Martindale hidden tang

[snakeeyes]

I started thinking about this idea last year and asked the forum if anybody had tried this before, when nobody had i should have forgot about it but im not that smart.
Well its not finished yet but i thought id show what ive got so far.

2 thin pieces of brass cut off an old letter box flap and 2 discs of 30mm dia buffallo horn epoxied together, slots drilled and filed out, the handle material will be the red wood again from the patio table legs.
The tang was harder going than i thought it would be with the stone disc on my £30 sander from Machinemart.


The bolster willbe left round and the start of the handle then go oval, this should stop the hand slipping down on to the blade, also ive given the horn a concave edge, it still needs polishing up though. Will post more here as i get it done, all comments welcome,
Chris.

[wanderingblade]

Looking very nice.

I'd personally round the inner shoulders a bit (where the tang meets the blade) at that is a major stress point and sharp angles there can cause weakness.

[mloc]

looking good and a great selection of recycled handle parts being used

[snakeeyes]

Mike, should the rounded shoulders be done in the initial design and grind as every things at final shape about now?
Cheers Mloc, the horn is the first thing ive ever bought to do a knife apart from the epoxy and i got a bag of discs from highland horn for £14 with postage so expect to see alot more,lol
Chris.

[zippe43467]

You don't have to round th inside corners much, just file a little of the steel to leave a slight radius where the tang meets

[jabussard]

nice work Chris!

[wanderingblade]

You don't have to round th inside corners much, just file a little of the steel to leave a slight radius where the tang meets

Thats right - nothing that should affect the fit of the bolster, just take a little away so there are no very sharp angles.

Looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

[snakeeyes]

A little further along, cut a block of table leg and marked out the tang and drilled by hand drill. What do you think of the revised handle design? Needs a little more smoothing out but you get the rough idea.

Has anyone an idea where and how much a single mosaic pin would cost and if they come in 6mm dia, i think one through the pre drilled tang hole would look rather nice. Will post again when more is done, thanks for looking and all comments welcome,
Chris

[lilzee]

looks like it'll be pretty good, one little critique if i may, i would make the lower part of the handle, sort of the bridge to the final flange thingy, a little less concave, so your hand won't get stuck in it...

can't wait to see it finished!

[jabussard]

Looks good mate, agree with Jared on the handle end though

[snakeeyes]

Are we talking about where the handle meets the bolster or at the pommel on the underside?
Chris.

[snakeeyes]

Another step closer, glued up the handle this morning before final shaping, i usually do it the other way round and have a hell of a time getting it all to line back up. I had to cut my mastic gun after the last handle job on my Kukri,

couldn't get the dam thing out of there, so here's the revised method,

Well im getting there slowly, lol, will post again in this thread,
Chris.

[jabussard]

looking good mate, I like the look of the kuk

[Motoon]

Looking good so far. That should be a nice one

[zippe43467]

Did you prop some books under the short table leg? Always pick a table near a wall that way if someone kicks a book it wont tip.....