2nd Frost's Mora Modification

[Hardworms]

This is my second frost's Mora mod. Another faux full tang (mild Steel). Handle is birch ply finished with walnut wax. It's one of my favourites so far, except that I gashed a huge dent in the blade with a hacksaw! not best pleased about that. Oh well I made it as a user for myself, so I suppose I just have to learn from the mistake.
I wanted to stay as close to the original mora design as possible, as I think it's one of the most comfortable designs I've had.
Any comments, criticisms or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks for looking,

JH

 

[dwardo]

Now that turned out lovely. Nice job.

 

[Shinken]

Lovely!

Why not make one to the same design from 01?

 

[John Fenna]

That looks great!
But - and this is not a critisism but a query - why the false tang look?
I love rat tail or stick tang Moras and often rehandle them as hidden tang types. to do this I foorm the end of the tang into a ring and then rivit/pin the two pieces of the handle through this to give a super strong construction.
I can see the good looks of your Faux full tang Moras but do not see any other advantages deriving from what must be quite a lot of work.
Even if you do it just for the look it is worth the effort if it pleases your eye - it looks great!

 

[Draven]

That is really lovely. Be very proud! Mind if I borrow that ply idea? I was thinking about it the other day and this just tipped the balance!

Pete

 

[Hardworms]

That looks great!
But - and this is not a critisism but a query - why the false tang look?
I love rat tail or stick tang Moras and often rehandle them as hidden tang types. to do this I foorm the end of the tang into a ring and then rivit/pin the two pieces of the handle through this to give a super strong construction.
I can see the good looks of your Faux full tang Moras but do not see any other advantages deriving from what must be quite a lot of work.
Even if you do it just for the look it is worth the effort if it pleases your eye - it looks great!

Thanks for the positive feedback. I suppose it is a lot of work compared to doing a traditional scandi construction, but having never done one I wouldn't know how to compare them. The reasons behind the whole faux tang idea were several:
1. I don't own a pillar drill, so trying to drill a vertical hole straight enough was going to be tricky. I would also need to fit a ferule which I have no experience with, and didn't have drill bits small enough to drill out a 2mm line to take the blade width.
2. I wasn't sure the short tang of the mora would be securely held in a drill hole with just epoxy. So I was left with doing a split handle design or a hidden tang. The problem with split tang is that you have to route out the scale to house the tang, and at the time I had no such router. So I went with the hidden tang, but couldn't work the wood for the tang frame thin enough to match the width of the tang (2mm). So I went with steel, which I could shape to fit the notches in the tang profile, giving it lots of stability forwards and backwards.
3. I love the look of full tang knives, and think the bolts and lanyard tube give it a little visual complexity.

I want to another Mora conversion but I think I will do a split tang this time, as you suggest.

Thanks again,

Josh

 

[FGYT]

nice

im just about to use Birch ply to handle a Woodlore clone ive filed out of 01 and couldnt decide to handle it from ive used marine Mahogany ply before and it worked well.

ATB

Duncan

 

[Hardworms]

nice

im just about to use Birch ply to handle a Woodlore clone ive filed out of 01 and couldnt decide to handle it from ive used marine Mahogany ply before and it worked well.

ATB

Duncan

I loved the birch ply because of it's silvery whiteness; the only problem I've found is that because the grain is so open the metal filings from the faux tang and the brass bolts clogged the grain and made it look dirty. That's why I had to use walnut oil, as it made the dirtyness look intentional. The next time I use birch ply I'll make sure that I don't have any other exterior components on the knife to sand.

JH

 

[ZDP-189]

You're getting good at that, but I still think you could do a good hidden tang.

 

[John Fenna]

Thanks for the positive feedback. I suppose it is a lot of work compared to doing a traditional scandi construction, but having never done one I wouldn't know how to compare them. The reasons behind the whole faux tang idea were several:
1. I don't own a pillar drill, so trying to drill a vertical hole straight enough was going to be tricky. I would also need to fit a ferule which I have no experience with, and didn't have drill bits small enough to drill out a 2mm line to take the blade width.
2. I wasn't sure the short tang of the mora would be securely held in a drill hole with just epoxy. So I was left with doing a split handle design or a hidden tang. The problem with split tang is that you have to route out the scale to house the tang, and at the time I had no such router. So I went with the hidden tang, but couldn't work the wood for the tang frame thin enough to match the width of the tang (2mm). So I went with steel, which I could shape to fit the notches in the tang profile, giving it lots of stability forwards and backwards.
3. I love the look of full tang knives, and think the bolts and lanyard tube give it a little visual complexity.

I want to another Mora conversion but I think I will do a split tang this time, as you suggest.

Thanks again,

Josh

All sound reasons - except the tools bit
I started without a pillar drill ands still have no router - I dig out the rebates with a Mora
The tang on the plastic handled Moras is a bit short - thats why I switched to stick tang Moras
Keep up the good work...you will find it addictive!

 

[Hardworms]

All sound reasons - except the tools bit
I started without a pillar drill ands still have no router - I dig out the rebates with a Mora
The tang on the plastic handled Moras is a bit short - thats why I switched to stick tang Moras
Keep up the good work...you will find it addictive!

