Question About Handle To Guard To Blade Angle Geometry

C_Kyle

C_Kyle

Joined
Feb 7, 2005
Messages
1,086
Hi,

I was drawing up a stick tang long-ish blade that will have a straight guard, and the handle canted 5 degrees downward. Is it preferred to align the guard perpendicularly with the canted handle or with the blade?

It seems like it should be aligned perpendicularly with the blade, but it just looks weird on paper where the handle meets the guard.
 
The guard should be square with the spine of the knife or canted slightly foward. I like to cant my guards just a hair foward at the top.
Hope that helps.
Mace
 
Thanks Mace.

Does this look good for stick tang construction? I'm not sure about the but cap, whether it should be pinned, peened, or threaded.

20100405_StickTang_Small.jpg
 
I always tech my students to tilt their guards forward slightly at the top. The reason for this is that I have seen many knives over the years that had the guard installed at a perfect 90 degrees to blade, but when the knife is finished, it gives an optical illusion that the top of the guard is tilted back....and it just looks terrible.

I've even seen folks get chastised when testing for their JS test because of this...when a measuring device is applied, the guard is at a dead on 90 degree angle to the blade....but still "looks" wrong. Tilting guards slightly forward at the top prevents this, and eliminates any optical illusions in the final product.
 
Last edited:
I have seen what Ed is talking about and I agree it looks bad even tho its "right". Your drawing looks good but I think it needs a little more flow from the top of the blade into the handle.
Mace
 
Mace said:
...I think it needs a little more flow from the top of the blade into the handle.
Mace
Click to expand...

I agree, and didn't see it until the drawing was finished. The handle lines were supposed to flow right into the blade; I just picked the wrong lines when drawing up the handle.

Do you see how the guard is two layers, and how each layer has its own...shoulders or steps to fit on? Those probably are not the correct terms. What I'm wondering is if it would be stronger to just have one set of steps/shoulders for both layers to fit on? It seems like it might because there would be more material at the handle/blade junction, and also less inward angles to cause fractures.
 
I would use one set of shoulders and then guide pins to keep everything in line. I've never tried two sets of shoulders before, but I cant imagine it being an easy thing to do.
Mace
 
I've made the mistake Ed's talking about by making the guard 90 degrees to the spine. It did NOT look appealing, LOL.

Thanks again for the tip Ed ! I ended up changing it and refitting the guard.

-Josh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top