I hate guards...

D

DustySerpa

Member
So I missed the center line when drilling holes for the tang in a guard and ended up with a loose guard that looks janky. It fits but there are gaps from the drill bit missing (and one catching and going all the way through when I was trying to ream out the under side). Any ideas on a way to fix this (without having to order more brass stock since this was my last piece). I considered brass dust and epoxy but I think I've tried that before and it didn't look good.

Any advice would be helpful... Thanks.
 
if its only a couple thousands try hitting it hard enough to close gap. Not know the tools available its hard to suggest. I've use my press to squeeze sides and then square up flats.
 
How big are the gaps?? If their not really big you can sometimes use a flat punch and punch 1/2 on Guard and 1/2 off on the perimeter of the guard hole to close it down. You will have to refinish the front but I've had good luck with this method. It will work on any metal guard material but if it's steel have to hit harder! Problem with that is the guard has a tendency to fly to unknown places! LOL!! Don't ask how I know!!
 
It's more than a couple thousandths...it's probably the worst I've done so far. I was kind of figuring I was going to have to start over, just thought I'd ask before I did.

I didn't think about using the press.. I'll look at it again when I get home but I think the two areas where the drill bit drifted, and where it caught in the drill press are probably too bad to fix like that. I will keep that in mind though. I might try it just to see how much it moves before it breaks, to get a feel for the limits the brass can take. That'll at least help in the future if I just need to snug it up a little.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
 
I've got a small coffee can full of those mistakes. Some might be fixed and fitted to other blades. Other will get melted for casting experiments.
 
What's the guard look like? Maybe grind it thinner and add another piece of metal to hide the gap? You could solder or braze the pieces together. Could also use a contrasting piece of metal. That might look pretty cool.
 
Also...

Not sure how well this would work, as I haven't tried it, but you can probably take another piece of brass and use it as a filler rod and torch weld the gap up and then recut it. Good flux can make a big difference.


Also, also - remember, if you aren't making mistakes, you aren't trying hard enough.
 
soundmind said:
I would like to try that fitzo, only I can't see how to clean that up.
Click to expand...

Work was done with the seppa press-fit to the tang and then the guard fitted to the tang and held in place with a narrow-nosed vise grip pressing the guard from behind.
I've used paste lo-temp silver solder when I've done it. Got it at one of the knife supply houses years ago. I used a jeweler's Little Torch O2/Ac to heat. Same process as solderingn on a guard. Then I cleaned what excess I could with little chisels made of brass rod. Then I got to work with little pieces of abrasive paper stuck to lengths of trimmed popsicle stick with doublesided foam tape. And if you're from '80s knifemaking, you'd then buff because of course you want it shiny!

Then, in this case mentioned, after cleanup you start packing the gaps in the guard from behind with JBWeld.

That said, now every time you see a seppa on a non-Japanese style knife you'll wonder if it covers an oops. ;)
 
Thanks fitzo. I'll cache your reply. Its helpful.

I've been off the forums lately but got an email from KD of recent threads. This one caught my attention because I'm not sure if you can ever keep that line clean when you start using the knife. I always seem to scratch it up later when I clean the knife in the sink. I'm carrying a knife with a guard that has a booger like this but after using it it doesn't ever completely clean up in that area. So it's got a black "patina"(?) line (not from crud) that covers the booger. Makes me want to give up on fitting them and either braze or
 
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