I've tried that but I always end up chaveling the opening so that the tang doesn't sit nice and cleanly in the rebate. Would you then put a ferule on? Is it worth grinding the tang slightly narrower so that the join is hidden?
Would love to see a example of your work. I might be wrong but I've yet to find a mora blade that's cheaper than just buying a knife and sawing the handle off. Where do you get yours from? Thanks for responding.

JH

 

[John Fenna]

I normally fit a brass or horn bolster rather than a ferrule and have a small stock of mainly Jonsson Mora rattailed handles that come with a nasty wooden handle and a plastic sheath - yuchy!
Source

Just selling - hidden tang

Oak and horn - eye pinned

Teak, horn and Iron wood -through tang and back rivet

Mixed media!

 

[Hardworms]

they're stunning. I especially like the antler. I was thinking of working with it myself, but have no experience and am just learning how to use wood! You've sold me on the hidden tang though, I will definitely give it a go. I have 4 Moras on their way, do you think the stubby tang will be held securely enough without the metal to stop it flicking out?

JH

 

[Draven]

One plus with antler for hidden tangs, if you're going to use with the natural finish rather than shaping it, is that you can get antler with a fairly porous, pithy centre - all you have to do to get the blade in is boil the antler for a wee bit to make the centre soft and then either push in the tang (can be a bit dangerous since you have to push on the pointy end ) or something else of similar shape/size. Then let dry. I've found this can be plenty strong enough to hold a blade pretty strong, but if you like your belt and bracers you can always wiggle around the blade in the antler while it's still soft to make the hole bigger and then glue when dry. Antler and horn are wonderful materials - polish up like glass, work sorta like plastic and are both fairly water resistant so long as you seal any holes in the centre of the antler with superglue or epoxy. Both stink to high heaven when you cut or sand them, though.

I do have a couple rehandled mora clippers with the stubby tang, both of which were made by recessing the tang into one of two wooden scales. The recessing on one was done with a clipper, the other was done with a Mora sloyd to cut the outline and then a chisel made from a flat screwdriver to chip out the wood. On the former, the tang is pinned and on the latter it's just glue holding it together - no problems yet!

Hope this helps!
Pete

 

[Hardworms]

One plus with antler for hidden tangs, if you're going to use with the natural finish rather than shaping it, is that you can get antler with a fairly porous, pithy centre - all you have to do to get the blade in is boil the antler for a wee bit to make the centre soft and then either push in the tang (can be a bit dangerous since you have to push on the pointy end ) or something else of similar shape/size. Then let dry. I've found this can be plenty strong enough to hold a blade pretty strong, but if you like your belt and bracers you can always wiggle around the blade in the antler while it's still soft to make the hole bigger and then glue when dry. Antler and horn are wonderful materials - polish up like glass, work sorta like plastic and are both fairly water resistant so long as you seal any holes in the centre of the antler with superglue or epoxy. Both stink to high heaven when you cut or sand them, though.

I do have a couple rehandled mora clippers with the stubby tang, both of which were made by recessing the tang into one of two wooden scales. The recessing on one was done with a clipper, the other was done with a Mora sloyd to cut the outline and then a chisel made from a flat screwdriver to chip out the wood. On the former, the tang is pinned and on the latter it's just glue holding it together - no problems yet!

Hope this helps!
Pete

Thanks for posting. Great tip about the antler! I'll have to give it a try. Thanks again.
JH

 

[John Fenna]

they're stunning. I especially like the antler. I was thinking of working with it myself, but have no experience and am just learning how to use wood! You've sold me on the hidden tang though, I will definitely give it a go. I have 4 Moras on their way, do you think the stubby tang will be held securely enough without the metal to stop it flicking out?

JH

Thank you!
I was pleased with the antler as well...I use the "make a hole by pushing then glue it" method.
I would think the stubby tangs would be fine for all but battoning and other abuse of that kind of nature
I did a few (before I found the rat tail Moras), sold them, and have had no returns ...yet!
Have fun!

 

[FGYT]

just finished rough shaping my Birch ply Woodlore
looks great Shame the blade is a bit of a let down still it was just to see if i liked it. Nope still prefer the Mora Next knife is 3mm thick Max

did stainless steel 6mm pins and 8mm ( no 5/16" ) Aluminium Lanyard tube, Because thats what was in the garage the silver goes well with the light wood and i didnt have any problems with cloging the poors (yet) i think its because the tang was already shaped and hte pins are small means little metal to get bedded in.
and im using a Drum sander in a piller drill (£7 from screw fix for a set)
little Clark Piller drill £15 car boot sale last week end

4" linisher turning up soon as im not hand fileing another blade :aargh4: was swapsies for other garage Tat

i like the ply looks good and the laminations help keep the sides even Oh and its cheap have a 4ft x 4ft 18mm in the garage left over from building shelving
Alu or silver pins next time they dont grind as well as the Birch on hte drums .. being Rubber they deform round the harder pin leaving a lump

ATB
Duncan

 

[Hardworms]

Sounds great FGYT. Would love to see pics. I have a few ideas I might have to run past people before I get started on my next birch ply handle. I've just got a job lot of moras through the mail, and I'm itching to pull em apart.

JH

 

[ZDP-189]

That looks great!
But - and this is not a critisism but a query - why the false tang look?

I agree entirely with both statements.