- Joined
- Jul 31, 2002
- Messages
- 2,954
Here's something I've been mulling over for a while, and thought I'd get some perspective from the collector side of things.
Let's say we've got a knife with a hidden tang, and some kind of natural handle material between a metal guard and buttcap.
It always used to be that a knife wasn't properly finished unless the wood/ivory or whatever flowed seamlessly with the metal, as though the two grew together. But lately I see lots of guys say how the handle material should be slightly larger than the metal to account for shrinkage. I'm going to assume that both camps agree there should be no sharp edges anywhere to offend the hand, or unsighly gaps from a poor fit. But there are also worries about splitting or warping as the handle material "moves" with changes in climate, etc...
So my question is, why aren't thin spacers of fiber/leather or some other material with a bit of "give" to it more popular? (between the handle material and metal) I have not used them extensively, so maybe I'm just missing something obvious here, but it seems like they could be a good solution. This way the handle could be sanded flush and smooth with the guard/pommel, providing that smooth fit with no bumps for the old school guys. At the same time, if the handle material did expand or contract, it would provide a cushy transition between the metal so sharp edges would not be exposed. And it would also allow the handle material some wiggle room on the tang so it would not be so tightly constrained on both ends by the fittings, thus in theory helping to prevent cracks & splits. The same benefit might be seen in use, providing a shock absorber between the metal and wood on a chopping blade. Have they simply gone out of fashion, or is there a legitimate functional reason we don't see more of them?
Let's say we've got a knife with a hidden tang, and some kind of natural handle material between a metal guard and buttcap.
It always used to be that a knife wasn't properly finished unless the wood/ivory or whatever flowed seamlessly with the metal, as though the two grew together. But lately I see lots of guys say how the handle material should be slightly larger than the metal to account for shrinkage. I'm going to assume that both camps agree there should be no sharp edges anywhere to offend the hand, or unsighly gaps from a poor fit. But there are also worries about splitting or warping as the handle material "moves" with changes in climate, etc...
So my question is, why aren't thin spacers of fiber/leather or some other material with a bit of "give" to it more popular? (between the handle material and metal) I have not used them extensively, so maybe I'm just missing something obvious here, but it seems like they could be a good solution. This way the handle could be sanded flush and smooth with the guard/pommel, providing that smooth fit with no bumps for the old school guys. At the same time, if the handle material did expand or contract, it would provide a cushy transition between the metal so sharp edges would not be exposed. And it would also allow the handle material some wiggle room on the tang so it would not be so tightly constrained on both ends by the fittings, thus in theory helping to prevent cracks & splits. The same benefit might be seen in use, providing a shock absorber between the metal and wood on a chopping blade. Have they simply gone out of fashion, or is there a legitimate functional reason we don't see more of them?
