Sanding a stick tang in preparation for heat treat.

S

Scoli Forge

Knife maker in training
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
Messages
73
Hello everyone,

I'm working my way through my first batch of knives and several of them are stick tangs. I have a 2x72 and plan on doing grinding post heat treat. Everything is profiled and sanded to 220 grit lengthwise. I was wondering if that was necessary to sand the tang up to this level too or if I could leave it a lower grit finish? I've seen where some people only sand it to 80 grit to assist with epoxy adhesion, but I didn't know if that was 80 grit before or after heat treat. I've made sure my shoulders are even and round on the inside to eliminate those stress points too. The blades are all Aldo W2 and are an 1/8th inch thick.

Thanks for looking.
 
No need to sand a tang smooth. It will grip the epoxy better in a rougher state. The most important thing on the tang to pay attention to is the transition from the tang to the ricasso. It should be a curve, not a 90 degree angle.
 
Well, in interests of having everything fairly smooth to reduce any chance of stress cracks during quench, I think I'd sand everything to at least 220 grit before HT. How much clean up will be required after HT depends on type of steel and how it's HT'd. If it's SS that's HT'd in SS foil, then the blade won't require very much clean up at all. But, "IF" it's a hi-carbon steel that's quenched in oil there will be a fair amount of clean up required unless a very good anti-scale coating is used. After everything is cleaned up and ready for handle, then since I don't have sandblasting equip (which is best) I'd sand the tang with 36 grit for better epoxy adhesion.

edit: Ooops, Stacy beat me to post while I was typing.

Ken H>
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I have one more follow up question on this. If I left the tang if a rougher state would it still be a best practice to have the sanding scratches run length wise on the tang like it does on the rest of the blade or is horizontal sufficient?

Stacy: I used a file guide and ran the belt over the side of the platen when I cut the shoulders in. I think I might need to radius the edge to get a smoother transition next time though. I've ordered an 1/8th inch diameter chainsaw file to help me smooth them out a little more. Pending I don't ruin them when I go to grind the bevels in I plan on posting some pictures when they're finished.

Thanks again for your input
 
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