- Joined
- Jan 4, 1999
- Messages
- 3,000
Building the Janz tapered tang ATS-34 kit
To call me a rank beginner at knife making would be an understatement. This kit was my second effort. The first one was a quick and easy micarta handled fillet knife. I cant remember the model name of the kit but its advertised in the Jantz Supply catalog as a tapered tang ATS-34 drop point and the kit sells for $49.95 including the 7 overall, 3 ½ drop point polished blade, bolsters, pins and Dymondwood handle blanks. I didnt buy the complete kit, just the blade, bolsters and pins. Since Im not fond Dymondwood I dug through some exotic wood pieces in my woodshop and came up with a nice piece of quarter sawn kingwood which is a variety of rosewood. Its very nice stuff.
I took the parts out of the bag and proceeded to test fit everything. The lanyard hole tube didnt fit in the appropriate hole in the tang. I didnt know exactly how to ream it out to fit the tube so I just decided to forego the lanyard hole. The holes in the bolsters werent perfectly aligned but I fixed that problem quickly with an electric drill. The other issue I dealt with was the imperfect match between the guard area on the blade and bolsters. Im not an experienced knife maker so I decided the bolsters simply wouldnt cover the integral guard completely and that was that. I wasnt striving for perfection. I just wanted to pass some time and learn a little about knife making.
Step one was to epoxy the bolsters to the blade, insert the nickel silver pins and pein them. That went quite well. The pins completely disappeared upon grinding, sanding and buffing the bolsters.
Step two was to cut the handle material. My piece of kingwood was a whole inch thick so I resawed a piece on the bandsaw to create two book matched handle pieces. I cut the basic outline oversize on the bandsaw and made one perfectly straight edge on each on the table saw. Drilling the handle pin holes in the handle material was very simple. I held one handle side to the blade and marked one pin hole. I drilled it, inserted a pin and then completed the other holes by using the tang as a guide. Everything lined up perfectly. I expoxied the handles to the tang and inserted the seven handle pins which were also epoxied. The handles were thick enough that I was able to bury the pins in the wood with nothing sticking out. So I pressed the whole thing lightly in a woodworking vice so that it could dry overnight.
The next evening I went to work shaping and handles and bolsters. I did this fairly quickly using a 6X48 stationary belt sander. Its not as sophisticated as a knifemakers grinder but it served well for the task. I used an oscillating sander with a ½ drum to sand the tight area behind the guard. A half hour with some sandpaper and a few minutes at the buffer and the knife was done. I applied some tung oil to the kingwood to bring out the almost gaudy grain.
I spent a total of three hours on the project-not bad for a rank beginner, I think-but I did make use of plenty of power equipment. The knife doesnt have a lanyard hole and the guard area of the blade and the bolsters are not ground to a perfect match, but otherwise, the knife looks pretty nice. Ill spend some time this weekend at the leather tooling stone and make up a sheath for it. Im proud of the knife and recommend you try a kit of this type for yourself. Youll not only gain some knowledge and some pride, but youll get a nice knife in the bargain. A photo of the completed knife can be viewed at http://www.knifeoutlet.com/images/droppoint.jpg. Take care.
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Fred
Knife Outlet
www.knifeoutlet.com
To call me a rank beginner at knife making would be an understatement. This kit was my second effort. The first one was a quick and easy micarta handled fillet knife. I cant remember the model name of the kit but its advertised in the Jantz Supply catalog as a tapered tang ATS-34 drop point and the kit sells for $49.95 including the 7 overall, 3 ½ drop point polished blade, bolsters, pins and Dymondwood handle blanks. I didnt buy the complete kit, just the blade, bolsters and pins. Since Im not fond Dymondwood I dug through some exotic wood pieces in my woodshop and came up with a nice piece of quarter sawn kingwood which is a variety of rosewood. Its very nice stuff.
I took the parts out of the bag and proceeded to test fit everything. The lanyard hole tube didnt fit in the appropriate hole in the tang. I didnt know exactly how to ream it out to fit the tube so I just decided to forego the lanyard hole. The holes in the bolsters werent perfectly aligned but I fixed that problem quickly with an electric drill. The other issue I dealt with was the imperfect match between the guard area on the blade and bolsters. Im not an experienced knife maker so I decided the bolsters simply wouldnt cover the integral guard completely and that was that. I wasnt striving for perfection. I just wanted to pass some time and learn a little about knife making.
Step one was to epoxy the bolsters to the blade, insert the nickel silver pins and pein them. That went quite well. The pins completely disappeared upon grinding, sanding and buffing the bolsters.
Step two was to cut the handle material. My piece of kingwood was a whole inch thick so I resawed a piece on the bandsaw to create two book matched handle pieces. I cut the basic outline oversize on the bandsaw and made one perfectly straight edge on each on the table saw. Drilling the handle pin holes in the handle material was very simple. I held one handle side to the blade and marked one pin hole. I drilled it, inserted a pin and then completed the other holes by using the tang as a guide. Everything lined up perfectly. I expoxied the handles to the tang and inserted the seven handle pins which were also epoxied. The handles were thick enough that I was able to bury the pins in the wood with nothing sticking out. So I pressed the whole thing lightly in a woodworking vice so that it could dry overnight.
The next evening I went to work shaping and handles and bolsters. I did this fairly quickly using a 6X48 stationary belt sander. Its not as sophisticated as a knifemakers grinder but it served well for the task. I used an oscillating sander with a ½ drum to sand the tight area behind the guard. A half hour with some sandpaper and a few minutes at the buffer and the knife was done. I applied some tung oil to the kingwood to bring out the almost gaudy grain.
I spent a total of three hours on the project-not bad for a rank beginner, I think-but I did make use of plenty of power equipment. The knife doesnt have a lanyard hole and the guard area of the blade and the bolsters are not ground to a perfect match, but otherwise, the knife looks pretty nice. Ill spend some time this weekend at the leather tooling stone and make up a sheath for it. Im proud of the knife and recommend you try a kit of this type for yourself. Youll not only gain some knowledge and some pride, but youll get a nice knife in the bargain. A photo of the completed knife can be viewed at http://www.knifeoutlet.com/images/droppoint.jpg. Take care.
------------------
Fred
Knife Outlet
www.knifeoutlet.com