Hidden tang questions...

Alain M-D

Alain M-D

Joined
Jan 20, 2002
Messages
237
Hello !

I would like to make my first hidden tang knife but I wonder about
what wood to use for the handle. I dont have money to buy expensive
stabilised wood and I already have somes pieces of wood. What
can be the best: African Blackwood, India Rosewood or bloodwood.

I wonder if a wood like blackwood is tought enought to make hidden tang
and if this wood are to easy to crack... (the handle will be quite thin near of
the guard...)

Second question, I thought of gluing the handle and once the epoxy dry, make the hole for the pin through the handle and the tang at the same time.
But this technique will not work because I will make hardened my blade (stainless) and the tang will be too hard to be bored afterwards. (I cannot make a selective hardening)

What is the best way to make this ? And do you advise me to pin the guard or only to glue it?

Thanks for yours help !

Alain M-D
 
I've never used blackwood but, East indian rosewood and bloodwood are great handle materials. Alot of my knives are hidden tang and I would advise you to NOT assemble the knife with epoxy and try to drill the holes. You will actually flex the drill bit once it hits the tang and end up with a hole in the wood larger than the pin, which would give a gap around the pin. Not desirable. I usually do one of two methods. If you have the wood as a block still, clamp the block in your drill press vice and hold the blade in the block. As soon as the bit goes through the first side of the wood and touches the tang stop. You'll have a mark for the tang hole. Pull the knife out and finish the hole in the block, then drill the tang seperately. Or, you can just figure out where you want the hole and drill staight through the wood, then mark the tang from either side of the block.
 
I have done this but it REALLY tricky to get right.
First I would use the Bloodwood it does need hand sanding up too 800-1200 grit then buff to get it right. Give a really nice deep finish if done right with a min. amount of tools.

You can fit the handle before HT with a drop of super glue, read one drop, carefully fit and drill your pin hole.
Be sure to keep the fit pretty tight where the tang inserts to the handle, this will help. Leave your wood block square untill after you have drilled your hole (Ask me how I know this!)
Tap on a hard surface the handle will come off then HT.
Be sure to Champher the pin hole and do several dry runs before knocking the handle back off.
 
Good luck on your project. Nothing like getting it done. I am a great fan of African Blackwood, when it is available. It is a very tough dense wood with a very high natural oil content. It tends to gum up abrasives quickly but the point is to use a relatively new belt when shaping it. Blackwood takes an extremely fine finish. I go up to 1500grit before I use OOOO steel wool and buff with a clean dry cloth buff. It looks like a polish.

Being oily, it is nearly waterproof and doesn't need any sealer. Very stable and strong for knife handles, especially for the way you want to use it. I suspect it will be a little more expensive and you need to invest in a file cleaning brush if you want to use a to cut in the relief slot for the tang to sit in. as it will clog quickly. Most African Blackwood is very fine grained and without any specific grain pattern but it has a very captivating lustre.

If you are going to glue the panels together eg.- with epoxy, I suggest first cleaning that fixing surface with acetone several times. The black / red pigment will come off so you must be careful not to "clean" on the other surfaces or it will go a funny brown / bleached colour sometimes.

I always drill the pin hole in the tang before heat treat and only fit the handle after heat treat. After all, sometimes there warpage or grinding corrections that need to be done and you may change your mind about what handle material you want to use. You can strengthen the front end by also placing a pin hole up front about an inch back from the front of the handles.

Good luck. Cheers.
 
you can make two handle halves, mill the inside to fit the tang, and even fit a retaining pin inside through a hole in the tang to fit a recess into the insides of the halves. voila! a hidden pin!
 
Well it looks like you got some really good advice here on drilling pin holes. I don't do any stainless, but I do a lot of hidden tang knives, and I like a full threaded tang with a drilled and threaded pommel. this eliminates the need for pins. makes the handle 1 solid piece and gives the knife handle a piece of metal to protect the end.
Don't get me wrong I've done them with pins also, I just like the threaded pommel better. Food for throught.

Also I would go with the blackwood, good stuff.

Good luck and have fun

Bill
 
I just wanted to say "thanks" to the guy who posted this question..

Thanks Alain!
For I am also at this same step in my development as a Bladesmith.
I want to make my first hidden tang blade this weekend, and Im struggling with the same type of issues.

thanks also guys for the great ideas and advice.
 
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