How to put a handle on a hidden tang knife!

[haydn]

I'm new to knife making so i decided to clean up one of my old knives, the main problem being the loose handle, its a hidden tang knife which i don't know how to fix a handle too unlike a full tang any tips or advice would be much appreciated

[Doug Lester]

Pull the handle off the knife. You could use a small jeweler's file to clean out any old glue. Clean off the tang and roughen the surface with some course sand paper. Coat the tang with a good two part epoxy and reinsert. You might also want to consider instilling a pin through the tang. Just remember that the hole has to be slightly oversize to the pin stock used. I use a metric bit that is just a little larger than the nominal fractional size of a bit the same size as the pin stock that I'm using.

Make sure everything fits tight before the epoxy sets. One of the reasons that I like to use one with plenty of work time. Then clamp it all together until the epoxy is dry.

Doug

[haydn]

i had to break the handle to get it of, it had 2 aluminium pins which were pretty beaten up, would i have to make the handle from scratch?

[Ray Rogers]

Sounds like you'd need to make a new handle. I can't say I understand why a hidden tang would have two pins - any chance we could see a picture?

[haydn]

i'm still trying to figuire out how to upload a picture onto a post, it says insert URL but my pictures are all saved... hmm

[haydn]

the tang its self is 2" long, the bit which confuses me is that the hole are different sizes, the top hole being 3mm and the lower hole is 6mm and rectangular



thats pretty much identical

[Ray Rogers]

OK, the holes are the way they are because that is a mass produced blade and the makers intend to put more than one kind of handle on those blades. You only need to use one of the holes if you use any at all - you could just do as Doug suggested and fill the new handle with glue. Personally, I feel more secure with a pin in the handle.

You need a new handle, maybe wood, Dymondwood, or Micarta. You need a hole bored into the handle that will allow the tang to go all the way in, preferably a flat hole rather than a huge round one.

Now, before I go to the trouble of trying to explain how to make a flat hole and how to get a pin into the handle I'd like to know what tools you have to work with.

Do you have a drill press? A Dremel type tool? What will you use for handle material? Do you still have the guard that goes on this blade?

[haydn]

all the tools available to me are hand tools mainly used for woodwork/upholstery and i'm swaying towards wood for the material
Also if its of any use its a german knife with these markings; ELS Rostfrei Solingen

[Doug Lester]

To post a picture that is stored on your computer go down to "Reply to Thread" and click on the advanced button at the bottom of the page. At the top of the window that pops up you will see a tool bar. Click on the paperclip. Another widow will pop up. At the top of that window is a series of bars to choose a picture. Click on one of those bars and navigate to where you have your pictures stored. Call up the picture and select it. You can do that for each one of the bars if you want more than one picture.

After you have selected the pictures that you want you will need to hit up load. This may take a few minutes. After they have up loaded, close the selection window and click on the paperclip again on the reply widow. You should see the pictures you have selected listed. Select those pictures. If you want all the pictures that you up loaded be sure to choose "select all". You should then have the location(s) of the pictures located at the top of the page. Select "Preview Post" to see the pictures under the preview. You can then go back to the reply window and type in your text.

Doug

[Ray Rogers]

Well then, maybe it would be easier for you to build it as a mortised handle. That's two pieces of wood, each one with the profile of the tang chiseled out so that when the two pieces are placed against the tang they form a pocket for the tang to hide in. Then you use a couple of Loveless bolts through two of the holes that are already in the tang to hold the handle together.

Ya, I thought it looked like a Solingen blade. The Rostfrei part just means it's stainless steel, but you probably already know that since I'm guessing you're in Europe, maybe even Germany. Go fill out your user profile so we don't have to guess so much about who and where you are ....

[haydn]

haha, not quite Germany, i'm in England and that sounds alot more like my kind of way to do it thanks alot mate

Haydn

[Ray Rogers]

Ah, Sheffield - a venerable history of knife making in that town...