-2014, 06:11 PM
Devin Devin is offline
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Can't thank you all enough for your comments and advice. Really appreciate it!
Devin
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advice, antler, bee, blade, epoxy, fixed blade, glue, grip, guard, hammer, handle, hidden, hidden tang, how to, knife, knives, lock, made, make, making, pins, post, repair, tang


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