Hard lesson learned

[huntforlife]

So, I am trying my hand at a hidden tang blade. Got quite a few hours into it. Profiled the blade, handle drilled, guard drilled and filed. Fit was tight!

Spent plenty of time filing a full bevel on the blade, sanded it down to 220. Went to test fit it again and you guessed it. Lots of slop in the guard now.

Lesson learned. Finish the blade prior to drilling and fitting the guard.

[Doug Lester]

A mistake that you don't learn from is a mistake wasted. In one form or another we've all been there and done that.

Doug

[ricky_arthur]

I'm curious, how did the bevel affect the guard fit? Did you run the bevel all the way to the guard? The order you did it in is fine, just dont run the grind all the way back. similar to this.

[Ray Rogers]

I think you just learned that while there are usually several different ways to accomplish any given task in knife making there is usually one way which automatically avoids most common errors. If you fit the guard after the blade is completely finished (as you now realize) then it won't matter if you made the blade the way you did or if you made it as Ricky did. The sequence in which the steps are performed is as important as the skill with which we perform them ...

[BCROB]

1 of many lessons to learn from Zen , be pretty boring if it were that simple to master !!
keep going ! still salvageable , look forward to seeing it finished

[Crex]

Just make sure you HT the blade before attaching the guard and handle.......just saying.....(never happened to me, I just read a lot).

[huntforlife]

Ricky, I'm trying something new. No plunge lines. Might turn out looking pretty good, might not. Guess we will see.

Crex, I think we've all done that at least once. LOL

[huntforlife]

Originally Posted by Ray Rogers

I think you just learned that while there are usually several different ways to accomplish any given task in knife making there is usually one way which automatically avoids most common errors. If you fit the guard after the blade is completely finished (as you now realize) then it won't matter if you made the blade the way you did or if you made it as Ricky did. The sequence in which the steps are performed is as important as the skill with which we perform them ...

Exactly. Lots of different routes to take to get to the same endpoint. Being my first hidden tang, I "thought" I was on track. Oh well. It's only a guard.

[Crex]

Yeah.....but guards are so much fun to fit up!