My tang is really thin, what can I do?
Hi
About 6 months ago I decided that 10 years of "I-really-want-to-make-knives" was enough inaction and I decided to take the plunge.
I have not taken the plunge of building / investing in a forge (yet). I am finally coming up to an introductory blacksmithing 1-to-1 with a local smith before I start my forging adventure.
So far I have been buying blank blades from various suppliers and making the handles myself and its been great. For my birthday, I got a beautiful damascus blade made by a blacksmith from my home country. The problem is, the tang is really really thin. In places it is OK, but in others it is 1 milimeter thin.
Short of sending the blade back (which I don't want to do - it was a gift, I value it and it will take forever to have it replaced, provided that the smith who made it will even agree to replace), is there anything I can do to sure the tang doesn't bend or break?
I don't have a forge or a welding setup available to me (yet). The tang is about 10 inches long, the first 2 inches are OK but the rest are in varying width. I can bend it back and forth using a little force. The bend doesn't stick, it snaps back into position but I can bend it by hand if I try.
I considered cutting out a piece of steel the same shape and size of the tang and epoxying them together. would that work?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
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