mortised tang questions

[beyondmyken]

Thinking of making a 3"L X 1"W X 3/16" T bladed knife using a wootz bar from brisa. I am considering a mortised tang with a very thick whitetail deer antler(1 3/8" by 1") for a handle. Plan to use a mortised tang to show as much of the wootz as possible. This is a shed that is several years old so shrinkage should be minimal. This large antler gives me a lot of latitude to shape my handle. This would be a using knife for hunting and whenever I needed to show it off

. I think the dark gray speckled pattern of wootz and the creamy tan antler will be a nice color combo. Would plan to slot the antler, epoxy, and pin. Would appreciate any and all suggestions re: dimensions of blade to tang length, where to place pins, need to stabilize antler, etc, etc. Thanks in advance.

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It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

 

[beyondmyken]

Oooops! I meant to say half tang instead of mortised tang. Did I mention I am new to knifemaking :O

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It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

 

[Fox Creek]

Take care to use two or more pins through the tang. don't forget to add another pin behind the tang through both halves of the handle. do not locate first pin too close to front of handle or it might eventually split out. for maximum strength tang should extend about 4/5-2/3 of the way into the handle. also consider adding a ferrule around the front of the handle . this would add mucho to the strength and look very nice also. A nice satin mils steel ring about 3/8" wide of stock a little less than 1/16' would do fine. You would need to fabricate the ferrule bans and silver braze it, or if you are lucky you might locat a piece of thinwalled tubing the right size. this is agreat approach, quite strong is done nicely and has all sorts of design possibilities.