Steve,

Let me know when my 20 questions are up. :)

To my knowledge, the tapered tang is used for appearance and weight reduction. Does it have much to do with balance? I have noticed on knives by you, George Herron, and Ted Dowell (to name a few) that the knife comfortably balances on the middle finger instead of the index finger. Is that something the knifemaker strives for or does the knife just naturally balance at that point when the tang is tapered? In other words, does the amount of tapering change the balance? I'm talking about knives with blades of roughly 6" or less.

Thanks,
Tom

It definately makes a difference, whether it is in the "balance," or just the "feel" of the knife overall. The knife is lighter and simply feels more "lively," more "friendly" with the tapered tang, if I can use those terms. I don't try to put a specific balance point on a knife. They, as a rule, end up where they end up. The longer the blade, generally, the larger and heavier the handle. It seems to me that if the point is more maneuverable, with the weight somewhat toward the rear or "in" the handle, that it will be easier to control/use. However, whether the "balance" point is 1/2" this way, or that way, in a little 4-8 oz. knife is probably inconsequential.

A tapered tang adds way more to the cost than it does to the feel of a hunter.

TMHO,

A.T.

You've certainly got a point, but I think the feel is a lot different, too. Perhaps it's just lighter.

Ive not had much luck with making tapered tangs look and turn out right! Would you guys care to elaborate on how you do them? This is on a guardless hunter.

Thanks!!

God Bless
Mike

There are lots of way to balance a knife distal tapered blades is good to take away forward weight–front heavy the same hold true with but heavy or handle heavy . Knives that feel like they want to get out of your hand are off balance

The tapered tang well help to get balance to or near first finger or on larger knives just past in front , we all have held knives that just feel good that’s the one that are balanced
the pivot point is good on a large knife the point is free and active effortless to move about
to me its important to try get that feel reducing steel in the handle can help in getting that feel because the bulk of the weight has shifted to a closer point to your first finger .
Bill Wiggins showed me that a very large thick blade can have a feel of control and not out of balance if you do thing wright complete distal tapers blade and tang and be mindful of which point to take away steel or leave it some what thicker .
If when you get a chance to hold a knife that just feels good look close

Bowie
My Name is Ron Claiborne and im a knifemaker and im 21days Damascus fee

Steve and all,

Thank you for your replies. Very interesting information even to us collectors.

On average, how much extra time and expense is added to a knife with a tapered tang?

Also, was Loveless the first knifemaker to taper tangs?

Takes me about as long to taper a tang as to grind a blade. Of course you don't have to finsh grind it after heat treat like you do a blade.

Loveless got his tapered tang idea from an old Lamson and Goodnow knife, which was very old at that time, don't kow how old, but I'd say 1800's. Here's a link, nothing about tapered tangs, but they've been in business since 1837. Some interesting info.

http://www.lamsonsharp.com/lamhistory.html

Re: Tapering tangs:

I think there is a thread on this forum about tapering a tang. Off to 'Vegas tomorrow and presently under the gun, or I'd see if I can find it for you, sorry. Will check back next week and see if you've found it.

Thanks Steve. Have a safe trip.

Actually a good way to start a tapered tang is by using a hollow grind. If you can make a few passes with a grinder and try to keep it in the middle of the blade and then go to flat grinding you can do a good job with a tapered tang. I have used a 2" belt for both operations, on on a wheel and the other on a planten, But if you have a flat grinder, like a 6X48, you can finish the tang fine.

Weight reduction in a handle can be accomplished just by drilling holes. It is mechanically easier to do the drilling but once you do several tapped tangs I don't think it is any faster. The drill bits were a lot cheaper for me than the sanding belts so I did most this way. Not doing either on knives with blades under 5" seems to make a knife that just doesn't seem to feel as comfortable to use, but thats just my opinion. Frank

I think a taper adds a lot to the look of a knife. It's just a little something special in that knife. Just looks cool, to me and is well worth the effort it takes to learn how to do it and then apply it to each knife . Sure, it takes more time, though drilling also takes time, as Frank says, but that's what this whole deal is about, taking the time to make a neat knife.

