4th knife pics and a quick how-to question

[steveo83]

Hi all,
Finished off my first big knife the other day. 18" OAL, Eucalyptus burl handle, blade is O1.

Hidden tangs are hard. I wanted to pin this with a 1/4" mosaic but wasn't confident with the location of the hole in the tang. The hole was oversize, and I used a stencil to determine the hole's location, but I think I left too much slop when I hollowed out the handle.. I just couldn't be sure I was going to drill though the hole and not hit the edge of it and ruin the handle.

...None of it's easy, but I learned a lot for next time. Can't wait to try another and get it right.





another question came up while I was making this one...

A lot of my annealed barstock arrives with a slight bend - a very shallow crescent shape to the whole piece so you can lay it on a table and rock it like a sea-saw. It's only slight but it's there.
Is there a simple way to straighten out shallow curves like this?
I use a vice with 1 rod welded to one side, and 2 rods welded to the other... same set-up a lot of others use on here. This straightens ok when there is an obvious bend with a prominent apex but on the stock with such gradual, minor bends I always seem to get ripples or little visible kinks where I straighten it out in sections.. Ie I need to have a go at it in several spots along the length of the blade because there isn't just one pronounced apex in the curve... does this make sense?

Is there a simpler way to straighten bends like this? Could just be I need more practice but I thought it worth checking.


Cheers,
Steve

 

[Rick Marchand]

Have you tried a larger version of the 3pt straightening jig? Perhaps a couple of 2x4's on the ground and a gentle downward pressure with your hand or foot?

Great looking knife. I still find it hard to make hidden tangs even with the great tutorials on the forums, I struggle.


Rick

 

[steveo83]

Have you tried a larger version of the 3pt straightening jig? Perhaps a couple of 2x4's on the ground and a gentle downward pressure with your hand or foot?

Great looking knife. I still find it hard to make hidden tangs even with the great tutorials on the forums, I struggle.


Rick

Thanks Rick, glad to know I'm not the only one who struggles with the hidden tangs

I'll give your suggestion of using 2x4s a try, going larger makes sense.
Cheers mate

 

[lonepine]

Quote: A lot of my annealed barstock arrives with a slight bend - a very shallow crescent shape to the whole piece so you can lay it on a table and rock it like a sea-saw. It's only slight but it's there.
Is there a simple way to straighten out shallow curves like this?

I've noticed that barstock has a slight crescent shape as you described, running the LENGTH of the blade, due to the shearing process used to cut the pieces I suppose. This is frustrating because it makes it difficult for me to mark a center line unless you grind it completely flat, then you no longer have the thickness of steel you started with and it makes for more time, work, and expense.

LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin