Question about lightened tang for the experts.

[Andersonbushcraft]

Hey all, I'm making a 1/4 inch chopper for myself and have a question about lightening the tang. What is the general rule of thumb for hole spacing and placement?

I drilled a bunch of holes in this tang to get the balance right, and looking at it now, I'm wondering if it drilled too many and compromised the tang.



Its pops 8670 at about .270 all of the holes are over .200 from the edge, with the closest at .210. The holes are all about 1/8 inch away from each other except for a top 1/4 hole on in the middle that is exactly .100 from the 3/8th hole.

I'm planning on sending this out to Peter's to hardened to 58-60, blast, and black oxide once I get the scales fit and finish ready, so I figured id ask the experts before I send it out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bill DeShivs]

It's just fine.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

It's just fine.

Thanks Bill!

 

[ScarFoot]

No worries with what you have there. You could also hollow grind it with a wheel and/or taper the tang.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

No worries with what you have there. You could also hollow grind it with a wheel and/or taper the tang.

Thanks!

 

[Acutereference]

One of my most unusual, old bowies, also a large knife with a heavy blade, has a thicker than the blade tapered tang. That puts the point of balance at the guard. An interesting idea that makes for a quick, balanced big knife.

 

[C_Claycomb]

You could have taken more out from the rear portion.
Have a look at Nathan Carothers tangs

Post in thread 'Random Thought Thread'

Oct 23, 2023

It is thicker towards the front where there is more stress. I'm more aggressive in the second hole towards the back because that is less stressed. And there is a web in between.

The tang is the dimension that it is, not for structural reasons but because it has to fit the handle design. This can leave meat in the middle that isn't actually doing any work except making the blade heavy.

• Nathan the Machinist

• 

Post in thread 'Random Thought Thread'

Oct 27, 2023

Hey Nathan the Machinist here is the tang in question that is .25 inch elmax and broke easy (attached).

^wrong



^right



It should be intuitively obvious to everyone that the skeletonized tang on the top is not done very well.

An unnecessary design element should never be the weak point in a design.

• Nathan the Machinist

• 

there are better pictures, but can’t find them quickly.

 

[Lorien]

you did a really nice job with them holes.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

You could have taken more out from the rear portion.
Have a look at Nathan Carothers tangs

Post in thread 'Random Thought Thread'

Oct 23, 2023

It is thicker towards the front where there is more stress. I'm more aggressive in the second hole towards the back because that is less stressed. And there is a web in between.

The tang is the dimension that it is, not for structural reasons but because it has to fit the handle design. This can leave meat in the middle that isn't actually doing any work except making the blade heavy.

• Nathan the Machinist

• 

Post in thread 'Random Thought Thread'

Oct 27, 2023

Hey Nathan the Machinist here is the tang in question that is .25 inch elmax and broke easy (attached).

^wrong



^right



It should be intuitively obvious to everyone that the skeletonized tang on the top is not done very well.

An unnecessary design element should never be the weak point in a design.

• Nathan the Machinist

• 

there are better pictures, but can’t find them quickly.

Thanks! Those make me feel a lot better about this build haha.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

you did a really nice job with them holes.

Thanks! They are a little wonky. It was getting late after I did the layout on the pin holes and lanyard hole, so I drew a line down the handle and spaced the 3/8 holes a half inch apart and from the ends of the 1/4 pin holes. I didn't center punch them so they walked a bit and the remaining 1/4 holes were done in sets of two to find the balance point with the scale material set on the tang. They were just eyeballed which got a couple closer to the edge than I would have liked, should have done a layout haha.

 

[Linus Knives]

like everyone else said- you're perfectly fine! I try to lighten the tang as much as possible with a big knife like you've got. Nice job!

 

[Nate’s Knives]

I’ve seen some makers cut a fuller at the tang as well to lighten up the weight.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

like everyone else said- you're perfectly fine! I try to lighten the tang as much as possible with a big knife like you've got. Nice job!

Awesome thanks! I normally don't do such a wide handle so I haven't drilled out a tang in a big chopper like this before.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

I’ve seen some makers cut a fuller at the tang as well to lighten up the weight.

Like a blood groove channel under the handle? I've seen full pockets and milled depressions with webs like an I beam on knives before. I dont have a mill, so I went with a lattice of holes.

 

[Nate’s Knives]

Do you have a wheel attachment for your 2x72? You could use that.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

Do you have a wheel attachment for your 2x72? You could use that.

No, I just have a flat platen, my tracking wheels are wider aluminum wheels. I need to pick up a wheel set one of these days.

 

[Nate’s Knives]

OBM has them on their website and if you have PayPal, you could possibly use the pay in 4 payment to get them. I do that option on a lot of my knife supplies because it helps lesson the burden to my pocketbook.

 

[Andersonbushcraft]

OBM has them on their website and if you have PayPal, you could possibly use the pay in 4 payment to get them. I do that option on a lot of my knife supplies because it helps lesson the burden to my pocketbook.

I'll check them out, thanks! I think I've got the balance where I need it on this one with the holes, but next time they could be handy. Plus i wanted to make myself a 6 and 8 inch knife base off this pattern and this handle shape would be much easier with some small wheels.

 

[Nate’s Knives]

I bought an OBM from a guy doing an upgrade and he included a tool arm with the small wheel attachment and variant of wheels. It has helped me immensely when shaping a knife. I’ve watched guys make knives without them and I’m like, man that was skill…lol. They guy just recently messaged me abt his upgrade and I’m like man you went from a 95 Honda to a Rolls Royce. The belt sander I got was a basic 2x72 that had an upgraded carbide platen and VFD. I payed him around $750 and it was around $1200 new. His new one was around $3k-4k.

 

[Linus Knives]

I bought an OBM from a guy doing an upgrade and he included a tool arm with the small wheel attachment and variant of wheels. It has helped me immensely when shaping a knife. I’ve watched guys make knives without them and I’m like, man that was skill…lol. They guy just recently messaged me abt his upgrade and I’m like man you went from a 95 Honda to a Rolls Royce. The belt sander I got was a basic 2x72 that had an upgraded carbide platen and VFD. I payed him around $750 and it was around $1200 new. His new one was around $3k-4k.

I've got the OBM and a small wheel attachment, the only thing is that my grinder doesn't tilt so I cant really make the very most out of the small wheel attachment. I still use it a lot and like it but It would be nice if my grinder tilted