Brass hand guard - epoxy or solder?

[gringol]

I have a full tang knife kit and have no idea what I'm doing.  Should I epoxy or solder the hand guard in place?  The blade is stainless.

[tomsm44]

Can you post pictures?  On a full tang knife you'd typically pin the guard since it doesn't usually wrap all the way around the tang, but hard to say exactly what to do without seeing the setup.  If it doesn't have pin holes and needs them a carbide bit will drill through hardened steel fairly easily.  Just go slow and don't use the carbide bit on the brass.  It WILL hang on the soft metal and break the bit, true story.  On a hidden tang I've seen solder and JB weld both used and the handle itself holds the guard on.  I'll leave the more detailed advice to the experts on here.  

Good luck,
Matt Toms

[Lin Rhea]

I would agree with Matt. Need to see the set up.

[gringol]

So here it is.  The hand guard it came with is a single block with a slot cut to slide onto the tang.  I don't see how pinning it would work...blind drilling and whatnot...

[D.Ellis]

That's made to be pinned. Use the blade as a template to mark for the pin holes thru the guard. Use a drill press and vice if possible and be careful to square everything up in the vice before you drill. Then I'd recommend you seal the guard with epoxy when you pin it on. Also, chamfer the holes in the guard slightly so the pins will expand and fill the chamfers when you peen them.
Best of luck,
Darcy  

[akaboomer]

What Darcy said would be my advice.  Did the kit come with pins? Also clean the parts well with acetone or denatured alcohol.  This will do two things, first it will insure a good bond between the pieces and also a dark line can happen around the pins when finished if not cleaned.

Post pics of the finished product when finished.

Chris

[gringol]

The tang looks made for pins, but the kit came with no pins...

[akaboomer]

You will need to get some brass pinstock that is the right size for the holes you have in the knife blank. Pinstock can be ordered from any knife supply company.  
As you can see there is help available here for the asking, so as you go feel free to ask if needed.

Chris

[wissler]

Any Ace Hardware or True Value should have brass bar/pin stock. Even our Home Depot has them

Our big Ace even has stainless, aluminum and brass tubes. Good for lanyard holes and making different pins using pins and tubes epoxied together.