A gentleman at my church asked me to make him a Bowie knife a while back, and I finally got started on it yesterday. I went with a through tang design which is a first. I also added a brass guard and pommel, which is another first. I slotted the guard today and noticed ugly gaps on both sides of the tang. How could I fill the gaps without ruining the appearance of the knife? I’m open to any suggestions. Thanks guys
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Trying something new, now I need some help.
- Thread starter TheEdge01
- Start date
Bill DeShivs
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2000
- Messages
- 12,639
You can't.
What you might be able to do is remove the guard and hammer the sides to close the gap. Then, clean the front up and refit the sides.
What you might be able to do is remove the guard and hammer the sides to close the gap. Then, clean the front up and refit the sides.
Oh ok, I’ll give that a try. I guess it takes practice to get a flush fit every time.
Richard338
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2005
- Messages
- 7,265
If the gap is just a few thou, you can peen around the slot. Some material will move and close the hole a little. Unfortunately it also dimples the face of the guard so you need to sand it smooth again. You want to do as little as necessary for both steps.
Hengelo_77
Basic Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2006
- Messages
- 6,225
Use a file guide when filibg the slot
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2009
- Messages
- 20,816
Is the tang flat and parallel ?
I’m still making adjustments on it, but it’s almost there.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2004
- Messages
- 3,041
Here's a hack: Make a "collar" that will sit in front of the guard and hide those gaps. The rub is you'll need to make the collar with no gaps!
I'm not saying thats what this maker did as it can be dones for looks as well but here's the idea...if there were gaps on the guard "behind" this piece of copper they would be hidden. Itll move your handle back the thickness of the spacer which will cause problems if you've already fitted/drilled it, though...could take as long to adjust as just making another guard, IMO.
I'm not saying thats what this maker did as it can be dones for looks as well but here's the idea...if there were gaps on the guard "behind" this piece of copper they would be hidden. Itll move your handle back the thickness of the spacer which will cause problems if you've already fitted/drilled it, though...could take as long to adjust as just making another guard, IMO.