burn fitting full tang knives?

T

trogdorr

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Jan 3, 2015
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Newbie question for you guys,

I have a couple knives that I forged out, the bevels are all ground, I got it as flat as I feel I possibly could, but, when I stack all of the blades up I can see little slivers of light shining through the handle area where the tang isn't perfectly flat.
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With a hammer I doubt I could get it much, if any, flatter. Its pretty minor but I don't want to settle if I don't have to. I was wondering if it would be advisable to heat up the tang and sandwich it between my handle material? I know with hidden tangs sometimes people will burn the tang into the handle for final fitting and i was wondering if this would apply to a full tang knife as well?

My concerns are whether or not epoxy will hold strongly to charred wood, Also I do not want it to look like the wood was burned onto the handle, possibly a black liner would remedy this? Currently I do not have access to a surface grinder or a milling machine so I'm looking for ways I can create a good fit without having to borrow anything. Obviously I would fit the handles before heat treat if I were to do it by burning.

Have any of you tried this? If so how well did it work for you?

Who knows, I may be overlooking something that would be easier and work even better, so I'm open to all suggestions on what to do. Just thought I might tap into the great deal of experience and knowledge contained within this forum before I moved onto the next step.

Here's what The knives look like for those of you who are interested
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Thanks for your time,
Trogdorr
 
If they are in an annealed state, you can straighten then in a vice. If they are thin in spots and not bent, I would grind them flat on any flat platen. Belt grinder, disk sander, etc.
 
Grind them, file them, sand them on a flat table until they show no light anywhere.
Go to the top of the page and read the stickies there.
Frank
 
I have a 42x2 craftsman sander. Im trying to avoid thinning the blade if I can so I can keep the rasp texture and forge scale as much as possible. I like that look. I was more just curious if anyone else had done it differently.
 
I know what it's like wanting to keep the forge (or heat treat) finish/texture on the blade flats and ricasso while having flat/straight tang issues lol. Honestly, the best remedy is simply prevtion by light "finish forging". The best way to prevent this problem is to forge at a lower heat when you're finished rough forging the shape, and forge as slow and lightly as needed to clean up and flatten the tang, also look into maybe using a flatter hammer (you can make one by welding a flat piece of steel on the face of an older sledge type hammer). Keep checking for straightness and flatness by sighting down the blade from both tip and tang, edge up and edge down, and also use a staight/flat edge, such as a steel ruler that you can use to lay on the tang to check for flatness both legth and widhwise while refining it during the finish forging.

As long as you do that, you can draw a line or a curve on the tang where you want the font of the scales to go using a sharpie, and just file & flat sand up to that area, without touching the ricasso. Start with draw filing from where the scales would start down to the butt, without going passed or off of the butt and rounding it over. Then tape or spray glue some course sandpaper to a granite surface block or piece of glass and sand the tang flat, keeping that blade and ricasso portion off the edge of the surface (a couple wraps around the ricasso using masking tape etc. stopping at just before where you want your scales to start can help avoid sanding passed area you want to keep the forged finish on).

Also, use black dye in you epoxy to help "seal" any small gaps between the tang and scales, as well as where the rough ricasso meets the front of the scales.

Hope that makes sense and helps ya some. :) BTW, I like the profiles of your knives. I always like seeing angled tangs likes that, they look nice and have a somewhat aggresive style. :thumbup:

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been quite a while since I've posted any new vids)
 
Thanks for the advice Paul! These are some of the first knives where I have done most of the shaping by forging, theres definitely room for improvement as far as my hammer control and developing the "eye" for this sort of thing. I was really focused on keeping the bevels/tip in alignment more than anything. I think a flattener would be awesome to have. I tried holding a piece of flat bar stock in top while they were hot and giving it a couple whacks but im pretty sure the majority of the energy went into my hand xD something with more heft would probably work better. I like that idea of just welding on a chunk to a something I already own. Hammers are expensive.
 
have you considered tapering the tangs? You would have to drill the holes first.
 
Gotta admit I've never even tried one. The thought of it makes me anxious :p I know these knives aren't perfect but i dont want to ruin them with my clumsy grinding!
 
I put off trying it for a long time too, It ended up being easier than i thought. I started doing it to solve the very same problems you are describing. Also it looks cool and helps with balance :)
 
Any tips? Is there a way to ensure that it is lined up perfectly or is that more of a trial and error thing? I could use all the help I can get.
 
Well for me I do it free hand on one of Nathans flat platens. It isnt perfect but it is symmetrical to the naked eye. I mark out the tang along the spine just like you do with the bevel. I run a blaze belt as fast as I can. If you think about it its actually easier than grinding bevels evenly. Also, you dont need a real aggressive taper just enough to get the tang flat without hitting the ricasso area. It does take a light touch and some muscle memory. It is an extra step for sure but well worth the results. Of course when doing that kind of grinding with a sharp and pointy blade, tape the sucker up and make sure its not gonna hit you if you loose your grip.
 
Thanks, ill give it a go on one of the worse off ones and see how that goes. Ill be sure to post the results
 
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