Bolster? (how to make it fit perfectly)

Jens Schuetz · Oct 9, 2013

I have a bhojpure blade and a handle. Now I'm looking for a way to merge the two.
The following video shows how to burn the blade into the handle (would use something else to not mess up the tempering) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YSb7GtiEgHE&desktop_uri=/watch?v=YSb7GtiEgHE
The video stops right were it gets interesting. The Kami made a metal ring from sheet metal (without a video I would have dremeled it out of a solid piece of aluminum) This will be the bolster. The ring will be put around the handle.
But how does the ring fit around the blade? Will he just hammer it until it fits? When I look at my HI blade then there's not even the tiniest gap between bolster and blade. Just hammering it doesn't seem to be enough. I'm just guessing until somebody can enlighten me here or with another video.
Thank you

elasmonut · Oct 9, 2013

wouldnt mind betting its a soldered join

Jens Schuetz · Oct 9, 2013

So basically hammering the ring onto the blade as close as possible and then filling the gaps with solder and at the end polish it nice evenly?

philllll · Oct 9, 2013

I'm thinking the ring should be attached to the handle, first. Then hammer the whole thing on and solder. I also have no idea what I'm talking about, though.

Jens Schuetz · Oct 9, 2013

Yes of course. If it's not around the handle while hammering it would get squished too much out of shape

philllll · Oct 9, 2013

Also my KLVUK has a little gap at the bolster (None of my others do) where you can see it was hammered on or something similar

Berkley · Oct 9, 2013

This isn't a video, and may be more complicated than you want, but FWIW: "Bolsters - ferrule fabrication from flat"

Jens Schuetz · Oct 9, 2013

Berkley said:
This isn't a video, and may be more complicated than you want, but FWIW: "Bolsters - ferrule fabrication from flat"

Awesome! Thank you.
Actually easier than I thought. Is this the traditional way?
I think I can improve it a little. The rectangles next to C1 at the left and C1 at right overlap when the bolster is folded around blade and handle and are then soldered one on top of the other. I would give these rectangles interlocking patterns if my metal scissors allow for such detail.
Now if I find a solid ring which fits on the handle I could glue a fitting paper template around it and cut the shape out of the metal. This way the part around the handle would be solid and no need to solder anything.

Steve Tall · Oct 9, 2013

I put a handle on a Bhojpure blade without using a bolster.

The handle was shaped to fit my hand perfectly.
Here's a thread describing the process:

Khuk rehandle using firewood, couple nails, no electricity

Bawanna · Oct 10, 2013

I believe that's the way I would do it. I did a Barong and I just took a washer and cut a slot to fit up tight at the end of the tang, then drilled and acraglased the wood hand and the washer on together. Just to protect the front of the handle.

Jens Schuetz · Oct 10, 2013

Steve Tall said:
I put a handle on a Bhojpure blade without using a bolster.

The handle was shaped to fit my hand perfectly.
Here's a thread describing the process:

Khuk rehandle using firewood, couple nails, no electricity

Looks pretty!
I was thinking of pins too but wanted to keep the historic blade as original as possible.
The traditional handle which I have is already profiled on top to hold a bolster there.
Maybe Ill make my own handle then I can do it like you. Your work is inspiring. Love the little details in your description. Drilling the pin holes after gluing, taping the drill holes so they don't splinter and so on. Very helpful!
Should the tang hole be much bigger than the tang so that I can fill it up with epoxy without having any cavities?

Steve Tall · Oct 10, 2013

Jens Schuetz said:
...
Should the tang hole be much bigger than the tang so that I can fill it up with epoxy without having any cavities?

I tried for as close a fit as possible, but making and progressively enlarging the blind hole (with my beginner skills) wasn't perfect. The finished hole was partially filled with epoxy, then when the tang was inserted, any gaps were filled and the excess epoxy came out at the top of the handle.

(I think this answers your question.)

blue lander · Oct 10, 2013

How has that Bhojpure held up to use? I was thinking of buying a blade and doing the same thing, but was worried about the quality of the steel.

Steve Tall · Oct 10, 2013

blue lander said:
How has that Bhojpure held up to use? I was thinking of buying a blade and doing the same thing, but was worried about the quality of the steel.

I ended up buying more HI khuks (no surprise), and that Bhojpure isn't one of my users (yet).

Jens Schuetz · Oct 10, 2013

Does anybody know how this transparent plastic resin is called? You can pour it into any shape and let it solidify and it is crystal clear.
Would be cool to make a handle from that. Would allow a view of the tang and make it possible to evaluate if it's still secure. Better than having a surprise flying at you while chopping.

edit:
checked a lot online and I guess something like the West System 105 (epoxy) with a 207 hardener should work. Any thoughts on that?
Thank you.

ndoghouse · Oct 10, 2013

Its called casting resin and usually does not contain any fiber to strengthen it. It does not do well with shock and will probably crack. It is cool stuff though. West makes some very good quality stuff. If you want to cast a handle I can definitely help you there. I made a mold for a handle and was going to make a carbon fiber handle for a camillus Khuk blank (now cold steel) I filed down and would have worked out great cept my house burned down with it:barf: What I did was fill a plastic bag with bondo and stuck the tang into the wet bondo and squeezed down on the khuk and molded it perfectly to my hand then let it harden. When it was done I shaped the already formed finger grooves and rounded everything off.. This is just cast tho. once cast is made you smothe it and coat it with PVA (poly vinyl alchohol) and make the mold over it in two pieces. If your interested I can point you to the right places. I also made a damascus guard and pommel but never got that far before it burned. I had so much work into it making the mold and such it made me sick to loose it all and just wasnt ready to do it all over again. THEN I FOUND HI!!! Did you get a handle from AC? I saw them and thought about doing the same thing. I think I know how to do the bolster using bondo to make a form. more on that later. I may buy a blade and do the same so keep in touch my friend!

