Weak tang

eddysanders said:
I paid a guy to make me a knife for 280.00, I'm concerned about the construction because of the tang, 12"" blade sub hilt design, it has a bout 1 .5" tang and another pice he said he"ll weld on. I'll post a picture "biggest problem is I've already paid"
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02NYQzA87pSPWiavo78amcNzvpbahFKp7qYEr9ZsrJaU5SHhUTHgBtLiQ2ZGphafSVl&id=100058419068269
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I guess what I'm asking is do ya'll think it would be strong enough?
 
If your photo of the bowie with the tiny stub tang in the larger handle is what it will be .... NO it is not strong enough.
To be properly done the joint of the blade to the frame tang should go 1" past the guard, and on a sub-hilt, 1" past the sub-hilt guard.

Tell the maker to redo the blade with the tang going through both the guard and sub-hilt at the width of the ricasso plus 1" longer. From there he can taper it down to whatever he wants.
If he balks, tell him you insist. If he starts moaning about the "loss of the steel", tell him that his error is not your responsibility.

Lesson to learn - NEVER pay more than a 25% deposit on a custom order. Many knifemakers don't even ask for that up front.

If this doesn't get resolved, send me an email at sapelt@cox.net
 
I do not have a facebook account, so I do not see everything there, but I went through the available pictures of this account, and I see some red flags:

- the work is comprised of some nice looking pieces, mixed with lots of lower quality work, pre-made damascus blades, that sort of thing;
- the volume of blades offered is high, but the quality and styles vary so much that I would think this to be work of multiple people, with this person / facebook account functioning as a front;
- some phrasing such as "I think this pair is mostly for women gift like wife, grandma or any other girls
🤔
" leads me to believe this may not be a native speaker (as his name possibly tries to indicate).

That alone would lead me away from the purchase. Not trying to accuse anyone of anything illegal, it's just something I would avoid.

Of course, this is just speculation based on what I see in the facebook pictures. Maybe there is a good explanation for all this somewhere else on this person's facebook page.
 
Scott Hanson said:
Get your money back if you can, looks like most of he stuff on his FB page is from Pakistan.
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I don't understand those Pakistanis at all. What is expensive, let's say, when making damascus steel is the time required to make it and the energy used. Why don't they use real steel /say 1095 and 15n20 / for damascus , I don't understand at all ??? And this case here, that piece of D2 steel is cheap!
 
In many parts of the world life and time are cheap. The poor bastards are probably happy just to have a job paying 4 cents a day to swing a hammer 12hrs making crappy damascus.
 
Natlek said:
I don't understand those Pakistanis at all. What is expensive, let's say, when making damascus steel is the time required to make it and the energy used. Why don't they use real steel /say 1095 and 15n20 / for damascus , I don't understand at all ??? And this case here, that piece of D2 steel is cheap!
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I would seriously doubt if it is D2 steel from what I can see but who knows.
 
He has come with an inelegant solution to the problem, it is not ideal and first option is to ask for money back or a rebuild, specifying the type of construction you want to see. If there is absolutely no chance and its a welding option only, the steel should be heated to 150-200 c before welding, use a nickle based electrode and a copper backing plate. If they have ballsed it up already its unlikely he will know how to solve it. Big gaps are quite common in fabrications that need to be welded in on-site applications, more common than you would like to imagine. But on a part you have fabricated yourself there really is no excuse. I have seen many things shoved into big gaps, screwdrivers, files, cold chisels, spanners, anything metal you have on you.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
If your photo of the bowie with the tiny stub tang in the larger handle is what it will be .... NO it is not strong enough.
To be properly done the joint of the blade to the frame tang should go 1" past the guard, and on a sub-hilt, 1" past the sub-hilt guard.

Tell the maker to redo the blade with the tang going through both the guard and sub-hilt at the width of the ricasso plus 1" longer. From there he can taper it down to whatever he wants.
If he balks, tell him you insist. If he starts moaning about the "loss of the steel", tell him that his error is not your responsibility.

Lesson to learn - NEVER pay more than a 25% deposit on a custom order. Many knifemakers don't even ask for that up front.

If this doesn't get resolved, send me an email at sapelt@cox.net
Click to expand...
Thank you forcyour reply, I've asked him to or have it remade the way you suggested and waiting on reply, thanks again
Natlek said:
Maybe like this , if he is a good welder?

Hk7Nha7.jpg

mXqrDur.jpg


After I see this .............................Fallkniven Vulcano , big knife 7mm on spine !!

dKjnQx9.jpg
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I don't get some people. D2 is like $2.75 per inch, so less than $15.00 more to have an adequate tang.
 
Taz said:
I looked at the FB posts, some of the stuff looks like paki blades. I would go elsewhere IMHO. Who knows if it's really D2 or not and the tang is shoddy work. Some of the stuff looks OK, but other looks horrible.
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The good pics May have been stolen.....
 
Eddy,

I hope you get a satisfactory resolution to this issue. But, you may not even receive the knife or the money. With luck, the maker makes the changes you requested and delivers something at least nice enough that you can resell at a yard sale or something to recover a few bucks. I would respectfully suggest you consider supporting the knifemakers that frequent this site if possible. In addition to offering lots of free information, many of them are quite skilled craftsmen and will deliver an excellent knife for a very reasonable price.
 
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