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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 03-10-2002, 08:53 PM
TMDreb
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Have blade, need help making handle


Yesterday, I was looking around my Grandfather's barn, and found a knife blade with "SOLINGEN" stamped at the base of the blade. The metal is rusty, and there is no handle. The blade is about 5" long, and shaped in a typical bowie form

Being a Civil War reenactor, I would like to use it while I'm out in the field, but I need a handle constructed using techniques available in the early 1860's.

I know almost nothing about knives, but the tang part is short and flat, with no holes in it. For me, how the handle attaches isn't apparent at all, so any help would be appreciated.

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Old 03-10-2002, 09:20 PM
Ray Rogers
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Handles


I'm no expert on how knives were made in the 1860's but it sounds like you have astub tang blade there. There's only two ways to use that blade that I can think of, either just glue it on or pin it.

Either way, start by making a guard - just a piece of brass with a square hole in it that just barely slips over the tang and fits up snug against the blade. Maybe they soldered that on in the 1860's, maybe they just used glue, suit yourself.
The, get some suitable handle material, usually wood or horn and drill and file a hole down the center until it fits over the tang behind the guard.
At this point you could just cut some notches in the tang and fill the handle with epoxy and clamp it up until the glue sets. That's the easy way but obviously it won't take major abuse.
Or, put the handle in place and then drill a small hole, 1/8th will do, through the handle and the tang. This will probably require a carbide spade drill or a Hi-Roc bit because the tang is already hardened.
Fill the handle with epoxy and put the pin through it and it will be pretty sturdy that way. We get a little more sophisticated with that process these days, using spacers and hardened pins to get a precise fit that nmakes a handle as tough as any knife can have but that more effort than I think you're looking for.
Good luck...
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Old 03-11-2002, 03:00 PM
Kelly
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I have read that a common way of fitting tangs to handles was to heat the tang just enough to burn its way into the handle material - resulting in a very close fit (if not overcooked).
I've tried that technigue on horn with good results, but it still needs epoxy or pins for retention.
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