Gaurd for Hidden Tang

[JediOkie]

I am making my wife's granpa a little drop point skinner out of an old metal bandsaw blade. He wanted something with a saw on the back and I saw one of these on some post some where. So I decided I am going to do a hidden tang. All though I wanted to try Wayne Goddard's method of burning the knife into the block of wood, I am probably going to go with a mortised handle (that is the one where you split the wood and carve it out right?) But I also wanted to add a little gaurd to it made from some nickel silver I picked up at the Oklahoma Custm Knife Show in November and I don't have a mill to make the slot. Since NS is realatively soft would I be able to drill to holes and take my dremel cut off wheel and make the slot?

By the way I just got a Grizzly Knife Grinder today! (Had to sell my XBox 360 to get it but I like this hobby better) I know it's not a KMG but I figure for the limited time I have and the amount of money I got from my 360 it wouldn't be a bad choice for now.

[B.Finnigan]

It might be a bit more accurate to drill several holes and then clean them out with a round file. It is time consuming but fairly accurate. Even after I mill mine out I still have alot of file work to get the dimesions dead on.

Someone else some time ago posted how he drilled out larger holes then plugged them with steel and then drilled smaller ones. The end result required a lesser amount of file work. On some materials milling is only slightly faster then hand filing them anyway.

[SBuzek]

Sure you can use the dremel but also you can drill a couple of small holes and use needle files to complete the slot . Just be sure to go slow,you can always remove more metal but you cant put any back

[B.Finnigan]

I also made up three hidden tang saws for slotting the handles with. I made a 1/4", 3/16 and 1/8" which will cover most thicknesses from 1/4" on down. After trying all the different scraper devices I have seen posted I was not impresed so I just went and made an actual saw and it works great. to make one all you need is a trangle file, vise and a pair of vise grips. Use carbon steel and HT the same as a knife.

This is the 1/4" tang saw.

[AcridSaint]

I agree with using files as well. I don't know if anyone can perfectly mill a guard without filing, you have to keep it a little too snug to get a good fit around the blade. The ns should be soft enough to make short work of with a file, especially if it's thin stock. I would recomend a small flat file in addition to the round file to square up the sides. Just pick something thinner than your steel.

If you want to do a bit of the cleanup with the dremel first, don't use a cutoff wheel, use one of the small tipped engraving bits or high-speed cutting bits that's smaller around than the thickness of your steel... just remember, be patient

[J. Scott]

A shoulder at the intersection of the tang and riccasso is also a plus. It hides many small defects in the slot of the guard.

[Alan L]

Shoulders are great! If you wanna get really fancy, file the top and bottom edges of the tang half-round and you don't have to make square corners in the guard, thus being able to use a chainsaw file for the whole thing. A small flat file, like an automotive distributor point file, is great for cleaning up the wide flats of the slot.

I always drill and file to get the hole in the guard, even on steel. I have found that with my shaky hands, a Dremel is an excellent way to ruin stuff faster than I can with hand tools.

I personally hate nickel silver. It's gummy and doesn't clean up easily, it breaks tips off gravers, and it doesn't match many solders in color. Oh, and it tarnishes yellow. Genuine sterling silver isn't a lot more expensive and is a heck of a lot easier to deal with.

[B.Finnigan]

I am doing one right now out of hastelloy, very interesting and strange stuff to work with. I broke one of my favorite cobalt cutters while slotting it so I decided to do the rest with the files. It's slow but it always works.

[jdm61]

Whoever said that Nickel Silver is soft hasn't sorked with any thick stock...... To me, it is at least as tough to file and cut as tough as annealed 1018.

[NJStricker]

Jayson,

Check out this tutorial: http://tzknives.com/articles/GuardFitting.pdf

[GHEzell]

My usual method is to drill one hole and do the rest of the rough slotting with a jeweler's saw, then finish up with files. Patience is required with any method, and the final fitting involves one stroke with the file then check the fit, then another stroke and check, until it fits just right... Take your time, this one operation is easy to screw up and one of the first things a knowledgeable buyer will check.

Edited to add: for a thin blade, which your saw blade stock likely is, it can be tricky finding a file thin enough to fit in the slot. I've had good luck with the files made for use on spark plugs, they are only 1/16 inch thick or so and good for those tight places.

[alexkuzn]

B.Finnigan what is that you are using for handle for you saws?