tang modification question

GibsonFan

GibsonFan

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Jul 7, 2006
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Originally Posted by Rat Finkenstein
Since Camillus was making the Carbon V blades for Cold Steel, why havent we heard similar tales of Beckers snapping during use? Maybe the stick-tang/stress riser setup is just a poor design.

I was wondering about that myself, and was advised to anneal the tang on my (hopefully soon to arrive) Trailmaster, since I'm going to re-handle it anyway.

Now I'm wondering if it would help to take the handle off, take it to a machine shop and have them weld a little fill behind the tang. Y'know, so I can grind it into a slow curve instead of a 90degree angle, then anneal the tang. Would this help or am I out-thinking myself?
 
I don't think welding around the tang there would be a good idea. Welding (Torch/Tig/Mig/Stick) will disrupt the steel's structure in that area pretty severely and would probably result in a weaker tang/blade juncture for your trouble. If you want a radiused juncture, you're better off grinding it in, which will result in the guard moving up the blade a tad. If you're doing a new handle, that shouldn't be a problem.
 
OK, thanks, that does make sense. I will gladly sacrifice a 1/4" of blade for better strength. Sure glad I asked before I made the knife weaker instead of stronger.
 
You should be able to get away with a lot less than 1/4 inch. The radius doesn't have to be big to do the job. I would think a 1/16 or 1/8 radius should be plenty. Depending upon how you do your guard, that should move the gurard up the blade only very slightly.
Good Luck!
 
Thanks much for your input, guys. You answered a lot of questions for me; I didn't know a 1/16th" or 1/8th" radius would be enough to distribute stress. Really makes me wonder why factories don't do it........wait, I know, labor costs. Well, I figure it will take an hour for me to tear off the Krapton handle, file a radius into the risers and anneal the tang, and another hour to carefully shape the guard slot so it fits... it's worth it to me to have a little more peace of mind.
 
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