Help with Hidden Tang

MyNameIsBo

MyNameIsBo

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My brother and I are working on this knife for my dad's birthday. I'm doing the blade end of things, and he's going to handle the handle. He's thinking to use a block of walnut, but he wants to drill a small hole in the block, then heat up the tang of the knife enough to "burn" its path into the block. He says he's seen online knife makers doing this, but I'm concerned it will ruin the temper and/or just not work out the way he thinks it will. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

-Bo
 

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Bo,
I would not burn it in unless you have practiced that skill a good bit.
The best way is to drill a 1/4" hole and wiggle the bit side to side to make a hole that will fit the tang. The excess will be filled by the epoxy, so it does not have to be a tight fit.
 
I'm not a great knife maker, but I have made some ... well ... sharp things like this guy describes. He got a dowel, cut a slot in the dowel that was the same thickness as your tang, then drilled a hole the size of the dowel in the handle. If you don't want to see the dowel in the knife end of the dowel, you could carefully cut a slot in a wooden (or metal) cap that you put over the handle.

 
If you're ok with a bolster, here's what I typically do (it only explains the basic concept, not the entirety of the process):
1) Drill a series of hole along the bolster piece making sure you a) use a drill bit slightly smaller than the width of the tang, and b) make sure it's no longer than the tang or ricasso of the knife.
2) flip the bolster over and using the already drilled holes as pilot holes, select a bigger drill bit and drill these out but not completely through the bolster (I usually leave about 1/8" of material)
3) Use small files /nail files, emery boards etc to carefully enlarge the hole for the tang until it's a snug fit.
4) Drill a hole in the handle piece that's large enough for the tang to fit easily
5) Epoxy the handle together with the tang inserted.
6) Clean up/finish shaping the handle
bolster schematic.jpg
 
weo said:
If you're ok with a bolster, here's what I typically do (it only explains the basic concept, not the entirety of the process):
1) Drill a series of hole along the bolster piece making sure you a) use a drill bit slightly smaller than the width of the tang, and b) make sure it's no longer than the tang or ricasso of the knife.
2) flip the bolster over and using the already drilled holes as pilot holes, select a bigger drill bit and drill these out but not completely through the bolster (I usually leave about 1/8" of material)
3) Use small files /nail files, emery boards etc to carefully enlarge the hole for the tang until it's a snug fit.
4) Drill a hole in the handle piece that's large enough for the tang to fit easily
5) Epoxy the handle together with the tang inserted.
6) Clean up/finish shaping the handle
View attachment 2812236
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the info!
 
daily_grind said:
I'm not a great knife maker, but I have made some ... well ... sharp things like this guy describes. He got a dowel, cut a slot in the dowel that was the same thickness as your tang, then drilled a hole the size of the dowel in the handle. If you don't want to see the dowel in the knife end of the dowel, you could carefully cut a slot in a wooden (or metal) cap that you put over the handle.

Click to expand...
That's a great idea!! Thank you so much.
 
I was going to suggest a wooden bolster as well. Weo beat me to it. The only addition to his guide is to remember to sand and polish the front of the bolster before assembly. You can't do it well once the handle/bolster/blade is glued up.

There are several tutorial threads showing how to fit a wooden bolster. Use the Custom Search Engine to find them.
 
There are needle rasps out there and broaches that make quick work of slitting a wood handle. They do pretty well on micarta and acrylics, but dull a bit faster with G10.

I made this recently:
PXL_20250207_200123043.jpg

Dremel mill! Linear rails, small drill press vise, generic foredom, some pipe flanges and NPT tube, aluminum cross piece and angles, a linear actuator table, picatinny rail section, scope rings (1" fit perfectly!) and voila! Nice clean, straight cuts in synthetic or wood material for guards/ferrules!
PXL_20250207_200113583.jpgPXL_20250207_200508821.jpg

But there is an easier way for hidden tangs. Use a Frame Handle method. Get some Micarta or G10 the same thickness as the tang. Trace the tang onto it, cut out the tang slot and then epoxy scales to the side of the frame. I also trace the tang onto the outer sides of the scales so I don't grind too far in when I am profiling. I do these with synthetic guards typically, but you leave the handle bigger and shape it out with an integral wooden guard.
 
I think something that's not been mentioned is how to located where the slot in the front of bolster will be. Use a 3/8" spade but to drill the hole in the bolster - drill just deep enough so the tip of the spade bit breaks thru the front of bolster leaving a 1/16" range hole. This locates the slot nicely. The dowel method is what I normally use for all hidden tangs, except for when the extend to the buttcap.

I started typing up some instruction, but then found the 2nd part of the above linked video and it covers nicely. He does a really good job on his videos.
 
Taz said:
There are needle rasps out there and broaches that make quick work of slitting a wood handle. They do pretty well on micarta and acrylics, but dull a bit faster with G10.

I made this recently:
View attachment 2812518

Dremel mill! Linear rails, small drill press vise, generic foredom, some pipe flanges and NPT tube, aluminum cross piece and angles, a linear actuator table, picatinny rail section, scope rings (1" fit perfectly!) and voila! Nice clean, straight cuts in synthetic or wood material for guards/ferrules!
View attachment 2812519View attachment 2812520

But there is an easier way for hidden tangs. Use a Frame Handle method. Get some Micarta or G10 the same thickness as the tang. Trace the tang onto it, cut out the tang slot and then epoxy scales to the side of the frame. I also trace the tang onto the outer sides of the scales so I don't grind too far in when I am profiling. I do these with synthetic guards typically, but you leave the handle bigger and shape it out with an integral wooden guard.
Click to expand...
That's a great idea too!!! Man, I'm gonna have to just tell him to read this thread lol. Thank you so much!
 
Ken H> said:
I think something that's not been mentioned is how to located where the slot in the front of bolster will be. Use a 3/8" spade but to drill the hole in the bolster - drill just deep enough so the tip of the spade bit breaks thru the front of bolster leaving a 1/16" range hole. This locates the slot nicely. The dowel method is what I normally use for all hidden tangs, except for when the extend to the buttcap.

I started typing up some instruction, but then found the 2nd part of the above linked video and it covers nicely. He does a really good job on his videos.
Click to expand...
That's awesome, thanks so much for the videos and the info!
 
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