Another rehandling job

Another possibility is to drill a few small holes, maybe 1/8" diameter around the thicker part of the tang, and insert short steel pins that would stick out a bit on both sides to grab whatever medium you use to build up the handle. The small holes wouldn't weaken the tang enough to matter and they would form a strong mechanical bond to the acraglas or fiberglass resin.

This might be less work than notching the top and bottom of the tang, and round pins would be less likely to saw into the material.
 
I think the key thing is that if the handle moves allowing a notch or a pin to saw, you've failed.
 
That's what I noticed when the hickory handle I made for the bhojpure failed. Once the blade started to wiggle ever so slightly, it quickly destroyed the wooden handle after a couple more strikes. I think if the blade is no longer 100% epoxied in place, your handle is a goner no matter how you've notched the tang or drilled pins in it. It might delay the blade flying off the handle by a strike or two, though, so I still think it's a good idea. It might give you a chance to notice your blade's wobbly before it catastrophically fails and decapitates a bystander.

Rather than using thin strips of fabric to wrap the handle, what if I wrapped the handle in strips that are as wide as the handle is long? I wonder if that would make it less bendable.
 
There are different directions in which an epoxied tang can come loose from a handle. The forward direction is the dangerous one, since that's when the blade can fly loose during chopping. That's also the direction in which notching or pins would add to the strength of the epoxy by tying the tang mechanically to the handle, so that even if the adhesion fails and the blade starts to wobble it won't fly through the air in a swing. Of course once you feel any wobble at all, it's time to stop chopping and assess the situation.

All this might be overkill for a wide tang or a long one that goes through the handle and is peened over at the end, like most HI tangs. I was mainly thinking of blades with thinner, partial tangs that don't have a lot of surface area for adhesion, like the parangs and kerali in the above pictures.

Here's yet another idea for those thin tangs. In some cases you can put a screw thread on the end of a tang and screw on a nut. Even if the nut doesn't engage all the threads at the sides of the tang it should be strong enough for this purpose. When you form the acraglas or fiberglass resin around the tang to make the new handle, it will form itself around the nut, making it impossible for the blade to ever pull loose in the forward direction even if all adhesion is lost.
 
I really like the idea of using a nut. I'm going to try that when my parang blades arrive, but I guess it'll only be possible if the metal in the tang is unhardened.

Back to the Kerala knife, my thoughts are now turning to making a sheath. The traditional sheath for one actually looks very much like a kukri sheath.

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I'll probably make a standard leather sheath like the $20 ones you get for the KVLUK, but it's remarkable how similar the sheaths are between the kukri and the kerala. I wonder if they're long lost relatives?
 
Where did the parang blades come from? ( pm me if you cant say it here). I'd like to make up one for myself
 
E-mail sent, Dirtbiker

The parangs just arrived today. The top one has a 10 inch blade, the bottom one 12 inches. The 10 inch one is about 5mm thick with no distal taper, the 12 inch one starts closer to 8mm and tapers down to 5mm by the tip.



The tangs on both are quite stout and long enough to put three fingers on, so I'm not too concerned about the "flexiness" of a micarta handle. I'm going to have to mull my options over for a few days before I decide how to proceed.
 
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I picked up some 3/4" copper piping to make bolsters. I don't think I need one from a structural point of view, but aesthetically I don't think it'd look right without one. The only reason not to use one would be pure laziness. I'm trying to cut off an appropriately sized piece with a hacksaw but it's slow going. I also picked up a bolt to try to screw on to the end of the tang, but the steel is just too hard to take a thread. I've read of people destroying many a carbide drill bit trying to put a hole in these tangs for a pin, so I think the steel's been hardened.

While I was at the hardware store I picked up some gorilla glue brand epoxy for making micarta. I cut off some cloth, dunked it in epoxy, and wrapped it around a plastic fork as a test run. The epoxy is more viscous than I'd like, but it actually came out pretty well. It dried as hard as a rock, much harder than the acraglas. It seemed to saturate the fabric, but I'm going to whittle down to the center just to make sure. I actually prefer the acraglas micarta, it feels more like wood rather than a synthetic material. But the gorilla glue micarta will definitely work. Not sure how I'm going to dye the micarta this time. I don't want to end up with another "purple turd", but I can't leave it pure white.
 
