How strong are epoxied stick tangs

troutfisher13111

troutfisher13111

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I am wondering about the long term durability of knives with stick tangs that are just epoxied on. I see a lot of hunting knives with a of stag and no butt cap or pins and am always worried they will eventually come loose, especially with a natural material like stag or wood.
 
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If done right, very VERY strong.
In case of the Gerber MKII, Ive seen tips broken and (guard) horns broken off but never a blade snapped at/in the handle.
The tang is stubby but immensely strong.
With natural matetials other factors come into play but they can also be strong depending on the knife.
 
The above mentioned silly short but very strong construction of the Gerber MKII tang.
Ive never seen a MKII tang break.
Its firmly held in the handle. An excellent design and execution.
The design has proven itself for decades of hard use.


kGD3ETt.jpg
 
Mikel_24 said:
I admit that tang is a bit TOO short for my liking... Proved or not!
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Yes, that was my initial reaction as well but I own and have owned a slew of MKIIs though; you dont need to worry about the strength of this knife.
You can wail on that thing, till the cows some home and you wont make it break the tang inside the handle. Might break a horn off the guard or the tip of the blade but you most likely wont break the tang. Its a nifty construction with the small tang and form fitting handle.
As a diehard fixed integral and full tang believer, discovering that the Gerber made do with a runt of a tang was quite an eye opener.
I still (also) like integrals and full tangs but must admit that with standard knife use in the hands of the average knife user, you shouldnt have any problems with less of a tang. Way less (if the knife is made right).
 
If the natural material shrinks you sometimes get a loosened guard. But that can happen on full tang too.
 
I have a hunting knife that was made from an old saw blade. It's just a short tang, force fit and epoxied into a curved piece of stag.
I've had it for over 30 years and it has not become loose at all.
 
I have many Thai knives/machetes with tangs. They are "hot glued" into bamboo handles that have a bit of a steel ferrule in the front. They use Stick Lac, which is what shellac is made from. They hold up very well. I have at least one that wasn't glued and it rusted a bit in the garage. I can't get the handle off by banging the ferrule with a hammer hard enough to deform it slightly.
 
troutfisher13111 said:
How about on a Randall?

View attachment 943768
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Randall claims to have not had a serious epoxy failure, and they've been comfortable not center pinning since the late 60's or so.
And as mentioned, there are many 1000's of knives that used various forms of cutler's rosin that are still rock solid. Frankly, I'd be more concerned about handle material failure in terms of splitting, rather than an epoxy failure.
 
troutfisher13111 said:
I am wondering about the long term durability of knives with stick tangs that are just epoxied on. I see a lot of hunting knives with a of stag and no butt cap or pins and am always worried they will eventually come loose, especially with a natural material like stag or wood.
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Look at it this way...
the holes drilled in the handle are left rough and clean and dry....
the tangs are left rough and clean and dry...
hole is filled with epoxy and tang stuffed in hole...
if the epoxy fails, it will only be in a spot....
even if it COULD break free on all four sides for complete length of tang on those same all four sides, it would not do so in a straight shear line, but in a raggedy mess where trying to drag the blade out would be akin to dragging a cat wrapped in barbed wire out of a velcro hole. Main thing is to not get some blade with a 1/2" long tang or something. Investigate before you buy.

The very worst you might ever note is a slight click/tick up front where a spot cracked, otherwise it provides a rock hard fill for hole of tremendous compressive strength.

Rehandling an epoxied tang generally takes a lot heat,.heavy blows, ruined original handle and grinding, none of which happens when used.

if annoyed by any slight looseness, drill to tang in loose area, retain handle dust, inject dyed epoxy mixed with dust as hole filler, and finish flush.

Regarding the shorter tang shown above, it is perfectly adequate and handle will break, first. The tang takes almost all forces acting upon it about an inch behind guard. No matter what blow, it is where the hand tries to drive through handle at axis of rotation...or knife bend back over hand...same thing. Any extra length adds no strength, but DOES add extra adhesive surface area. In the industry, epoxy is considered a mechanical fastener, every bit as much as a bolt, screw, rivet or pin. It is not suited for high heat, solvents, etc, as any fastener has limitations of application.
 
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I have put many a stick tang in a piece of antler with epoxy. I try for full length of the handle. I had one in crooked once and had to get it out. I didn't want to use heat and I had to completely destroy the antler and damn near ruin the tang to get it free.
 
I have an old knife I made up over 40 years ago that's entire handle is made of epoxy. It's been thrown, dropped, and otherwise abused as only a 15 year old kid can do and it's still in darn nice shape.
 
i remember i was wondering this a while ago and i couldn't find an answer anywhere. thanks a lot for your very useful answers guys. i'm a new blade person here and i know there's still a lot to learn but thanks to you i keep on finding more and more useful information. thanks again. was wondering if i can ask questions here? *since i'm a newbie*
 
Suber19 said:
i remember i was wondering this a while ago and i couldn't find an answer anywhere. thanks a lot for your very useful answers guys. i'm a new blade person here and i know there's still a lot to learn but thanks to you i keep on finding more and more useful information. thanks again. was wondering if i can ask questions here? *since i'm a newbie*
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Of course you can ask questions and start threads.
Your POV are worth as much as anybody elses*
To get the most of a thread, its beneficial to use the search function and do a bit of researh first, as many questions have been asked and answered before.

*a couple of members have gotten it into their heads, that there is a clique of high post paid members harrassing /controlling the forum and looking down their noses at members without a paid membership. This is harped on ad nauseam in GD.
Further more its simply not true and MODS will quickly make sure, thats its equal justice for all no matter the membership level.
 
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