Problems designing tang

[Rockwelledge75]

So I've been in discussion with my machete maker for sometime now about the feasibility of a hidden tang on my machete and he says at maximum he could probably only make it's width .65 and that's at thickness of .156, he has concerns that since the thickness is only .156 that a .65 wide tang may not be strong enough and that the threading it self when it tappers down to a .156 inch bolt may also not be strong enough. The steel being used is Magnacut which as I understand it is pretty tough but is it possible it may not be tough enough at these width/ thickness limitations?

 

[tito]

.156" x .65" to hold the handle on a machete seems less than ideal. Full tang or maybe hidden tang seems like a stronger option.

 

[Rockwelledge75]

.156" x .65" to hold the handle on a machete seems less than ideal. Full tang or maybe hidden tang seems like a stronger option.

This is with a hidden tang, full tang he could make it wider but it'd change the design of the handle completely.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A sketch of the proposed handle shape and tang would help a lot.

Your tang size would work for a well-designed hidden tang if the machete will be used for normal brush clearing tasks. Have the maker make it wider at the ricasso and taper it back toward the butt.1/4'20 or similar size threads can be cut on a .25" wide tang end, even if the thickness is only .165". No need for the tang to be fully round.

A mortised handle would be the strongest, type of hidden tang

All that said, a full tang would be far wiser. I can't think of any normal shape that you could want in a hidden tang that could not be made in a full tang version.

 

[Rockwelledge75]

A sketch of the proposed handle shape and tang would help a lot.

Your tang size would work for a well-designed hidden tang if the machete will be used for normal brush clearing tasks. Have the maker make it wider at the ricasso and taper it back toward the butt.1/4'20 or similar size threads can be cut on a .25" wide tang end, even if the thickness is only .165". No need for the tang to be fully round.

A mortised handle would be the strongest, type of hidden tang

All that said, a full tang would be far wiser. I can't think of any normal shape that you could want in a hidden tang that could not be made in a full tang version.

Thanks for the advice, you wouldn't happen to know anything about stitching strips of rubber together to make a few bands around handles would you?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Again, a sketch or more detailed description of what you mean by "stitching strips of rubber together" would make a good answer easier.

Do you mean in a stacked fashion? If so, that works very well on a through tang (hidden tang that goes out through the butt end).
If that is what you want, you can buy or make rubber discs to stack on the tang. once ground to shape it makes a very grippy rubber handle. The process is the same as for a stacked leather handle. Anything from 1/8" to 1/4" thick discs would work well.