Retro’s KITH : Design Question

Mark Barone

Mark Barone

Well-Known Member
I would like to attempt a hidden tang Bowie and have a question. Is there a ratio for blade and tang? My kiln is limited to a 12 inch length of steel so I need some advice on how big a blade I can make with still enough hidden tang to support it. Let me know of you more info. The steel I have is 1090, 3/16 thick, 2 x 12 inches. If that’s even big enough to be considered a Bowie. It will at least be Bowie shaped.
 
J. Doyle said:
Full tang? Hidden tang?

I'm assuming from your post you mean hidden tang.

I would make it as long as possible. 8" of blade from tip to guard with 4" of tang should be doable.
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Yes hidden tang, ok I was hoping to get an 8 inch blade, Thanks.
 
J. Doyle said:
I would make it as long as possible. 8" of blade from tip to guard with 4" of tang should be doable.
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I've haven't made a hidden tang so please forgive the rookie question. Would the entire tang need to be hardened or would just past the ricasso be enough?
 
Randy Lucius said:
I've haven't made a hidden tang so please forgive the rookie question. Would the entire tang need to be hardened or would just past the ricasso be enough?
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You don't HAVE to harden anything but the cutting edge. I usually don't harden any tangs or ricassos unless its Damascus.
 
Pins versus no pins in a hidden tang? I have seen both, but don’t know the reasons, I do want to put a mosaic pin on it but it may be just decorative and not hit the tang. Also I apologize if I don’t respond to everybody’s comments but soak them up like a sponge. I am so appreciative. I have been out of the loop for a bit. Had a heart attack and 4 stents put in. Looks like very little heart damage. I am back to work and feel great. I was frequenting this forum but not really participating. This KITH is just the therapy I need. Although with my experience I feel like Mr. Jones grabbed the wrong straw.
 
Retroguy said:
Pins versus no pins in a hidden tang? I have seen both, but don’t know the reasons, I do want to put a mosaic pin on it but it may be just decorative and not hit the tang. Also I apologize if I don’t respond to everybody’s comments but soak them up like a sponge. I am so appreciative. I have been out of the loop for a bit. Had a heart attack and 4 stents put in. Looks like very little heart damage. I am back to work and feel great. I was frequenting this forum but not really participating. This KITH is just the therapy I need. Although with my experience I feel like Mr. Jones grabbed the wrong straw.
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Wow!! a heart attack is nothing to sneeze at. Glad you're back and doing well. And I don't feel like I'm on the wrong end of a straw here. I've never made a Bowie before either, so you might end up with a small stick that resembles a straw. :D
 
Sean Jones said:
Wow!! a heart attack is nothing to sneeze at. Glad you're back and doing well. And I don't feel like I'm on the wrong end of a straw here. I've never made a Bowie before either, so you might end up with a small stick that resembles a straw. :D
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Good to know Sean , probably a good match then. Thank you.
 
Randy Lucius said:
Dang Retro! Heart attack? Glad you’re feeling better.
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Yeah at 56. I guess I was due. Don’t smoke, don’t drink and not overweight. My diet wasn’t good though, so that was the culprit. Complete 180 now, low fat diet and exercise, my cholesterol went from 240 to 124 to 90. My dietician said I am overdoing it, but that’s what fear does to you. My advice to anybody is just watch those cholesterol levels, eat better and take statins if recommended. And make knives.
 
Wow, glad to hear your back on the good track retro. I just turned 58 and while I consider myself in pretty good shape, there's one golden rule in life....nobody gets out alive.
it's fun to be reckless in our younger years but if you want to make it to old age you got to change things up at some point.
congrats on getting that cholesterol down.
 
Wow, glad to hear you're doing well!

On the pins, no pins question- You want a mechanical connection of some sort. That would be a pin through the handle and tang, or a through tang peened or threaded with a nut.

If I was limited on overall length like you are, I'd be tempted to do one of those sneaky j-bolt type setups where an all thread is hooked through a hole in the very end of the tang and then nutted like a threaded through tang. Just a thought from a fella that's not very good at making knives. :)
 
I have tried 1 hidden tang knife. I have successfully completed 0 hidden tang knives. All I can tell you is do not clamp too hard when squeezing it together.:confused: I will try again at a later date.

IMG_1184[1].JPG
 
Redbaird said:
I have tried 1 hidden tang knife. I have successfully completed 0 hidden tang knives. All I can tell you is do not clamp too hard when squeezing it together.:confused: I will try again at a later date.

View attachment 70001
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Oh boy maybe I should rethink this. Just making a larger knife is a concern. Was Bowie’s Knife a hidden tang . Does anybody know. Do people care? Lol
 
Glad you are doing better!

On the pin versus no pin- You don’t have a lot of tang to work with so a mosaic may be difficult to line up whereas a 1/16 pin isn’t bad. And here is where I may get flamed, but I don’t believe every hidden tang needs to be pinned. A tang that has been deeply grooved with a handle that is completely filled with quality epoxy is going to stand up to just about anything short of being used as an axe. If anyone is worried about that, build one and see what it takes to pull the tang out of the handle. I think you’ll be surprised. I understand the caution, but if the handle gets loose in 20 years and slides off, epoxy it on again. If it’s going to be a camp chopper then pin it. Personally I’m a big fan of threading the tang and using a corby up through the heel of the handle in a countersunk hole.
 
Retroguy said:
Oh boy maybe I should rethink this. Just making a larger knife is a concern. Was Bowie’s Knife a hidden tang . Does anybody know. Do people care? Lol
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By all accounts that I'm aware of the original 'sand bar Bowie' was a huge guardless knife that looked like a butcher knife. If that's true, it was probably full tang.

The term bowie can mean just about what any maker wants it to mean. And I think very few care.

It is ironic that a guard is considered a must by most people that try to accurately define a bowie.
 
J. Doyle said:
By all accounts that I'm aware of the original 'sand bar Bowie' was a huge guardless knife that looked like a butcher knife. If that's true, it was probably full tang.

The term bowie can mean just about what any maker wants it to mean. And I think very few care.

It is ironic that a guard is considered a must by most people that try to accurately define a bowie.
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Thank you, ok I will make it the way I see a Bowie and make sure it has traits of a Bowie through research.
 
Von Gruff said:
There is nothing to stop you welding an extension to the tang if you want to do a through tang in which case you could to 9 or 9 1/2 in blade and get it fully in the forge to harden
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I didn’t think of that but I don’t know how to weld and don’t have a welding machine. Great solution if I did.
 
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