What's going on in your shop?

Self Made Knives said:
Making an upside down drilling table for odd shaped scales. Not my idea, seen it on YouTube once but can't remember who posted it. 3" square tube.
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Ok I'm not understanding what this is used for but I'm very curious could you please break it down for me?? Thank you
 
If your scales are bone or horn or something uneven, you can get the inside surface flat and clamp it to the tang or liner under the table. Then drill your holes through the tang into your scales. Keeps every thing square to the tang even if the outsides are rounded.
 
Fred Rowe said:
We've been forging quite a few W2 kitchen knives as of late. I have a good stock of this steel, use what you know best.

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These are gorgeous.

Would you recommend burning in the stick tang, or drilling a round hole and filling with epoxy? On my stick tang knives I have been using the narrowest round hole that allows a slip fit and filling with epoxy. I made caps which I slotted to fit the tang (as if it were a metal guard) and fixed that to the tang before inserting the tang into the handle.

I know that traditional Wa handles are not glued because they are intended to be replaceable, but I want to fix mine permanently- primarily to prevent water intrusion during washing.
 
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This was a fun little project. An electrician friend wanted custom handles on his splicing knives. The black ferrule is a piece of African Blackwood that I fitted to the tang as if it were a metal guard.

My question is whether you believe, or not, that this would hold up on something of the scale of a working culinary knife.
 
Self Made Knives said:
If your scales are bone or horn or something uneven, you can get the inside surface flat and clamp it to the tang or liner under the table. Then drill your holes through the tang into your scales. Keeps every thing square to the tang even if the outsides are rounded.
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Thank you Anthony! I'm on the same page now I'm glad to be caught up with everyone else! ha ha
 
One I just finished today after work, this is the one I ended up smashing the handle off because of the soft spots and punky wood. I think it looks better now, some spalted Hackberry from Dream Burls.

 
John Wilson said:
These are gorgeous.

Would you recommend burning in the stick tang, or drilling a round hole and filling with epoxy? On my stick tang knives I have been using the narrowest round hole that allows a slip fit and filling with epoxy. I made caps which I slotted to fit the tang (as if it were a metal guard) and fixed that to the tang before inserting the tang into the handle.

I know that traditional Wa handles are not glued because they are intended to be replaceable, but I want to fix mine permanently- primarily to prevent water intrusion during washing.
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Hi John,

These are done as you explain your technique, with the metal plate up against the filed shoulders. This allows for an sylightly oversize hole that is then filled with epoxy during assembly. These handles have 10 separate pieces which are pinned; using epoxy makes assemble easier and allows me to epoxy each piece making the whole unit one solid assembly.
Do you have any of your kitchen creations available to post. I'd like to see what your making.

Regards, Fred
 
Thank you so much for sharing your techniques, Fred.

For stick tangs, I have done a few. This design used a guard.

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This is a fun project I did to rehandle some electricians knives. I ground the tangs into stick tangs and set them in round holes. I made ferrules and fitted those to the blade as you describe (mainly to hide my round holes in the handle.)

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This is a Nakira I do. I have made another blade with a stick tang so that I can try to make my first Wa handle.

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I love traditional handles but my wife prefers western handles and shorter blades. This is a 6in chef for my wife. I think it would look better with a traditional handle.


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Can I ask about tapered tangs?

When I make my culinary knives with a full distal taper, I flatten the scales and drill them before I grind the knife. I do this to make sure the pin holes will line up through both scales.

After the blade is tapered, I have to grind the taper into the tang side of the scales so the pin holes will still be 90degrees off axis to the centerline of the tang- and the scales will now fit without a gap to the tang.

Am I going about this the hard way, or is it just the way it has to be done?


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John Wilson said:
Can I ask about tapered tangs?

When I make my culinary knives with a full distal taper, I flatten the scales and drill them before I grind the knife. I do this to make sure the pin holes will line up through both scales.

After the blade is tapered, I have to grind the taper into the tang side of the scales so the pin holes will still be 90degrees off axis to the centerline of the tang- and the scales will now fit without a gap to the tang.

Am I going about this the hard way, or is it just the way it has to be done?
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I drill the tang, then taper as you do, however, I then use double side sticky tape to adhere the scales to the tapered tang (one side at a time) and drill the handle using the existing holes in the tang as my guide. Just be sure to position your scales the same on each side of the tang so they match up on the front once assembled.
 
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Man some of you guys have come a long way in a short amount of time. You guys are turning out some good stuff.
 
Thank you, John. I would like to mention that my knives are all wearing wood that I got from you. I couldn't be happier with the quality.


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