Tapered Tangs

forge, then taper on a disc grinder, or if ya have one you could shim up the butt of the tang and surface grind the taper in, on both sides.

i usually just fogre, the do it on a disc, but im sure there's somebody gonna fill you in with a much more consistant way of doing it.

andrew
 
I hollow grind the middle and clean up the outside edges on the flat disc. It takes a few times back and forth.
 
Basicly the same way I do bevels. For simplicities sake I will explain stock removal only. First mark the center of the butt end of the tang. Then mark the point where the taper will end at the bolster area. Grind a 45 degree bevel on the butt to the desired thickness and then move the bevels up to the mark at the bolster area. Like Bruce mentioned if you grind a hollow in the middle of the tang it goes faster plus it no big deal to have a little hollow that will be hidden when the scales are on. Also I drill the holes before grinding the taper.

I hope this helps:)
 
Thanks everyone, I'm going to go down to Lowes today and buy some cheap steel to practice on. I appreciate the input, knowing how it's done sure makes it easier learning how to do it.
 
I can understand how to taper the tang, but I don't have a clue how to get the handle to fit a tapered tang. Another thread I guess.

Phil Millam
Winthrop WA
 
Phil705 said:
I can understand how to taper the tang, but I don't have a clue how to get the handle to fit a tapered tang. Another thread I guess.

Phil Millam
Winthrop WA
Click to expand...

1 Through tang
a. V notch on tang - hard solder threaded metal and tap butt cap to fit
b. V notch and hard solder copper and pein the end onto the butt cap (some just pein the tang tip)
2Full tang
a Scribe the mid point and fit with a chisel to create a mortise on both sides
 
Phil-

Good question! :) If anyone tells you that fitting up a handle on a tapered tang doesn't demand some differences in approach over a non-tapered tang, then they aren't working to as tight of tolerances as they could be.

The holes are drilled prior to tapering, so they are drilled perpendicular to the centerline of the blade's thickness.

BUT... now if you lay that tapered blade on your drill press table, the holes are no longer in line with the axis of the spindle. It's simply not physically possible for them to be.

I built a fixture that holds the blade by the ricasso, which on my knives is still two even, parallel surfaces.

Pictures are worth a lot more than my verbosity, and I happen to have a few on this lap-top, so here goes. :)

This is a blade clamped up with a scale that's been lapped and is FLAT on the mating surface:
standard.jpg


And here is the fixture holding a blade by the ricasso. As you can see, it holds the blade so that the holes are lined up true with the axis of the drill's spindle. The short little doo-dad with the bolts UNDER the handle, is just a little block of brass with 1/4-20 bolts threaded into it with locking nuts. You use them as a support jack so the pressure of the drill won't flex the blade/handle down as it drills through. :)
standard.jpg
 
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I forgot to mention that I use this fixture for stag handles, as you obviously can't lay a piece of convex shaped stag on the drill press table and have it sit flat either.

I also use it for holding a hidden tang blade by the ricasso and drilling for a handle pin.

All of the pieces were milled flat with a face mill to assure that everything sits nice and flat/true on the table. :)

Hope this helps :)
 
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