Hilting a Mora stick tang

I'm pretty much finished with the knife. I'll make a leather sheath for it a little later.

IMGP0492.jpg

I really like this knife. It is the sharpest knife that I own. I finished the leather with 220 grit sand paper then used a liberal amount of SNO-SEAL on it. Baked it in the oven at 170 degrees F for 10-20 minutes and reapplied the SNO-SEAL. Did it 3 times then applied a final coat and rubbed it hard for 15-20 minutes. Wiped it off with a paper towel and let it set for a couple of days and wiped it off again. It just barely cuts the tissue paper but that is sharper than I've gotten any knife before. It took the hair off my arm with almost no resistance.

I followed the advice given by Bladsmth except I left it in the compression jig for a day before I riveted the tang.
If you rivet the tang while the leather is under compression you would not need to glue the leather. I fitted each piece of leather to the location on the tang where is was supposed to go. When it is compressed it locks in tight.
I would not use JB Weld to seal the bolster for this shiny blade as the black color stands out against the brass and steel. Non issue for a working knife but a huge issue for a presentation knife.
I used a rasp to rough out the handle. It took a long time. Likewise with trying to shape the pommel. The belt sander with 50 grit probably cuts the time by 90%. I'd finish by hand as the sander seems to take material off fast.
Thanks to everyone who helped or offered to help me with this project.

Bo Thomas
 
Forgot to answer your question Paul. The dark parts of the handle are two pieces of solid black leather with a surface colored brown piece in the middle.
 
Bo
Thank you for sharing this with us, with ME at least. I hate to think what it would look like if I had done the same thing.

I notice in the picture that you have at least two more blades. Hmmmmmm,... I wonder what you have in store for them?!?!?

Good Job.

- Paul Meske
 
Thanks Paul

The blades are Helle Tollenkniv. After making this hilt I have become impressed with the larger handles. I have more leather scraps and I think I will try to make a puukko like knife with a stacked leather handle. The blade is laminated, both thicker and wider. I think that it will make a good bushcrafting knife. I'll probably put a wood handle on the other blade.

I bought 2 books by Wayne Goddard and I have made the one brick forge and acquired a piece of railroad track. I am hoping sometime this year or next to hammer out a small 5-6" knife then go through the processes of annealing, shaping, hardening, and differentially tempering the blade.

"I hate to think what it would look like if I had done the same thing."
It would probably turned out nicer!

Thanks again for your help and support.

Bo Thomas
 
I had some problems with the handle becoming sticky. Just in case the SNO-SEAL was causing it I went ahead and sanded it down and applied a different finish to it. It still became sticky, but not quite as bad. Seems as if the epoxy is curing kind of slowly as the epoxy that was left over is hard but a little sticky.http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/images/smilies/frown.gif

I am in the process of getting materials together to make another stacked leather handled knife. I am thinking about getting some of the Accu-glass. However, I fit the leather to the tang so how would some type of cold set hide glue work? http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/images/smilies/confused.gif

As an aside I think I am finished with this knife. I might try try using some of that low temperature silver solder on the back of the pommel/tang for practice and I might practice polishing the bolster and pommel. Anyway, here are some pictures.http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

IMGP0546.jpgIMGP0547.jpgIMGP0548.jpg
 
Looks good.

BTW, guys I believe the translation is;
Tange = tang
8-9 iron leather = 8-9 oz leather ( the leather thickness )
 
bladsmth said:
Looks good.

BTW, guys I believe the translation is;
Tange = tang
8-9 iron leather = 8-9 oz leather ( the leather thickness )
Click to expand...

Thanks, it does look better than it did. The problem I am having is that every time I look at it I see places that could use improvement. I think I need to put it down and go on to the next knife and apply what I have learned to it.

I went back and edited my text to give the correct spelling of tang. I wasn't sure how to edit the thread title. If I did I would have changed it to "How to hilt a rat tail tang Mora using a stacked leather handle".

I got my leather scraps from a boot shop, 9 iron = 12 oz.
 
I took care of the title for you.

Most of the time that style is called a "stick tang" or a "through tang".

I had to look up"iron" weights for leather....learn something new every day.

Looking forward to seeing your next one. If you can find or borrow a copy of Bo Bergman's book, you will get all sorts of great ideas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top