Soldering & Cleaning a guard

[Any 22]

Hi Im new here but not new to knifemaking, I feel as though I am when it comes to soldering & cleaning up a guard . Is there any tutorials on this available? I forge 52100 & use Brass Copper & mild Steel for Guards. I can make it stick but making it pretty WELLLLLLLL you know.

[Doug Lester]

There a better method than soldier, it's JB Weld. It's a two part high temperature epoxy. It sets a bit slowly but that can be an advantage. After you have your guard glued in place and before the epoxy sets you can clean up any stray glue with WD-40 on a paper towel or cotton tip applicator, After it dries you can make a small chissel out of some small diameter brass rod, I happened to have 1/4" on hand when I made mine, and use it to scrape it off. One of the big things when cutting the slots for guards is the keep them as tight to the tange or ricasso as you can. You might even consider undercutting the ricasso with a round jeweler's file just slightly to help hide the joint. You migh even want to tap the slot together while you are rough fitting it to the tang or ricasso.

With a single guard you can cut a notch in the tang or ricasso for the guard to slip into a bit.

Doug

[metal99]

What kind of solder are you using? I have a couple damascus bolsters that I want to solder onto a knife I'm working on but all my tests on scrap steel have left me wondering if I want to do this to a knife lol.