Hidden tang handle fit up before heat treat

S

soundshaman

Joined
Jan 29, 2013
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9
Hi everyone, I'm looking to do my first hidden tang knife (RWL34, 5mm) with minimal tools and was wondering about handle set up before HT which will be done by a HT service.

I see that most people are drilling and pinning their handle after HT by softening their tang. Is it possible to do the handle fit up including setting up the pin before HT? I am worried that the guard or pin won't fit after HT. If the previous is not a option, can I try soften and drill the tang after HT with a gas stove in a kitchen? I only have a simple drill and bits so I hope I can do it before HT.

Thank you for your time.
 
Something I've been doing on occasion since Devin suggested was to drill a larger hole and chamfer it. Say .188 if you're planning to use a .125 pin. Then after heat treat, peen a short piece of rod in the .188" hole using brass, or 303 stainless or something soft and grind it flush to the tang. Now you have a nice big target of soft material to hit and drill your pin hole in after HT.

I haven't done it for a handle, but instead for slotted guards and it works very well.
 
I drill the hole before HT, slightly larger than the pin. At that stage I leave the handle wood about 1/16" too long. When fitting together, I test if I can push the pin through, sand the wood down a tiny bit, etc, until it just snugly fits.
 
That is basically what I doo, too. I fit the handle to the tang and drill the hole through the handle and tang with a 1/16" bit with no guard in place so the handle is to long. Then I re-drill the tang with a 3/16" bit and usually make the hole a bt oval ( up and down the tang) to allow more fitting room. Leave the handle with the 1/16" hole for now.

After HT and finishing the blade completely, I fit the guard and then slowly shorten the handle until I see light through the pin hole ( indicating that the tang hole is far enough forward, and can stick a 1/16" pin through the handle. I then take the handle down about 1/16" more and assue a perfect alignment of the handle to the guard. After assuring that the handle fits the guard evenly. I hold everything tightly together in the handle clamping jig I use for glue-up, and re-drill the handle with a 1/8" bit. I test fit a 1/8"pin, and if all is good, I remove that handle, fill the hole with 24 hour cure epoxy, put the blade in, put the assembly in the clamping jig, heck straightness, and insert the pin. I wipe off the squeeze out with a paper towel and denatured alcohol, check alignment again, set aside for an hour, wipe off and check again, ... and leave the knife and handle in the clamp jig overnight.

TIP:
Always taper one end of your pin to allow easy passage through the handle and tang. This is important, as they may not be completely aligned at first.
Once through the handle,the pin should be just barely snug - not tight, and not loose.
 
Thank you all for your help. I will try give that method with the pin holes a go.
Is doing the guard fit up a bad idea before HT due to the blade soft steel not giving a good fit up when press fitting?
 
For a number of us, this is only a problem when using air hardening steels. For carbon steel that I heat treat, I don't harden the tang anyway.
 
You should not fit a guard, or do the final fitting of a handle before HT. There will be metal removed in ckean-up and final sanding, and shoulders may be changed after HT. I guarentee you that a snug guard pre-HT will be a sloppy guard post-HT.
 
kuraki said:
Something I've been doing on occasion since Devin suggested was to drill a larger hole and chamfer it. Say .188 if you're planning to use a .125 pin. Then after heat treat, peen a short piece of rod in the .188" hole using brass, or 303 stainless or something soft and grind it flush to the tang. Now you have a nice big target of soft material to hit and drill your pin hole in after HT.

I haven't done it for a handle, but instead for slotted guards and it works very well.
Click to expand...

That’s a pretty dang good idea. I suppose you could even tack weld it and grind flush if you were really worried about it.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
You should not fit a guard, or do the final fitting of a handle before HT. There will be metal removed in ckean-up and final sanding, and shoulders may be changed after HT. I guarentee you that a snug guard pre-HT will be a sloppy guard post-HT.
Click to expand...

Thank you again for your experience. I will try do the guard after HT. :)

Cheers!
 
JG Custom Metal Works said:
That’s a pretty dang good idea. I suppose you could even tack weld it and grind flush if you were really worried about it.
Click to expand...

You could, but there's really no where for it to go even if your peening job didn't have sufficient grip, especially under a guard. I tried punching a slug out once and it took sufficient effort that I'm quite confident they'll never go anywhere.
 
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