1st knife project advise please.

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Fatstrat

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1st knife project is making a custom out of an old WW-2 vintage USMC knife. Got the blade polished up real nice. Now I'm looking into aquiring my guard and handle material.
The guard I have in mind is an oval like item #G161-050 on the Texas Knifemakers supply website.
2 questions:
#1. Is Stainless steel or Nickle silver best?
#2. My tang at point where blade starts measures 9/16" X 5/32". So the slot in this guard would too short lengthwise and too wide on the width. But it appears to be the closest fit.
I understand that fitting will be required and I can take metal off to make the slot length longer.
But will 1/32" too wide cause a problem?
If anyone has any advise/suggestions, or knows of better materials source, any help appreciated.
Thanks
 
aktoklat said:
My suggestion would be to re-store it to original as possible, if possible.
Click to expand...
The blade was in pretty bad shape when I got it. Pitted w/1/2" length already sharpened off. Polishing the pits out pretty much removed any chance of a restoration. Plus these knives are pretty common, so why not make a custom?
 
Why not make a guard out of brass, NS or 300 series steel of your choice. As a gunsmith you must have some small files and a drill press. This would give you some good practice and a 1/32" gap would be too out of the question in my opinion.
 
I would suggest nickle silver, its easier to work, sand, polish and solder. It is expensive so brass would be next and SS. SS is great but more difficult to get a good finish, just more work.

I guess your second question was if you used the Texas Knife guard how to fit?? I would use a grinder and grind the tang down to 7/16 creating a square shoulder to set on the guard rather than making the guard hole bigger. This will also help keep the guard in position when you solder. 1/32 is wide but can be filled with solder, I would shim the guard in place with some brass shim stock (available at hobby stores). You can also use liquid steel to seal the guard.
 
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