My First Stick Tang In a Long Time

[redsquid2]

I bought the blade from killrathy. N690, 60HRC.

The tooled panel on the sheath was done by my dad, about a year before he passed. His coordination and strength were less than 100%, but he loved carving leather. He made a sheath from a Tandy kit. I thought it was kind of flimsy, so I took that one carved panel off of the kit sheath, and took some stronger leather, and re-made the sheath.

You see the fiber spacers. I might replace those with G-10, but I kinda don't want to, because of how it dulls my tools.

I don't have any machining tools: just my files, a primitive drill press, and a 2X42 grinder.






I could have sworn I had some brass bar stock, but I could not find it. I believe in using what I have on hand, so Micarta it is.

Pictured below on the tang: Micarta guard, piece of stabilized birch that I found, fiber spacers.
Blocks, top to bottom: [maple/sycamore?], sappelle, English walnut. None of these are stabilized.
Not pictured is a hornbeam block that I have. Hornbeam will take some stains, so I will experiment with that also.
I don't have any stabilized blocks right now.

I will probably drill another hole in the tang, further forward.

Thanks for looking. Ideas welcome.

Andy

 

[redsquid2]

I made the mock-up from beech wood, which I can find in many different thicknesses at the local Blick Art Supply.

 

[Britt_Askew]

That block looks like maple to me , can you dent it easily with your fingernail? Sycamore should dent easily

 

[redsquid2]

I will give it a thumbnail test.

I think the sappelle and walnut would do OK without stabilization, but I don’t know about the other one. It feels solid and sound, but handleshaping might reveal a crack or punky spot.

One of these days, I will send out some blocks for stabilization.

 

[redsquid2]

Guess what I forgot to do. Oops.

The good news: the pin went through perfectly.

You can't see all the spacers clearly, but here is a list of the handle materials from top to bottom:
1. Micarta guard.
2. stabilized birch - about 1/4"
3. forest green G10 - 1/8"
4. toxic green G10 - .040"
5. forest green G10 - 1/8"
6. Natural sapele. It has just minimal figure -furniture grade, but I thought the color would go nice with the spacers.

Did i mention the pin went through perfectly?

If you could see my drill press. That's one reason I get nervous doing stick tangs. It is an old rickety drill press with no brand name on it. I have no drill press vise, and I just use Vise Grips to secure the materials.

(If you didn't notice, I forgot to finish the front of the guard before the glue-up - yikes! But I will figure out a way to make everything aesthetically pleasing)

 

[redsquid2]

Basic handle shape is done. I put some stain on the sapele. Now I am thinking about finishes.

 

[redsquid2]

It feels a bit front-heavy. Should I drill a hole at the back and pour molten lead in it?

 

[ren01228]

Looking good man, I like combination of handle materials.

 

[Richard338]

It feels a bit front-heavy. Should I drill a hole at the back and pour molten lead in it?

I don't think so.
The handle looks nice. I might prefer a bronze guard to match the pin.