makin a stick tang knife?

S

simko

Joined
Jan 14, 2003
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evenin gang... after finishing my first knife, i want to make another (damn this addiction) so ... after buying some steel for the first time i realize how it can be pretty expensive. I think i want to make a stick tang knife. Is there anything special i need to know? how long the tang should be? should the shoulders on the knife tang be square? or curved? can this be a user knife? or only a show knife? can i put slabs on this knife? or can it only be inserted into something?


thanks
-aaron
 
can this be a user knife? or only a show knife? can i put slabs on this knife? or can it only be inserted into something?
Click to expand...

1)Yes why would you think otherwise? Example: Japaneses swords are stick tangs with a tang only about 3-4" long and the grip is held to that tang with only a wooden (albeit a well fitted wooden pin)

2) Yes but why? I prefer the "solidness" (this is my opinion and no it will cause controversy but :D) of a well fitted one piece grip but to see how to make a mortised tang see the tutorial on Terry Primos's website - he uses a milling machine but hand tools work just fine.

A goodly bunch of the old frontier knives (rifleman's knives especially) were stick tangs and when you consider the amount of use they saw and the fact that the use was often life or death related....

A well built stick tang is just as strong as any other tang and has it's own set of advantages that IMO out weigh any perceived weaknesses.
 
Most of the knives I make are stick tangs. They hold up very well. Make sure your shoulders are square but the tang corners are rounded and unhardened (high carbon). The area areound the guard/tang takes alot of the knife's stress and you want to avoid any weak areas. If the tank is hidden it should, in my opinion, go at least 2/3rds, preferably 3/4tr through the handle and pinned.
 
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh:D

well im picking up some 01, and what i understand is the shoulders are square, but where the shoulders meet the stick tang part its a gruadual curve?

sotya like a

Y?


hmmm, ive got goddards bvook somewhere......

any tutorials on the web dfor this?
 
Terry's Mortised Tang Tutorial
http://www.customknifedirectory.com/CKD_TutorialFrameset.htm?CKD_Tutorials.htm~tmain

Yes a "y" is pretty much what you want - how wide the Y is will depend a lot on you handle material - for instance with an antler grip the diameter or the end will define how wide the top of the Y can be (I like to leave at least an 1/8" of antler around the tang)
Of course you must match the size of the grip material to the size of the blade.

I've used a lot of older blades which had what are known as rat tail tangs (long and skinny) and when used as a knife (and not a pry bar) they held up just fine.

Like J I use pins, but Gib (Cactusforge) epoxies his big stick tang Bowies only and after several destruction tests is satisfied that they will work fine. A good fit of tang to grip is essential.
 
I try to make the tang nearly as long as the blade, always at least 3 1/2" or more. I drill at least one hole for pinning and measure carefully in order to get the hole in the right place in the handle material. You can cut your stock so that the tangs overlap and get more knives from the bar if you do stock removal.

I have been making more full tangs lately, but will probably swing back when I get bored.
 
A lot of my knives are stick tang construction and I feel very confident in there strength. A tool that I find indispensable is a furniture clamp the kind that slides on a bar or pipe. I take the swivel off the end that you tighten and sharpen the ball to a point
to catch a place on an irregular surface like a crown stick. Grind notches in the tang to give the epoxy something to hold onto, fill the cavity in the handle with a good epoxy and insert the tang and place in the clamp to hold it till it sets up, a lot of pressure is not required just enough to hold every thing in place. Clean up excess epoxy up with white vinegar. Hope this helps any questions email or call. Gib
 
I got a knife vise for gluing up hidden tang handles that is made in Norway. I bought mine from Dennis Holmbacka in Finland for around $50.00:
<www.brisa.fi>

They are pretty reasonable, but are for smaller knives, not bowies and large fighters.
 
aaron, your stick tangs will allow you to use HIDDEN pins,if you are using slabs for handle material. Something to think about, and very simple to do. I am not an exposed pin fan, unless the pins directly compliment the handle.
 
Hey aaron!

I've completed 1 mortise tang knife now, and I'm on my 2nd and third already. I milled channels in 2 pieces of micarta by tracing the outline of the tang onto the micarta, drilling holes into the tang area marked in the micarta, and clearing out the waste with a rotary tool. Set your drill bit a bit deeper than half the diameter of your tang (drill bits are kinda pointed, so you have to account for that). For the dremel bits, I used soem kind of metal cutter bit to do the main work, and then I used one of the stones witha nice flat "face" to smooth the channel bottom. With my first stick tang, I could put the knife in the grip slabs, hold it with hand pressure alone and swing the knife violently and it wouldn't come out. Add pins and epoxy and you got yourself a solid set-up!
 
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