A personal challenge and a question

T

thegeek574

Joined
Sep 3, 2010
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Everyone,
I have been "making knives" for more than a year now, but I don't have much product to show for it, so I decided to change that. Starting this weekend, I am going to be applying myself to making one knife per weekend. The whole goal is just to turn out some product and try some new stuff in the process, as well as forging blades. I have a question, though. What are some good guard alternatives? I will be doing hidden tangs, but a guard is more time consuming than I want to face at this time. I have done one, and it took longer than grinding and forging the blade did, and so I'm apprehensive. I have already come up with turkish head knots and hemp wraps for the guard/bolster, but I was wondering what other, less time consuming alternatives there are to a guard. Note: I don't have easy access to a mill, so that is why it takes so long.
 
you might look into getting some guard blanks waterjetted with tang holes left undersize for hand-fitting. This will knock a lot of the time off guard making without compromising your end product.
 
Over the centuries people have come up with a variety of forged intergral guards even for stick tang construction. A web search for forged intergral guards will show quite a few.
 
Perhaps you could look at this as an opportunity to put yourself through "guard boot camp" and get better and quicker at them through practice. They get easier. Until then:
You can make handles with finger notches up front, that serve the same purpose as a guard. Here's what I mean, and it can be more exaggerated as well.

IMG_5917.JPG
 
You can also buy pre made guards at most knifemaker supply places.
 
Here is a no guard look, for hidden tang blades, thats fairly easy.

ama.jpg
 
Why not just use micarta or G10 for guards? Those materials are easy to work so it shouldn't take much time.
Guardless with metal or micarta/G10/carbon fiber ferrules would be cool too.
 
Good for you. It's easy get into builds that take developing a new skill set to complete.

I would suggest some simple full tang hunters, or utility knives.

If you want a guard, work on forging in an upset guard Koe Keeslar style. I've done 4 that turned out in my post vise.
I found that using a MAPP gas torch, or others use an A/O torch to heat it up and forge just the guard area.

Or.... Don't do a through hole style guard. Do a slotted style guard that is pinned in place.

Post up a picture Monday of the knife you make this weekend.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I forged it out yesterday, and then ground it out today and started on the handle. I will post what I have finished tomorrow, but I probably won't get much work done because of people coming over and such. I ended up going with a "guard" made out of some maple burl I had laying around, and so I will be just using that. The handle is mystery wood that I got from Burl Source with a load of wood for bolsters. I ended up liking the blade quite a bit, and so I will post pictures of the finished product when I have an extra day off next thursday. It isn't going to be pretty, but I learned a lot.

ETA: I am going to be using some material alternatives to metal as well as some complete alternatives to guards, just because I want to focus on other things. Speaking of other things, does anyone have tips as to flattening everything up after forging? I just see myself pulling my hair out trying to flatten the tang enough to remove most of the gaps.
 
If you do not have access to your uncles mill get a jewelers saw. You can cut out a guard slot in about 15-20 minutes in brass or thinner mild steel. Wrought can be a bit more difficult due to the slag inclusions. Brass is great for this type of work since it is relatively soft. Plus if you over cut you can peen it back in.

The key to flattening everything up after forging it forge it flat to begin with. The flatter, more even the final forging is the easier it will be to clean up. The next tool you may need is a flatter. Might even be able to find you one at the scarp yard. Then I hope you have access to the grinder as this will help you out quite a bit.

Hows the hammer working for you??
 
The hammer needs some tuning, but it works fine. Just to clear things up, I can use a mill whenever I want, but it involves a trip that will be several hours 99% of the time. Along with the fact that I want the practice, I am trying to keep these builds low-complexity. I do have the grinder at my house, though, and I am falling deeper in love every time I use it :D
 
I hot fit all my guards. You could also go with a softer metal like brass or copper and hammer them on, cold.
 
You could also use a pre-guard spacer of softer material like copper or brass to get a gapless seam up front and just make a rough slot in the guard.
 
Alright guys, I lost a day last weekend and has an extra this weekend, and so here is the first weekend knife in all its glory:
DSCF1232_zps19493b91.jpg

Specs: About 13 inches overall, 8 inch blade. Steel: chunk of a coil spring.
Yep, its uglier than snot, I know, but it was what I got done. As you can see in the second pic, I royally screwed the handle, and so I decided that I wouldn't put a ton of work into making the rest look pretty.
DSCF1235_zpsc67ce83a.jpg

Yep, got a bit grinder happy. My fault, but it was a very valuable learning experience. I did learn some things from it that will be incorporated into the next build, which, weather permitting, will start tomorrow.
Finally, I did a little chopping with it. It was surprisingly light, and so it didn't chop very well, but it was the most effective thing I have ever witnessed for cutting blackberries short of a weedwacker with a metal blade. Then, then final thing. I did a bend test on it. Surprisingly, it went very far before it broke, well over 90 degrees, and the grain was quite fine. For HT with charcoal, I thought it was good. I have a propane forge, but I am just not as comfortable with it as I am with a good old fire.
DSCF1239_zpsce0fc911.jpg


Overall, a good try. I will continue to try these and hopefully get them better and better every week. I didn't get good pictures of the guard, nor was it very good, so I will try again next time.
 
Good Job. You will learn so much by doing this as you have already seen. Keep at it. Can't wait to see the next one.
 
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