Advice on Guards and Pommels -

S

shurik6

Joined
Sep 18, 2013
Messages
53
Hi. I am planning on making my first hidden tang knife out of some Aldo's 1084 - 5/32 thick, 1 1/4" wide stock I have laying around.
I am planning on using leather and/or birch bark stacked. I have zero experience doing this, but after watching a few videos it seems pretty straight forward process.
At the moment I haven't purchased any guards or pommels. I want to see what I can use from what I have laying around. But nothing really comes to mind aside from a good collection of foreign coins. I've seen someone use them as a guard before.

Could you guys tell me what are some things that either can be improvised or purchased at a local hardware store? Or -
Is it possible to not even have a pommel and a guard on a hidden tang bark handle?
And if I need to mount a pommel, how would I do it? I don't know how to solder. Any tips or tricks? Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Alex
 
On puukko style handles with stacked birch bark, I use reindeer/caribou/moose antler as the guard and pommel pieces. Look at some puuko and Nordic style knives to see how they are shaped.

This is the BF search engine that will allow you to look up the many old threads on stacked handles and puuko knife construction, as well as any other subject discussed on BF..
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra
 
How would I secure the pommel? Just epoxy? I don't really have much other options. Any advice on this?
 
Yes, on an antler fitting the guard is fitted as close as possible and epoxied in place. Then the stacked handle is laid up and compressed by the pommel, the whole thing is epoxied in place. Once the epoxy is cured, a copper washer is usually placed over the extended tang and sitting on the pommel end, the tang is trimmed to about 1/8" extra, and the tang is peened tight on the washer.
 
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