need a little advice on a mortised tang

kevin adams

kevin adams

Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
239
hey all. bout finished with my first blade,and so far it seems to be ok!,but before i muck it all up by messing up the handle ,i thought id see if any of you pro's have any tips for doing a mortised tang. The knife is for my brother in law ,who reallly likes micarta,so thats what im making the handle from,its a small sort of utility knife i forged at old washington.did the blade with files and sandpaper to finish,but not sure how to complete it. any good tutorials would also be greatly appreciated. also as sooon as i finish it ill post some pics for ya'll to bash,hehe
 
Terry Primos has a great tutorial on moritsed tangs. Check out his site. something I found to be very helpful is a contraption made by dremel. It holds the dremel tool vertically and has a little table that can be raised up to the bit. Get yourself one of those 1/4" cylindrical bits with the teeth on the sides and bottom, and it does a real nice job (FOR CHEAP!).
Good luck,
Ed
 
kevin adams said:
hey all. bout finished with my first blade,and so far it seems to be ok!,but before i muck it all up by messing up the handle ,i thought id see if any of you pro's have any tips for doing a mortised tang. The knife is for my brother in law ,who reallly likes micarta,so thats what im making the handle from,its a small sort of utility knife i forged at old washington.did the blade with files and sandpaper to finish,but not sure how to complete it. any good tutorials would also be greatly appreciated. also as sooon as i finish it ill post some pics for ya'll to bash,hehe
Click to expand...

If you have a drill press and an accurate way to measure like a micrometer or dial caliper all you need is a cheap HSS center cutting end mill, (about $6)

Mark out the area you want to remove on the handle material.

Chuck the end mill into your drill press and set the depth stop to about .005 deeper than 1/2 the thickness of the tang. This is a little trial and error to be done on some scrap. 5000 to 6000 rpm is a good speed for cutting micarta.

Then cut a series of overlapping holes in the handle material in the area you have marked for removal. Then clean up the scaloped edge of the mortise with a dremel tool with a rotary cutter.

The center cutting end mill will give you a flat bottomed hole and is just used to "hog out" the bulk of the material.

If you want to make a nice parallel mortise clamp a piece of stright material to the drill press table to use as a fence. It will also help you more safely hand hold the handle material to the table without fear of it grabbing and spinning it.

I use a 1/2" mill and I move the handle material about 3/16" with every cut. This way the scaloped edge of the mortise is easier to clean up.
 
thanks so much for the help, ill check out the site and i've thought about the dremel too attachment,either that or i have a roto zip,ill have to see if that works,on a few test pieces,before i mess up one of my scales,ty again
 
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