Please help me do some troubleshooting (pics of finished knife added)

[Natlek]

Here are the pictures:

This is what i did to flatten it, but how would you know if it is really parallel?

You measure with micrometer all four corners .This gard is stainless ? You can heated it and use press or hammer to make it perfect fit......

 

[Busto]

Here are the pictures:

This is what i did to flatten it, but how would you know if it is really parallel?

John@Kurkai spelled it out pretty good once you have the ricasso flat you "mic" all four corners of the ricasso to check for parallel.

But it won't be parallel without some manual intervention and measuring. Get one side flat, flip, flatten other side. Now mic thickness at each shoulder, and across the entire tang. If you have a nice straight line going from thickness(a) at one shoulder to thickness(A+) at the other shoulder, you can blue the blade and attempt to use pressure to bring that tall side down. But this is tough to do.

 

[Laredian]

One thing I see regularly when newer makers are trying to fit a guard snug is that the tang is still the original bar stock surface and thickness. After the blade and ricasso have been ground and sanded, the area at the shoulders is thinner than the tang. You need to carry the rcasso sanding at least 1' up the tang, and the tang needs to be tapered slightly to within 1/2" of the shoulders. I like the end of the tang to be about half of the ricasso thickness.
A cheap digital micrometer from HF will allow you find any high spots that need more grinding on the tang, and to check that the ricasso is flat.
If the ricasso is tapered spine to edge, then make sure the tang is equally angled and that the guard has a matching slot.
When the tang is ready to fit the guard, it should be smaller in all dimensions than the ricasso past the first 1/2" .
These things will solve 99% of guard fitting issues.

When puting the angle on the slot from the back in filing/fitting, only file the angle half way down the slot sides. You then file the slot to fit more, and if needed, file the back side angle again. When the guard slot is finally done and fits snug, there should be nothing left of this angle beyond a small chamfer on the back side.

I basically did all that but still ended up with a lacking fit xD

But it is nice to know that the method I used was sort of right and it was only my ability in execution that was lacking.

 

[Natlek]

I basically did all that but still ended up with a lacking fit xD

But it is nice to know that the method I used was sort of right and it was only my ability in execution that was lacking.

And file used..I make the same mistake once .Except that they are too flexible , they have not enough width for work on the wider side of opening on gard .....

 

[kuraki]

I will ask the knife maker before I buy knife

lol ok. My point being what difference does it make. That's like not buying a knife that was ground on a 2x48 grinder instead of a 2x72 or a slot that was milled instead of filed.

 

[Laredian]

And file used..I make the same mistake once .Except that they are too flexible , they have not enough width for work on the wider side of opening on gard .....

Which files would you recommend?

 

[Natlek]

Most time I use this one......
https://www.outdoorspares.com/genuine-stihl-chainsaw-flat-file-150x16x2-7mm-part-no-st0814-252-3000

 

[joedhiggins]

I think I may be restating a bit of what others have said, but I find the process easiest if you:
1. Radius the tang/ricasso transition significantly.
2. Taper the tang in all dimensions
3. Relieve heavily the backside of the tang slot in the guard (I use a round burr on a foredom) I leave about 1/8" of material for the junction
4. Tap the guard into place the last little bit, don't file unless you just can't get it to work
5. Peen the guard as required (I havent had to do this on any recent knife that I followed the first 4 steps on)

I personally think that most of the porblems people run into stem from trying to file a 4 sided hole into perfect alignment with a 4 sided peg to .002". I am not sying it is impossible, but it is tough. Any gap greater than .002' is visible.

Make your life easy, let the tang do the precise work, and hide the front and back with radiused transitions.

 

[Laredian]

Most time I use this one......
https://www.outdoorspares.com/genuine-stihl-chainsaw-flat-file-150x16x2-7mm-part-no-st0814-252-3000

thanks for the recommendation, but what file do I use best when the slot is smaller than the chainsaw file?

 

[Natlek]

Smaller in which way ? This file is 2.7mm thick...when I work on slot under that I use dremel with cutting disk and sandpaper glued on piece of thin steel The width is not a problem /16mm/ you can always grind them from side ...........BW , triangle file can be grind too ....
This is 1.5mm thick blade .Only way to make bolster was /to me / to use two or three?? /don t remember now/ cutting disk at once

 

[weo]

I think I may be restating a bit of what others have said, but I find the process easiest if you:

3. Relieve heavily the backside of the tang slot in the guard (I use a round burr on a foredom) I leave about 1/8" of material for the junction
4. Tap the guard into place the last little bit, don't file unless you just can't get it to work

This is what D. Lisch taught me to do. The only thing to watch is to make sure you are all ready for the final fit up because you can mess the fit knocking it back off and on.

 

[Laredian]

Thanks again everyone on helping me out on this one. I have been able to pull it off with the peening method. The fit of the guard is not absolutely perfect, but I can live with it for my first hidden tang. I'm now making the handle and I am hoping that I can show the finished thing later this week.

 

[Laredian]

I've managed to finish the knife and pull off a decent guard fit. It is not perfect, but acceptable I think. I guess most people here can make a great hidden tang knife without breaking a sweat but for me this knife was seriously challenging, but I'm glad I manged to pull through.

The knife is a little over 7,5 inches long overall with a blade that is just under 3,5 inches. The blade is made from A2 with a hand rubbed satin, the guard is stainless and the handle is stabilized walnut. The goal was to make a clean and sleek hunter that is small enough to be easy to carry without making the knife feel tiny. I'll let you be the judge if I succeded on that.

Let me know what you think:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Nice job.

BTW, the name of the file type you were asking about is called a Pillar, Equaling, or Square Edge file. All are different sizes of the files used for filing rectangular slots and square corners.

 

[john april]

looks great !! nice and tight.

 

[Laredian]

I've finished the second knife I was talking about. Same profile as the first one I've finished. The guard fit up went better this time.
Blade is again A2 with a 800grit hand rubbed satin. Guard is stainless steel and this time I've added bronze and black micarta spacers between guard and handle. The handle is stabilized amboyina burl. Knife has the same dimensions as the first knife.

Let me know what you think

Also I've struggeled a little bit with the spacers, especially with the bronze. If you look closely in daylight you can see a very small line in some areas between the first bronze spacer and the stainless guard. I was trying to be very careful to get everything flat before I assembled the handle. I did multiple dry fits and looked at the knife while I was shining a flashlight at it from behind and I couldn't see any gaps. Any advice where I need to pay more attention next time?

Thanks for looking

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Very, very nice work!

 

[skillgannon]

That's a really elegant little knife.