Guard fitting tip

L6steel

L6steel

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
5,855
This is so simple it had to have been posted before but I don't recall it so here it is. I've always had trouble filing the slot in a guard to get a precision fit. I was working on a single guard bowie today and an idea came to me to take a sheet of 120 grit sand paper and stick it to a piece of 1/8" plate steel. I then clamped that to a board in my vice and just sanded the slot sides on it. It was ten times easier to keep the sides of the slot flat and work the particular area that needed to be taken down. Sure made a big difference. It amazes me how many simple ideas the Lord shows me in knife making!
 
Good tip Michael. Glad to hear other people have problems fitting the guard. That is the single most dreaded job on the knife for me.
 
Michael, have you tried a hardened file guide fixture such as the clamp-on types offered by Koval or Riverside Machine? They are sweet and work wonderfully for guard shoulders or slots.

Fox
 
Fox, I made myself a set of guide bars but I still have trouble keeping the file level. Plus I hate slipping and smacking knuckles on the bolts.
 
Michael,
Try this with your filing jig. Snug up your workpiece just to hold it where you want it. Take two spring clamps and place them on either end, so the top of the jig is now perectly aligned. Then tighten down the bolts and go file! I found that because of the slop needed for one side to move that the surface used to guide the file never quite lined up right. I kept getting a great fit on one side and the other side was crooked by just enough to be seen. By doing this that problem has gone away!

Another little tid bit I learned today. When you get close and think you have filed flat, try guiding the file with your thumbs facing each other. I clamp my whole jig in the vice and do this while looking down on the work. Use light pressure. This helps get rid of that pesky hump that forms from not keeping the file perfectly flat.
 
Another way to keep the file going straight, is to mirror polish the side of the guard facing you when filing. You can tell instantly if you start to wobble.
 
I've taken a small flat needle file and broke the handle off of it so it would fit into a jewelers saw frame, used this for filing thru tang guards. Have also used jig saw blades with the ends removed in a jewelers saw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top