Jens Schuetz said:
Does anybody know how this transparent plastic resin is called? You can pour it into any shape and let it solidify and it is crystal clear.
Would be cool to make a handle from that. Would allow a view of the tang and make it possible to evaluate if it's still secure. Better than having a surprise flying at you while chopping.

edit:
checked a lot online and I guess something like the West System 105 (epoxy) with a 207 hardener should work. Any thoughts on that?
Thank you.

Steve Tall · Oct 11, 2013

From an old thread:

hunglvq said:
...
The hardest part to me is the bolster. I tried to cut a piece of brass from 0.9mm thick sheet stock, then soldered it into a ring with a gas torch. But this was not a good solution in my case,with my tools, at my level. Another option for me is to cut it from 28mm diameter brass pipe, then hammer it into shape. The drawback is that you can see the bolster is getting wider towards the cho and spine.

...

...

Jens Schuetz · Oct 11, 2013

ndoghouse said:
Its called casting resin and usually does not contain any fiber to strengthen it. It does not do well with shock and will probably crack. It is cool stuff though. West makes some very good quality stuff. If you want to cast a handle I can definitely help you there. I made a mold for a handle and was going to make a carbon fiber handle for a camillus Khuk blank (now cold steel) I filed down and would have worked out great cept my house burned down with it:barf: What I did was fill a plastic bag with bondo and stuck the tang into the wet bondo and squeezed down on the khuk and molded it perfectly to my hand then let it harden. When it was done I shaped the already formed finger grooves and rounded everything off.. This is just cast tho. once cast is made you smothe it and coat it with PVA (poly vinyl alchohol) and make the mold over it in two pieces. If your interested I can point you to the right places. I also made a damascus guard and pommel but never got that far before it burned. I had so much work into it making the mold and such it made me sick to loose it all and just wasnt ready to do it all over again. THEN I FOUND HI!!! Did you get a handle from AC? I saw them and thought about doing the same thing. I think I know how to do the bolster using bondo to make a form. more on that later. I may buy a blade and do the same so keep in touch my friend!

Would be great to hear more. Ancient metal with space age handle? How could one not be interested?
Yes, got it from AC.
Will the mold have to be heat resistant? Otherwise I have a complete one already.
How final will the shape of the mold have to be? Can carbon fiber be filed and polished or will it have to stay as it is once its done?
Thanks already

Cant wait

Jens Schuetz · Oct 11, 2013

Steve Tall said:
From an old thread:

Thank you
Doesn't look bad. I got a fitting copper pipe which could work.

ndoghouse · Oct 11, 2013

=Jens Schuetz;12734817]Would be great to hear more. Ancient metal with space age handle? How could one not be interested?
Yes, got it from AC.
Will the mold have to be heat resistant? Otherwise I have a complete one already.

The mold does not have to be heat resistant.

How final will the shape of the mold have to be?

The plug (handle) made from bondo is easy to polish. The mold should be smooth as glass if possible. There will be a slight seam between the two mold halves that can easily be sanded and polished to glass smooth.

Can carbon fiber be filed and polished or will it have to stay as it is once its done?

If you get the mold glass smooth then the final product will be glass smooth. If not you can polish afterwards and achieve the same outcome. I find that the more time you spend on polishing the mold the less work you have to do each time you make another piece. I will say it is a lot of work but especially if your doing more than one piece it may be worth your time. Learning this process will allow you to make all kinds of different parts from model airplane parts to car parts, etc. Really cool but is a lot of work at first. What i was going to do was first put a few layers of clear coat inside the mold and let it set up so you get that deep clear coat over the carbon fibre. Then trim it and sand it so you can then put the two mold halves together. I used bi-axial braided tubing http://www.fibreglast.com/product/Braided_Carbon_Biaxial_Sleeve_02609_1/carbon-fiber-tapes-tow-and-sleeves you can buy fairly cheap and can be expanded and contracted to fit the handle size variations around finger grooves etc. If you have ever seen a Chinese finger trap then same thing. Basically put the mold halves together and secure them. Saturate the carbon tubing and slide it inside the mold. Then blow up a balloon inside to hold the carbon tubing against the wall until it sets. Then you can fill the inside with resin fiber mix and slip the tang into the mold. When you make the mold you will have an impression of the bolster area (ricasso) so the knife blade will be positioned perfectly as you want it so no guesswork there. Tiny holes need to be drilled on low spots within the mold to let air escape as you blow up the balloon. Like I said its quite a process but if you want continuous carbon fiber and no seams with deep glass finish then this is how I'd do it. I have never heard of anyone doing it this way so if anyone knows better im free to opinions as well. Here is how I got started in the process. If you get on their mail list they have all kinds of materials on special and they will email you when certain products are available for super cheap. They may be just out of expiration or blems but still good stuff. If you want to try this I may do it as well in parallel with you and see what we come up with but you gotta do some reading first:thumbup: Hi tech meets antique would be cool! Watch the pretty lady and enjoy

http://www.fibreglast.com/fibreglast_how_to_mold_fibreglass
Thanks already

Cant wait