Hidden tang handle?

S.Alexander

S.Alexander

Joined
Jul 7, 2013
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I am considering a hidden tang knife for my next project. I have done quite a few full tang knives now, and I am looking for a new challenge. Here is my issue. I have some beautiful pieces of cherry wood that are only 3/4" thick. Can I glue two pieces together to make a suitable handle for a knife? If so what type of glue would be best? I'm thinking wood glue would hold up. I have made cutting boards with only wood glue holding the pieces together without any failures.

Shane
 
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Do you mean that they are 3/4"wide? I can see why youd want to glue two pieces to make a 1.5" wide scale. But I cant imagine why you would want a 1.5" thick piece, unless youre doing a hidden tang.
 
IMO, 3/4" is thick enough for many hidden tang handles if you're careful.

On the other hand, gluing two pieces together makes what is known as a mortise tang. Relieve the exact
space you need for the tang in each piece before gluing them. You can do it in just one piece but then any
glue line will be off center.

On my third hand (:D), you can make an all wood frame handle by using a piece of wood (or something else)
the thickness of the tang in the middle and glue the other pieces to each side.
 
I like the idea of milling out the tang hole first. I'm assuming wood glue is good enough to hold the wood pieces together.
 
A good wood glue should hold for long time and often the joint is stronger than the wood. If you use a thin center piece of a different wood, the same thickness as the tang, you can avoid the mismatched pieces of your cherry wood next to each other (if they are mismatched).
 
Right now I am making a hidden tang knife handle with two scales of mammoth ivory. Let me share some things. I used a drill press with a rotary cutter set to depth with the drill table. That way you just push the scale into the cutter to carve out the tang shape and the depth will be the same on both scales. You can carve a quite accurate fit of the tang on both halves, which pays off when it is time to drill and fit the blind pins. Because you've carved the tang slots on each half individually, when you put the three pieces together, things are not really lined up. It is a good idea at this point to even up any misalignments so the knife and scales are all matched up and even.
 
Thanks for the advice and tips. I am still deciding how I will go about it, but now I have plenty of ideas to get me started.
 
Dan Pierson said:
IMO, 3/4" is thick enough for many hidden tang handles if you're careful.
Click to expand...

My thinking exactly. How many full-tang knives do you own that have a handle over 3/4" thick? Should a hidden tang be any different? Understand, I'm not advocating that all handles should be no thicker than 3/4", there are styles that require a thicker starting block (some of the sculpted bowie handles come to mind, particularly those with a flared end), but I dare say the majority do not. You will need to be precise when drilling the hole for the tang, to have it at the center, as you will not have a lot of room to spare, but careful layout and drilling will take care of that.
 
As has been pointed out in the discussion, mortise handle construction is a great way to do hidden pins. The pins only need to project into the scales a small amount to provide shear resistance. 3/32" to 1/8" is all you need. Also, hidden tang holes in the scales don't need to be super precise and snug fitting, as they will be filled with strong epoxy when assembled.
With rare material handles, like ivories and stone, hidden pin construction is a very good choice.
 
I just did a mortised hidden tang out of teak w/3 hidden pins (Stainless steel 8-32 Screws tapped into the tang w/the heads cut off) and it works great! I relieved both halves of the handle. Note: Make sure your mating Pcs are dead flat before gluing. If done correctly, you really have to look hard to see the joint.
 
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