Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Threaded knife tangs?
bobnewboy:
Hi All, at the end f the month I am going to forge a knife blade with a blacksmith friend of mine. I am going to make a tanged design, with a fairly thick, plain blade. This is all part of my quest to use only self-made equipment for all of my archery needs. I have a question regarding knife tangs though. I am considering making a blade with a tang that goes all the way through the handle, and ends in a threaded portion to whcih I will screw some kind of pommel. I will use this thread to compress the glued and built-up handle pieces, and to ensure that the whole knife is as strong and as rigid as I can make it. I havent decided upon the actual handle construction yet, but I've got a selection of woods, horns and other natural items which I can use.
My question to all of you experienced knife makers is this: is there any drawback to the threaded pommel approach, apart from not being able to use an antler crown as a handle, for example? I want to make this knife once, and well, so I'd be grateful for any pointers you guys can give me.
Thanks! ;D
//Bob
Dave Dellinger:
The strongest handle design is with a full profile tang. But one advantage to a pommel is it can also be used as a tool.
madcrow:
Here is a pic of one of the knives a made a few years ago. I started out wanting to make a metal pommel, but changed my mind. This has a stacked leather handles with antler pommel. The tang was threaded and I left the threads on to help grip the epoxy. Antler crown can be used also. The drawback to this is that the threaded area is the weak point. The tangs on these are usually 3/8" with the threads being no more than 3/8". You can fashion the pommel out of almost any steel, copper, brass or even a chunk of aluminum. I think one that is pinned and epoxied would be stronger than a threaded tang and would stand up to abuse better.
boo:
Here is one i did, using accura glass , gun barrel bedding compound . the brass butt cap has a nut silver soldered to it so you cant see the tang on the outside. The mastersmiths at the ABS school of knife making told us that they have done a ton of testing between full tang and through tang and found that if a through tang is done properly then it is just as strong.
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boo:
Oh i almost forgot. You can make a though tang knife using deer antler with the crown. Just remove the inside of the crown a bought an 1/8th inch. and make a 1/4 inch round nut to screw on to the tang like normal. i put a shallow slot for a flat tip screw driver so i can tighten the nut down good. then i remove the slot after the accura glass has set . its a little more difficult but very doable.
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