Yes Steve, they do look some nicer with the taper! Frank

Both Don Cowels and Rob Brown have exellent tutorials on "How to taper tangs" in the "Workshop".It took me awhile to find it as it used to be called "How To's". I noticed there are a few new tutorials added since my last visit there.
Workshop (click here) (http://www.knifenetwork.com/workshop/index.shtml)

Thanks hammer. I was looking for the tapered tang thread on this forum but couldn't find anything. Those are good turorials. Thanks again

Diamond G,
Tapering tangs gets easier after you do a few, like everything else. I don't think that I have ever made a full tang knife that wasn't tapered. Somebody above said that it doesn't add to the feel of a hunter. Nothing could be further from the truth, which if you skin or bone out a lot of deer you'll know. As Steve stated, a well balanced knife really does feel "alive" in your hand and is a pleasure to use, especially if you're going to be cutting for a half hour on a deer or larger animal.

Something that might help you in tapering is to mark with a height gage or similar tool how thick you want your tang to be at the back. Let's say you start with a 3/16" blade, you might want your tang to taper down to 3/32" at the back. Mark on both sides of the tang a line about 46 thousandths leaving
93 thousandths between the lines in the middle of your blade. Use this as a guide to keep your grinding even on both sides. I use a grinding magnet and a platen, although as described above a few passes on a contact wheel will get you a good start. Removing metal on a platen in this way will really tax your grinder and go through some belts. I also drill a few 1/4" holes in the tang in strategic places and this seems to make the platen grinding go much better. Try to stop your grinding with the coarse grit belt just behind where the front of the bolster will be and switch over to a finer grit belt so you don't put deep scratches in the flats of your blade. You should take the taper out in front of the bolsters and this can be as far as you want. I know a guy who tapers all the way to the front of the flats, from the back. You can blend in the taper to the flats on a smooth contact wheel holding the knife vertically, using a fine grit belt. A while back, I went to completely finishing the flats and tapering the tang before I grind the bevels, either flat or hollow. Less chance of messing up your hollow grind.
Good luck.

Diamond G, in your case just take a hammer and beat your taper in close, it is fun, try it.. Or you could just make a set of swages for the press and do it the easy way...haha. See ya soon.

Here, finally, is that thread on this forum, that I mentioned above:

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3480

Hope it helps a little. Lots of different ways of doing the same thing.

On average, how much extra time and expense is added to a knife with a tapered tang?

Also, was Loveless the first knifemaker to taper tangs?

I think it is a whole lot easier to forge it in than to grind it in. When forging it might add 30 minutes or so to the amount of time spent making the blade, depending on your forging and grinding skill. For stock removal, Mr. Barr is quite correct.

I've never seen a Scagel full-tang knife that didn't have a tapered tang (I'm no expert, though). A friend of mine owns a kukri that is quite old, and it has a very noticable taper to the tang.

The tapered tang seems to largely be a marker of "custom" or "hand-fitted" on a knife. Very few if any factory made knives have tapered tangs. I find it actually easier to engineer the balance and weight of my knives with tapering the tang rather than drilling holes, but maybe thats just me. Besides, I just like the look of a tapered tang. The step that REALLY removes material is when you hollowgrind the tang before grinding it flat. Removing all that steel from the buttend, takes the balance up to the guard / blade.

On my forged blades, I automatically taper the tangs anyhow when I forge out the flare towards the buttend. So somehow or other, the tangs end up tapered.

Melbourne Knifemaker Peter DelRaso once told me, "Taper the tang on every knife you make." I listened and did it and can thank him heartilly. Every knife than has a standard level of that "custom" and "handfitted" look and feel. The only choice that remains for me, is how MUCH to taper the tang. I like to taper my tangs quite thin for a dramatic look. Where I think that strength might be a posible issue, I just leave the taper a bit thicker. But mostly, I like to get the buttend down to just under 1/16th inch thick.

At the same time, a knife with a straight tang could be just as functional and as well balanced. There are many ways to skin a cat, or to balance a knife.

Sometimes, "degree of difficulty" in a hand-crafted knife is appreciated by a customer / collector, and they are willing to pay extra for the privilege.

Just my 2 cents worth. Jason.