Putting a handle on a Polar Blade

[Joel_m]

Hi I am looking for a little advice....

So I have finally got around to getting a couple of blades to have a first go at handling my own whitters, the blades I got were a Polar whittler and an Enzo Lynx blade both (I think) in 01 tool steel.

I was thinking I would have a bash at the cheaper Polar first so last night I started cleaning up the blade to a shine with some fine glass paper and steel wool.
The thing I noticed was the black surface (guessing from the heat treat) although well bonded to the blade did come away when just holding it, leaving marks on my fingers. It also felt somewhat "oily" which got me thinking... Do I need to clean this off the tang too? I am worried that the Epoxy may not bond properly if the surface is oily and comes away.
I was figuring I would remove the blackening and then lightly rough the surface of the tang up a little to get a good bond... or am I over thinking this?

Also the tang is a few mm too long for the wood I have set aside to use as the handle, I wasn't planning on peening(?) but instead doing a fully hidden tang, will a hacksaw cut through the tang as it is or do I need to anneal it with my blow torch first?

I don't have access to any power tools (other than a power drill, Jig saw and a hand sander) so bar the drilling of the tang mount in to the wood everything will be done by hand.

Any help and comments (or other general advice on potential pitfalls) would be most appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[brozier]

Obvious thing is to try. Wrap some tape round the shiney parts you want to protect and have a go.

My guess is it will be hard to cut. What sort of hand sander do you have?
A (hand) belt sander with a coarse belt (60 or 80 grit or lower) should be able to take a couple of mm of the end of the tang.

I wouldn't suggest annealing it unless you really have to as you'll then have the problem of re-hardening and tempering.

Cheers
Bryan

 

[Joel_m]

Unfortunately both sanders I have are orbital sanders, a large sheet one and one of the mouse types. I do have some metal hand files though.. maybe I could give those a go with the tang clamped in the vice.

I also have a couple of Tungsten Carbide Jigsaw blades from the cutting of some ceramic tiles I did a while ago.. but not sure they would be up to the job as they are more designed to "grind" than cut I believe.

I did read somewhere about a "potato" method of annealing to only soften the tang... but I think maybe you are right keep it simple and just take a little more time!

 

[Hugo]

All you need to shorten the tang is a small hacksaw if you are going to have a hidden tang, If you are going to peen the end then you might have to heat up the end piece and let it slowly cool, a good tip is try putting the heated part into some vermiculite so as to slow down the cooling process.
I have made a few whittlers using Polar blades, for some reason 50% of them were hard to peen as the steel was quite hard, remember you only need to peen a small amount if the hole drilled for say a piece of brass with a tight fit and only slightly countersunk, that way it is much easier.
When I do mine I always clean off the black coating and wipe it clean with meths or white spirit, also I use wet and dry papers and small piles to give the spine a mirror finish, hears one I made a while back.

good luck and enjoy making them both.

 

[brozier]

If it's too hard for a hacksaw then it's too hard for a file.

Not sure about the TCT blades. Again try it and see. If the tang is very hard you might just need to make a notch and then snap the excess off.....

You also might want to see if you can pick up a cheap angle grinder (Aldi / Lidl tend to do them from time to time). See trollskys video on making a knife with cheap tools :-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwxRqn-NAl8

May give you some inspiration...

Cheers
Bryan

 

[MartiniDave]

You need emery or wet & dry paper to clean the blades up, sand or glass paper is too soft. You can soften the end of the tang by heating just the end with a blow lamp and letting it cool naturally.

Dave

 

[Joel_m]

Thanks for all the help and replies, I think I will give the hack saw a go and see how I get on! Thanks for the link to the angle grinder too.. Think a Dremel might be on my birthday list from SWMBO!
I have wet and dry up to 2500grit, turps and 00 steel wool so not sure I will get a mirror finish but hoping that should get a decent shine on the blade! I will clean off the tang and then rough it up a little.

If I come up with anything near to your whittler Hugo I will consider it a triumph! I don't think I will hold my breath though, but then the fun is in the making more than anything!

Thanks for all the advice ... fingers crossed I get something usable out the other end!

 

[Stew]

Also the tang is a few mm too long for the wood I have set aside to use as the handle, I wasn't planning on peening(?) but instead doing a fully hidden tang, will a hacksaw cut through the tang as it is or do I need to anneal it with my blow torch first?

The tang may not be hardened all the way to the end of the tang but you'll know soon enough if it is.

You can get away with just annealling the tang and not harming the blade. As you've correctly noted, a potato will work. Shove the blade into the potato, making sure the blade is covered but I would actually go deeper so some tang is too just to be safe. Heat the tang from the end and just make sure it doesn't overheat down to the blade.