Natural scales on a tapered tang...

D

deker

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
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3,496
Ok folks. I've often wondered, and now I have to do, some natural faced scales (think mammoth or stag) on a tapered tang. How in the heck to do do this and get it all drilled straight?

First off, do you just shim the tang for drilling? This was forged with some taper so drilling flat barstock first isn't an option.

Second, how do I get each scale lined up and drilled straight since I can't flatten the outside after drilling?

Thanks for any help!

-d
 
I may just be lucky not to have messed it up yet but....

Drill your holes in your tang as close to flat as possible (remember than tang holes can be slip fit). Then I glue one side of the scale on, clamp the blade and ricasso in a drill vice with the handle out and simply shim the underside up so it won't flex when drilling. I drill through the tang and into the scale. That allows everthing to line up with the centerline of the knife.

Rick
 
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You can clamp one scale, and drill from the tang direction with a hand drill. Naturally, this only gets as perpindicular as your eyeball and skill with a hand drill.

But then you clamp the other scale on and drill through the existing hole in the scale and tang into the new scale...

Again, only as perpendicular as your eye, but at least the holes are straight enough to put a pin in, and that's better than nothing.


Mike
 
On the sub-hilt fighter CCI video, Steve Johnson uses a nifty setup (a tilting milling vice mounted to the drill press table and swung out to the side, I think) that clamps the blade/ricasso leaving the tang free for drilling without a table under the handle. It is set up so the blade lines up parallel with where the drill press table would normally be. Then he clamps one scale to the bottom of the tang (tang holes are already drilled), and uses a sloped/stepped block of wood to prop under the end of the handle to prevent excessive flex. Drill one scale, flip it over and drill the second scale.

I guess you could use the exact same setup to drill the tang itself. Then do the scales after sloping and flattening the mating surfaces of the handle material making sure the outside of the scales are parallel when mounted to the tapered tang prior to drilling.

--nathan
 
silver_pilate said:
On the sub-hilt fighter CCI video, Steve Johnson uses a nifty setup (a tilting milling vice mounted to the drill press table and swung out to the side, I think) that clamps the blade/ricasso leaving the tang free for drilling without a table under the handle. It is set up so the blade lines up parallel with where the drill press table would normally be. Then he clamps one scale to the bottom of the tang (tang holes are already drilled), and uses a sloped/stepped block of wood to prop under the end of the handle to prevent excessive flex. Drill one scale, flip it over and drill the second scale.

--nathan
Click to expand...


Hey....... he stole my idea and made a video out of it:mad:

:p

Seriously though, I'm glad to hear someone else is doing that with success. It just made sense to me.


Rick
 
Rick, I should have read your post better before typing mine. I think all I did was restate your method from a different source! :)

--nathan
 
Take a piece of wooden shim equal to half of the thickness of tang that was removed and glue it under the bottom scale. If you removed 3/16" material, your shim would be 3/32.
 
I use a bubble level to make sure my drill table and clamp are level. clamp the stag and lay the blade on the stag, place the bubble level on the tang ( taper will make it non level). Us a shim to level the bubble on the tang and drill. Repeat other side.
 
Patrickknives said:
I use a bubble level to make sure my drill table and clamp are level. clamp the stag and lay the blade on the stag, place the bubble level on the tang ( taper will make it non level). Us a shim to level the bubble on the tang and drill. Repeat other side.
Click to expand...

It seems to me that if the blade is perfectly horizontal, ideally the pins would be perfectly vertical at the same time, I have a hard time imagining this method accomplishing that end result.

if the blade is held horizontally, each side of the tang should slope off the horizontal slightly so if you drill square to the tang faces won't the holes be skewed?
 
There was a thread with progression pics in one of the other forums... Custom forum maybe? I think it was by Burt Foster but can't remember. Showed the process in easy to understand detail...
Matt
 
Honestly, I am curious too....hope someone can upload some images of their particular process...?
 
I'm not sure if I'm the only one that doesn't mind if a blade has no surgical precission angles and measurements. I drill them just putting a piece of wood shim under the tip of the tang, it is nothing but a triangular prism. I push is towards the blade until I feel the level is horizontal enough to my eyes. Drop a little bit of super glue and glue the first sacle, take a nail or something long and thin, mark the ricasso area of the tang on the nail, then mark the tip of the tang, the difference is the thickness you need to apply under the tang, this is the method I do if it is a tiny knife, on which a little bit of skew can be seen easily...
 
Maybe this is too obvious, but I just taper the scales to match the tapered tang. Sand a little taper into them and when it looks good, quit. Glue up one scale, drill from the tang....glue up the other scale, drill from the existing hole. All is straight, all is tapered.
Stacy
 
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