Hidden Tang Handles, Pins, and Bolsters!

[SteveGallo]

Hey guys,

I'm about to start my first knife in the next few days, and I'm trying to finalize my design (which I will post when it's finished).

Two big questions:

Do kitchen knives need bolsters? I've tried finding a straight answer on this and it's pretty muddy depending on if it's from a chef's point of view or a bladesmith's. Is it a problem to have the handle just terminate, without having something "protective"? I've noticed most factory blades use an integral which is not an option for me, and I don't want to deal with pinning a bolster if it isn't necessary. I've seen custom makers do both so I don't know.

Secondly, do hidden tang knives need pins at all? With the liquid adamantium epoxies available, is pinning just for aesthetics? I ask because I like the look of a pinless hidden tang handle the most, such as these:

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[DEllis]

I like that look too, but I just don't trust the epoxy 100% on it's own.........so I do a longer thru tang with a nut at the rear even on light duty stuff.
I am no kitchen knife expert, but I don't see any "need" for bolsters other than esthetics..
Darcy

 

[Hengelo_77]

A reason to have a bolster is that it will be very hard to make a slot in a piece of material exactly as wide as the tang.
Making such a slot on a bolster is still not easy but do-able. That bolster will cover a slightly wider hole to house the tang and have a closed handle.
If you make the bolster out of metal and the slot got a bit to wide you can tap around it with a ball peen hammer to narrow it again. Sand the surface flat again with some sandpaper on a flat surface.
Randall is known to make knifes without pins and they have proven themselves.
I use a self made kitchen knife with no pin and it's solid as a rock

 

[tim37a]

I don't believe full tang kitchen knives need bolsters - they are just there to make the knife look nicer. If you use a good epoxy, like Acraglass (from Brownells) or G-flex (from West System) you don't need pins. The only thing pins will do is keep the scales in place while the epoxy is curing.

Tim

 

[SteveGallo]

A reason to have a bolster is that it will be very hard to make a slot in a piece of material exactly as wide as the tang.
Making such a slot on a bolster is still not easy but do-able. That bolster will cover a slightly wider hole to house the tang and have a closed handle.
If you make the bolster out of metal and the slot got a bit to wide you can tap around it with a ball peen hammer to narrow it again. Sand the surface flat again with some sandpaper on a flat surface.
Randall is known to make knifes without pins and they have proven themselves.
I use a self made kitchen knife with no pin and it's solid as a rock

Hmm...I was thinking of trying the "burn in" method...do you think that would still be a problem?

Thanks to others for the info.

 

[stezann]

i don't see problem apart the risk of having ugly "port", wich a properly slotted bolster prevents.
I trust modern epoxy bond, so the pins are just not necessary in my opinion in a kitchen knife.
The added security provided by a pin may have reasons to be in a big fighters, swords...choppers...and so on which you may wield with whipping motions.