Taking metal off of a tang - kinda OT

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newdovo2

Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
48
Hey Folks,
This isn't exactly khuk related, but is a knife related question for those of you who do modify your knives.
A friend has a knife with a full tang, slab scales, and he wants to make the handle area lighter by taking metal off of the tang. He wants to use the same slab scales, too.
He figured that just drilling holes in the tang to remove some metal would be the best way. Any tips on what type of bit to use? Better ways of placing holes? I'm not sure if he has a drill press, so he would probably be using a hand-held drill. Any better ideas on how this may be accomplished?
Thanks,
Parry
 
One possibility is giving the knife a tapered tang. This is where the tang decreases in width towards the back end of the knife. However, you will need some sort of belt grinder to do this well, since you have to remove a lot of metal and leave a relatively flat surface.
 
Or get proficient with a heavy-duty file. Some knives have annealed tangs, factory knives don't, so it's going to be slow going whether filing or sanding a taper, or drilling holes. To drill decent sized holes in that stuff will require a brand-new TiN coated bit, or better a carbide bit. And lots of cutting fluid. I wouldn't attempt it with a small hand drill. Hope this helps.
 
like Brian said....if it's a production knife (and especially if it's stainless steel) the tang is going to be hardened and a bear to drill through. Can be done...but you'll use up 2 or 3 drill bits...at least.

do you have a pic of the knife?
 
Sounds to me like a case of.... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.:rolleyes:
If it's a decent made knife it was engineered properly and best left alone..... If it's a high end knife it's already been taken care of......
If it's a POS knife it ain't worth foolin with.
 
Yvsa said:
Sounds to me like a case of.... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.:rolleyes:
If it's a decent made knife it was engineered properly and best left alone..... If it's a high end knife it's already been taken care of......
If it's a POS knife it ain't worth foolin with.
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Yup. Me too. Unless he wants the practice.
 
Thanks for the replies.
After sharing the responses and talking with him a little more, I gather that it's probably not a high end knife. He wants to balance it a little more so he can make it a thrower.
He does want to do it himself, though, mostly for the experience of doing it.
Thanks again.
Parry
 
If it's going to be a thrower, he's probably going to be sorry he has scales on it at all. Unless it's going to be thrown by itself, the scales are GUARANTEED to be hit/nicked by the other knives he's using. Seems a shame to put all that work into something that's going to be ruined.

Course, if he throws like I do, he doesn't have to worry much about the points hitting the target.
 
newdovo2 said:
He wants to balance it a little more so he can make it a thrower.

Parry
Click to expand...
Bullshit! Don't need balanced to make it a thrower. All he needs to do is learn how to throw a knife. When I was a boy I had quite an assortment of knives that I threw on a daily basis. They ranged from a German Bayonet to an Old Hickory Butcher Knife.
All I had to do was either step a little forward or backwards to have the distance right for that particular blade.
All knives are going to spin in the air when thrown, you just have to know how they're gonna spin.:rolleyes:
 
When I was a kid I had a couple of inexpensive Case throwing knives and some even cheaper no-name brand throwers. My sister and I would go out in the back yard and try to stick them in our dartboard, cardboard boxes, whatever. Tried stepping a little bit back, forwards, sideways...... Never did get the hang of it, finally got tired of hearing the flat "clang" of the tang slapping against the target, after a while the sound got annoying. I 'm sure our neighbors were glad when we finally stopped....
 
To accurately throw a knife it has too be thrown the same as you throw a ball. If you try flipping it with the wrist it spins out of control. Thrown like a ball with full follow through the knife will spin the same amount each time and the distance can be determined for each particular blade.
When I was at my best I could split a 2" X 4" at 30 feet 9 times outta 10 with my hatchet. The 10th time would still stick, just not split the board.
It took a great deal of practice to get that good but we didn't consider it practice, just good fun.:D
No such thing as video games back then.:rolleyes: :p ;)
 
I don't understand throwing your weapon at someone else. Unless you're very good, now he has your knife, too. :confused: Someone esplain me that :rolleyes:
 
Bri in Chi said:
I don't understand throwing your weapon at someone else. Unless you're very good, now he has your knife, too. :confused: Someone esplain me that :rolleyes:
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You're exactly right Brian.
Throwing a knife is a sneaky way of offing someone you can't get close to otherwise, and yes, you had better be very good.
I'd rather have a bow, but knife throwing as a sport is great fun.:D :cool: :D
 
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