Recommendation? Press-fit guard help

S

SLC_Blades

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Aug 20, 2018
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65
Hey everyone, happy Easter!

I’ve recently just finished my first hidden tang and have quickly become addicted to the challenges that they provide. I’m looking to do another one, but would first like some advice regarding properly press fitting the guard.

I did a press fit on the build I mentioned, but had a few issues. My tang was tapered in both directions, and I ground a slight (few thousandths) shoulder on the face of the tang that was about 1/8” in length to further aid in a tight fit. I was able to get a fit that I was happy with, but the process itself was definitely not smooth.

I had the blade coated with WD-40, wrapped in shop towels and electrical tape, and used an old leather belt to act as a secondary cushion when doing the fit. No matter how much I tightened the vise, the knife continued to slip, requiring me to constantly take it out and readjust it. Additionally, the ricasso managed to get some horizontal scratches on it that I can only assume were from doing this press fit.

I began hammering once the slot I filed was large enough to seat the guard about 1/8” away from its final position. My thought is that this may have been too great of a distance to begin press fitting. Also, the vise I was using was a cheap, 4-inch Home Depot bench vise that can swivel but not pivot, meaning that the surface area that was actually clamping the blade was pretty insignificant. I’ve seen a few makers (like Nick Wheeler) use a vise that can pivot in order to have every bit of the jaws contacting the blade, which seems like it would help a lot.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks!
 
Wheeler goes into great detail in his youtube vids about how to fit guards. Watch and learn. Soon you will be able to snatch the proverbial pebble Grasshopper.
 
what is the width of your slot relative to the tang?
ex -tang is .125 " thick, slot in your guard is ?

what is the material of your guard?
did you surface grind the tang just before the shoulders? or have that area flat and parallel?
did you mill the slot in the guard?

the little details matter and make all the difference in whether it goes smoothly or not.

you might be overthinking the vise concern, I simply take a piece of leather folded over and grab the knife/leather in a vise and tighten it, there isn't any more to it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL2YZxeBexm/
 
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Tang was a little under 3/16” (that was my stock thickness), can’t remember the exact decimal. The lines I scribed on the guard were a total of 10 thou narrower than the thickness of the tang, meaning 5 thou per side.
 
SLC_Blades said:
Tang was a little under 3/16” (that was my stock thickness), can’t remember the exact decimal. The lines I scribed on the guard were a total of 10 thou narrower than the thickness of the tang, meaning 5 thou per side.
Click to expand...

what is the material of your guard??
makes a big difference in how you execute this if it brass or stainless..

.10 is WAY too much for a press fit.
I use .002 undersized
 
HSC /// said:
what is the material of your guard??
makes a big difference in how you execute this if it brass or stainless..

.10 is WAY too much for a press fit.
I use .002 undersized
Click to expand...
It was brass which made it a little easier (that’s why I picked it), but that’s definitely good to know. That would explain why it took so much hammering!
 
SLC_Blades said:
It was brass which made it a little easier (that’s why I picked it), but that’s definitely good to know. That would explain why it took so much hammering!
Click to expand...

yes, see my IG video link, two hammer taps and it should seat
that's why I said, the devil is in the details.... :)
 
So, one thing you can do that will really help is make the hole in the back of the guard much bigger than the hole in the front, that way you aren’t trying to fight with the whole thickness of the guard while fitting it up.
 
I actually used that technique after seeing someone else do it on IG. I drilled three oversized holes in the back of the guard about two thirds of the way through the material. Does that seem like a decent depth? I might try to go a little deeper after seeing that Nick Wheeler only leaves a thickness of 30 thou or so to press fit.
 
.03 of seating depth IMO is not enough for a softer material, it can easily move with that little seat depth. I would use at least like 3/32"
Maybe Wheeler was using SS as a guard which would be different....
 
I'd definitely use something bigger than a old belt to act as a cushion, especially if the knife is slipping around in the jaws.
What all were you using hit the guard down? In Nick's video (dudes my hero lol) he talks about using a wider piece that contact the guard, id reccomend that method as well. Also, practice makes perfect :D
 
wrap your clean blade in masking tape (no wd-40) and that should take care of scratches. use two pieces of 7-9 oz leather ( like for your sheaths) to pad the vice jaws. that keeps it from slipping in my shop. i will also sugggest a piece of micarta/g10 with an oversize tang hole cut into it to slide over the back and protect the guard from hammering. that way when you are hammering the micarta and not directly on the guard or just a piece of leather. only having the tang tapered in 2 directions ( the profile) will help the fit as well, as there is more to grab onto. if the tang is tapered in 4 directions, the guard will only be touching the blade at the very front.
 
HSC /// said:
yes, see my IG video link, two hammer taps and it should seat
that's why I said, the devil is in the details.... :)
Click to expand...
Will do, thanks for the help!
john april said:
wrap your clean blade in masking tape (no wd-40) and that should take care of scratches. use two pieces of 7-9 oz leather ( like for your sheaths) to pad the vice jaws. that keeps it from slipping in my shop. i will also sugggest a piece of micarta/g10 with an oversize tang hole cut into it to slide over the back and protect the guard from hammering. that way when you are hammering the micarta and not directly on the guard or just a piece of leather. only having the tang tapered in 2 directions ( the profile) will help the fit as well, as there is more to grab onto. if the tang is tapered in 4 directions, the guard will only be touching the blade at the very front.
Click to expand...
I’ll try this out, thank you!
 
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