Pre made blades

[woodsman1031]

Hello everyone,

  I have not posted in quite a while. I have made several knives from saw blades in the past, but I thought I might get myself one or two pre made blades and take a crack at it. Most of my knives have been full tang.

  Some of the ones I have looked at are not full tang but have a stub that looks to be 1" or 1 1/2" long. Do you simply put a slot in antler or wood and epoxy these in? Some of the ones I have seen have a hole or 2 in them. If you have them in a slot hidden how do you know where to drill the antler or wood. I could use a few pointers on how to build this type of knife.


Thanks
Tommy

[JMR]

Good question Tommy, I've been thinking about trying a hidden tang knife and have no idea where to start. Any help would be great for me to. Thanks, Jason

[Bodork]

In a nut shsell, all you do is drill a hole in your wood or antler and epoxy it in place. Of course, you need a finger guard in front of the handle material. It's just a piece of metal with a slot that slides up to the back of the blade. Look at some helle knives on their web site. You can see some finished knives and they have the blanks you can look at and buy also. I've only made knives from pre made blades because I don't know enough about steel to make my own. I like the freedom you have with the hIdden tang knives. You are not limited by the pre made shape of the handle plus you can do alot of neat things with the finger guards. The best way to learn is to jump in and try it. It's very addicting and rewarding. Good luck, Mike

[Kevin Evans]

Tommy
IMO you should go aleast have way through you handle material with drill wouldn't hurt if you went 3/4 of the way through. leave enough tang to reach bottom of hole an i" is not enough. Use very good glue I use aqwa clue from Brownells its exspensive but good.If the knife is going to get used hard after glueing drill holes through the side and pin then you never have to worry about a failure of glue.
This is how I do it and many people know more than me but it will get you in the right direction