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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 12-17-2002, 08:39 PM
bgmills bgmills is offline
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Tapered Tangs

Gentlemen, its time for my daily dumb question. If you taper the tang of the knife, would you reverse taper the scales, so that the handle would remain the same width its entire length? Or do you grind the scales flat, and have a tapered width handle? Hope this makes sense to someone out there. Thanks in advance.

Bill.
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Old 12-17-2002, 08:59 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Unless you're trying to build something fairly unusual you would want the handle to be shaped the same way as if you hadn't tapered the tang. Generally, that would mean the same width all the way down.

If you need to protect the surface of the slab (like with Mastodon ivory) by grinding from the back side of the slab then you would have to reverse taper the slabs.

Me, I just bolt a barely shaped lump of wood on the tang. After the glue sets up I proceed to grind the wood into the shape I want. If you do it this way, it doesn't matter whether the tang is tapered or not .....

Last edited by Ray Rogers; 12-18-2002 at 09:06 AM.
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Old 12-17-2002, 09:03 PM
whv whv is offline
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i've seen it done both ways. basically, the handle slabs are oversize when attached to the tang, so when i go to shaping them, i stop when they feel right.


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Old 12-18-2002, 02:04 PM
bgmills bgmills is offline
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Tapered Tangs

Thanks for the response. What you both say makes perfect sense to me now. In other words, whatever material you are using for the handle, it must be sufficient enough to shape to size evenly. I'm very close to actually beginning a project. Received my Grizzly 2 x 72, 0-1 stock, files, guard and pin material, belts etc. I still need abrasive sheets and handle material. Also, need to get my shop squared away. I am fortunate enough to have a 24' x 24' shop. I have some time off for the holidays, hope to accomplish some things. Thanks again, and have a safe and merry holiday season.

Bill.
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Old 12-18-2002, 08:40 PM
whv whv is offline
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one of the better pieces of advice i've read was to start grinding practice on strips of wood lath with, say, a 120 grit alox belt. once able to get consistent grinds on the lath, then i started grinding steel. saved a lot of $$ on both belts and steel.
.
enjoy the ride, bill!


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