hidden tang glue-up fixture

Excellent, I have some 1/2" aluminum and I think I will make a basic copy of this great setup. Jim
 
Hi Nick. That is very, very nice. I've often struggled with just this clamping issue. In a similar set-up I made for myself, I always scratched the ricasso where I clamped it. Are you using rubber or gasket material for the clamping surface?
 
Michael, first off, CONGRATULATIONS on earning your stamp and the highly coveted BR Hughes award!!! :eek: :thumbup: :cool: Awesome stuff! :)

Good question about the clamping area. I super-glued some fancy 3M rubber to the first one, then realized it didn't need so much give. My solution is stupid simple... cut a tongue depressor in half and super-glue it in place. It allows just enough compression to not mar the blade, but at the same time it holds well.

I like to use post-it notes on the ricasso to help protect the blade finish.



Michael Kanter also asked me some stuff on the phone.

Why pivot in the front??? Well, once you get the fixture all set for your particular blade, you can just loosen the front two bolts, and then slide the whole front off (knife included). Then clean it with acetone, apply glue to the handle, slide it together and then slide the front back on the fixture.

Also, I always have short ricasso's... (ricassae?...LOL) anyway... so in order to clamp down on a flat area, the front needed to pivot for that as well.

A lot of knives (like the damascus fighter in the pics) would be glued up when the handle is still in block form and so much adjustment would probably not be necessary. A knife like the second one is 99.8% done before it's actually glued up, so the fixture did need to have a lot of adjustment so it could line up to whatever the handle geometry is.

Hope that helps. :)
 
Great fixture!!!! You should glue some leather around the part that contacts the ricasso and blade to protect it. You should market something through David at GLWJ...
 
Thanks Nick and I am just humbled. You know as well as I do that this is just the beginning of my education. I certainly don't feel like a "master," but will really try to bring my work up to the best level that I can. Like you say, "...being good isn't good enough."

The tongue depressor sounds good, but I think the real tip here was your use of post-it notes on the ricasso. That is great. The blue-tape I have been using always tears and binds. The post-its are a great idea. Also, while I'm here, I wanted to thank you, Nick, for teaching me your technique on hand-finishing blades at the Spokane hammer-in back in 2003 or so. I still use them to this day. You guys should beg Nick to give a tutorial on this. -m
 
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