Help with the design of a knife (mostly the tang)

[Kylejom]

I am wanting to make a set of Bowie knives for myself using the antlers from a mule deer that I got last year. It's my first buck so I wanted do do something with it and being a knifmaker I figured making knives with it is more meaningful than mounting it. They will be primarily an art knife with fancy furnishings on it but I still want it to be very strong and fully functional. The issue I am having is that the antlers have a slight curve to them and I'm not sure of the best way to design the tang because of this. I also want to put a thin but cap on end of the handle. I've seen makers weld or solder a threaded rod to the tang and a matching nit to the butcap so that they screw together but I don know if you can do that with a curve in the material. I've also seen some people cut grooves into the tang for the epoxy to grab and some say you really don't even need a pin then. Basically my biggest concern is will a tang that runs about two thirds through the handle be enough to support a large Bowie knife and if not what are my options. I put a picture in to show my design so far. i am planning to do a small pin in the centre of the handle.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

On a curve like that, you are dealing with getting the best solution, not the perfect solution. You must realize that the handle will not feel well and the knife will not work well in the hand. The drop caused by the extreme curvature is a too much.

faced with a curve like yours, I usually let the top side lift in a slight hump from the bolster to reduce the amount of drop at the butt. You will have to curve your tang to fit things up right. Drill the handle from both ends to get the curved channel.

However, sentimental as these pieces of antler are, it is a shame to ruin a wonderful blade like your sketch with a half-assed handle. Wouldn't a perfect knife be better for them to be on? I suggest you cut a 1" section off the antler and place it at the bolster, then use some stunning wood to finish the handle. I suggest spalted maple, a figured walnut, or buckeye burl.

 

[A.L.]

Would shortening the handle be option? That way you could run the tang all the way through the handle material.

 

[Kylejom]

On a curve like that, you are dealing with getting the best solution, not the perfect solution. You must realize that the handle will not feel well and the knife will not work well in the hand. The drop caused by the extreme curvature is a too much.

faced with a curve like yours, I usually let the top side lift in a slight hump from the bolster to reduce the amount of drop at the butt. You will have to curve your tang to fit things up right. Drill the handle from both ends to get the curved channel.

However, sentimental as these pieces of antler are, it is a shame to ruin a wonderful blade like your sketch with a half-assed handle. Wouldn't a perfect knife be better for them to be on? I suggest you cut a 1" section off the antler and place it at the bolster, then use some stunning wood to finish the handle. I suggest spalted maple, a figured walnut, or buckeye burl.

An option I hadn't considered until now is adding a sub hilt and cutting two straight areas from the antler for on either side of it. That would probably keep the handle straight and make it long enough to grab. I could also make the but cap the same thickness as the bolster to take a bit off the back of the antler. If not I may have to do as you said and use a nice piece of wood.

 

[kuraki]

I like the sub hilt idea, but I'm wondering what's wrong with the way you have it drawn? If that's to scale I think it's sufficient?

Anyway, another way around this is to bend the tang down a bit, and when you drill for your butt cap, drill through to meet your tang hole. Then work out the junction a bit with your broach to give clearance for it to pass through. Or maybe you could get a hinged tang to pass all the way to the butt cap and tie them together.

Timely thread as I have a bowie with a fitted guard and a chunk of elk antler sitting around as I consider the same issue. I can think of ways to do it, I just can't decide which route to go as I really don't want to screw up this antler. I don't have any sentimental attachment to it, but it's size and shape is the 1-100 I was looking for and I had to cut a lot of antler to find it. It may not be that special to anyone else but it's exactly what I was looking for and I can't replace it by just buying another piece likely.

 

[Kylejom]

Upon cutting the antler i realized it doesn't have as much of a curve as i thought it did. It is quite comfortable in the hand and i can keep a tang strait most of the way through it. I may stick with my original plan. Would the butt cap need to be attached to the tang or would i be able to epoxy a nut in the antler and just have it attached in that way?

 

[kuraki]

I don't think it's necessary to attach the cap and tang (though this would be the best), and I'd wager many caps are not. I've seen people use a wood-type screw that threads into the antler, but I think that a nut epoxied into a recess that carved out all of the pith and allowed the glue joint to bond the nut to the solid antler would be preferable. Especially something like a weld nut or other captive nut with a profile like knurling on it to enhance the glue joint.

Full disclosure - I have not done a cap like this yet, so I'm spitballing what I've read here on various projects people have posted and based on what I have done working with antler and epoxy.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

On many of my bowie and other similar handles where a through tang isn't going to work, I just solder a heavy brass wood screw or two (two is better) to the back of the butt cap and epoxy it into the stag/wood handle. Grind and sand with some care, as getting the plate too hot will loosen the epoxy.

My buddy hates to hard solder (poor torch control), so he soft solders the screws on his but vcaps,, the same way. If he gets carried away in shaping the butt cap and builds up too much heat, he will melt the solder and have to re-do it.