I've not such experience in nordic knife making. I have bought a short blade in order to make a carving knife and I would like to know one thing about the tang. it's quite long the drill bit (longer than the drill bit itself and also than the handle). i think about to cut it but I don't know if it's possible and how it affects the final result. Any suggestion? Thanks
Nordic knife tang:must I cut it?
- Thread starter 2trapper
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Depends how much pressure you're exerting with it, as long as it's well pinned and epoxied it should be ok. Otherwise buy a longer bit
Hi 2trapper. The good news is that you have plenty of choice in making your knife. The first decision is to have a good idea of the design that you want in your head. Then you can approach the building of the handle in which ever direction you prefer.
If you want to have a handle with a fully hidden tang, then you must find some other way to make your pilot hole deeper. You could use a larger diameter drill - they are generally longer - and this will be fine as epoxy resin will fill the gap. However this may lead to slightly less mechanical strength between the handle and the blade. Alternatively you could make the handle deeper by using a piece of 3 mm steel rod (for example an old thin/narrow screwdriver) heating it up and then burning the hole deeper into the handle block.
You could also make a hidden tang by drilling your handle block from both ends (needs careful marking out of the handle piece), and gluing a cap over the open end when the blade is mounted. I have done this several times myself, and it is possible to make a virtue out of a necessity if you use a nice piece of material. I use camel bone pieces for this, or pieces of antler. You can see an example here:
Finally, it is also possible to show the tang at the end of the handle and use it in a neat way. It is quite possible to cut a thread on the end of the tang with a die, and then make or use a brass nut on the end, sunken into the butt end of the handle. This helps pull the handle together while the glue is setting, and adds mechanical strength when the knife is made. Otherwise it is also possible to rivet over the end of the tang in a brass plate at the of the handle. This is often done in handles using compressed pieces of leather. I would recommend looking through the tutorials at www.brisa.fi, and at their galleries for ideas.
I hope this helps
If you want to have a handle with a fully hidden tang, then you must find some other way to make your pilot hole deeper. You could use a larger diameter drill - they are generally longer - and this will be fine as epoxy resin will fill the gap. However this may lead to slightly less mechanical strength between the handle and the blade. Alternatively you could make the handle deeper by using a piece of 3 mm steel rod (for example an old thin/narrow screwdriver) heating it up and then burning the hole deeper into the handle block.
You could also make a hidden tang by drilling your handle block from both ends (needs careful marking out of the handle piece), and gluing a cap over the open end when the blade is mounted. I have done this several times myself, and it is possible to make a virtue out of a necessity if you use a nice piece of material. I use camel bone pieces for this, or pieces of antler. You can see an example here:
Finally, it is also possible to show the tang at the end of the handle and use it in a neat way. It is quite possible to cut a thread on the end of the tang with a die, and then make or use a brass nut on the end, sunken into the butt end of the handle. This helps pull the handle together while the glue is setting, and adds mechanical strength when the knife is made. Otherwise it is also possible to rivet over the end of the tang in a brass plate at the of the handle. This is often done in handles using compressed pieces of leather. I would recommend looking through the tutorials at www.brisa.fi, and at their galleries for ideas.
I hope this helps
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