How do you go about filling the pithy area of an elk round?

Q

QtrSawn

Joined
Nov 16, 2013
Messages
2
I am new to knife making, and have only put together kits before, where you are given all necessary parts to complete the knife. Now I have begun to gather various materials so that I can begin to buy blanks and create my own handles. I recently purchased a selection of seasoned elk rounds off of e-Bay. I have read that before using as a knife handle, you must use a " gap-filling glue " to fill the pithy area of each round using a glue such as Zap-a-Gap PT01. My questions are : 1. If I intend on making a knife using a hidden tang type blade, what is the process for filling a 5 to 5 1/2 inch long round ? Will this glue penetrate the entire length before setting up? Is it necessary to thin this glue further before using, or do I need to get a thinner viscosity glue? How much glue will be needed to fill the average elk round approximately 5 inches long? By the way, my chosen blade blank is a Helle blade with a blade not quite 4 in long with the tang 3 1/8" long and 5/16" wide, 1/8" thick. Also, if this not the best glue, or the right glue, please tell me which is the best. Which size bottle is best? Brand?
 
Drill the pith out and use a good epoxy. You'll get more and better answers in shoptalk, I've already asked a mod to move this.


-Xander
 
I have not done this myself but I talked to another knife maker who showed me a hidden tang knife with elk antler he made and he said that he hogged out the pithy part and then whittled a wood broom handle shaped piece to a kind of pointy stick and stuck it in the antler and cut it off flush. Then he epoxied it into the antler right up the flush point and then drilled it and used a broach like any other wood handle. It makes sense to me and his knife was very professionally done so I feel the method is good. Larry
 
Some time ago, I believe I read that an old time method was to fill the hollow with melted pewter or lead. Or as noted, today, some type of epoxy.
 
I use cactus juice in the vacuum chamber. Before I had this setup, I used epoxy.
 
I just use thin CA glue, and keep adding it until it won't soak into the pith any longer, but I think I want to try the idea LarryZ10 posted.
 
Thanks for all replies to my question. LarryZ10 your response is sounds particularly promising. By broach do you mean a heated poker such as the knife tang itself?
 
No, a broaching tool looks kind of like a saber saw blade at the tip or maybe a reciprocating saw blade at the tip. Search "broaching tool" on this website and you will find a title called something like "what is a good reamer for hidden tang knives?" look at the pictures of broaching tools there. You can buy one from Bruce Bump. There are other makers of nice broaches. Do a google search on knife making broaches and try to find some suppliers. You first drill two holes with a diameter the same as the thickness of your knife tang and then use a broach to saw through the part between the holes leaving a rectangular hole that the tang will slide into . Then notch your tang in a couple places and epoxy it in the broached hole...that's it. try to find some pictures of one being used if you can but I think you get the idea. Good luck, Larry PS you can skip all that if you grind full tang knives and if you have an exposed tang then you can taper it or file work it which I like to do. LL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top