Ive been thinking about why the Acraglass got soft on you and the only thing I can think of is the pen dye you added. That may have altered the formula enough to soften it? Most permanent markers i believe are acetone based. What may work is Fabric dye (Rit powder not liquid). Mix the powder with the epoxy? I havent tried adding the dry powder to epoxy while mixing so dont know if that will work. Shoould be easy enough to test. I do know the Epoxy will take a surface dye once its cured if you heat the dye solution and soak the handle in it for a few hours. It has to be hot though or it will not penetrate. I mix the stuff at least twice the recommended strength and add about a cup of salt and a splash of acetone. Fabric dyes are actually salts so dont leave them on the blade for long. May be better to dye the fabric first then let it dry before making the micarta?
I like the copper idea! That should look good!
Is the gorilla glue white or the fabric?
 
Acraglas comes with brown and black dye. It's highly concentrated and a drop or two really makes it black or brown.
 
I'll do another test run with rit dye, and I think I might still have the dye that came with acraglas. I can try both before I make the handle. I think it's going to take me awhile to saw through the copper piping.

The fabric's white, the gorrila glue epoxy dries clear. I think if I leave I use white fabric without any dye the micarta will end up looking grimy after it's been used for awhile.
 
I'm still working on my long leaf handle.
Surfaces are clean and roughened up (even inside the handle as far as I can tell.

I got some gorilla 5min epoxy. home despot didn't have anything slow setting.
Is acraglass a lot better? Then I'll just order it online.

Any ideas on how to get epoxy into the handle without any bubbles? I tried a turkey flavor injector but the nozzle is too small or the epoxy to thick :(
 
Maybe try BL's purple turd trick with the straw!
Jens Schuetz said:
I'm still working on my long leaf handle.
Surfaces are clean and roughened up (even inside the handle as far as I can tell.

I got some gorilla 5min epoxy. home despot didn't have anything slow setting.
Is acraglass a lot better? Then I'll just order it online.

Any ideas on how to get epoxy into the handle without any bubbles? I tried a turkey flavor injector but the nozzle is too small or the epoxy to thick :(
Click to expand...
 
Not yet. The handle is still good and if I mess it up I've a traditional replacement lined up. If everything fails I might make a purple hotdog though I might attempt to use carbon fibers in there.
 
Oh I meant use a straw to inject it inside the handle starting from the bottom of the tang hole in the handle. Im not sure how BL got the epoxy through the straw but looks like he did a fine job without a bunch of bubbles etc. Might be able to reuse the syringes that the epoxy came in?
 
Acraglas is less viscous than the 2 ton epoxy or gorilla glue epoxy. I'd never use the 2 ton stuff again, It's brittle and doesn't seem to grab metal very well, but we'll see how the gorilla glue holds up. Acraglas is serious stuff and a little more difficult to use than your average "squeeze two syringes" epoxies. You have to mix it in a certain proportion in mixing cups and then stir it for 4 or 5 minutes straight and it seems to take forever to harden even a little.

Im not sure how BL got the epoxy through the straw but looks like he did a fine job without a bunch of bubbles etc.
Click to expand...

I put the epoxy into a paper cup and mixed it for a couple minutes. Then I slooooowly poured it into the straw, making sure there was enough room for the air to escape as I poured. Eventually the straw got clogged with epoxy and a big air bubble formed, but I just pushed it out the top by squeezing the straw. There were some tiny bubbles, but they seemed to resolve themselves by the time the epoxy dried. Next time I'm going to just suck the epoxy into the straw and hope I don't get any in my mouth.
 
The stuff is so viscous I don't think I'm in much danger, and I'd only be filling up the first 1/4th of the straw or so. I used to use a straw like that to clean the ink out of old fountain pens and I never got a mouth full of ink. The "proper" way to do it is to buy one of those bulbs for sucking snot out of a baby's nose, I suppose I should go that route rather than risk gluing my mouth shut.
 
I've never noticed much vapor with Acraglas. My room is pretty tight and I can't reach the window to open it. Sometimes other stuff I'll have the wife or kids open it, like grinding on ivory, that was horrible stuff. Never felt the need with acraglas. I use the gel far more than the liquid. It's easier to mix, 50/50 by volume. The liquid you have to measure somehow with a syringe or something.

Still have to mix it thoroughly. I just use a round stick and work it down into the tang hole. It won't run by itself. If you coat the tang some and pack some down the hole your gonna get a good hook up. Never had a problem with air bubbles. Might be more so with the liquid but it if mixed thoroughly usually doesn't have voids either.
 
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