Tutorials:  
 
Hidden  Tang  Knife:      Page 2  
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Click on any of the thumbnails below for a more detailed photo

 

    

 

 


We'll need to hollow out the insides of the knife handle halves to accept the hidden tang. My favorite tool for this is a Mototool inverted in a vertical stand with a small carbide rasp ( Click here for picture) . The tool remains stationary while you move the knife handle.
Clean up this hollowed out spot with a sharp 1/4" chisel. In the absence of a Mototool, you could use the 1/4" chisel for this entire operation. Fit doesn't have to be super precise and should actually be a trifle oversize to allow for the epoxy.


Mix a batch of a good 3 hour epoxy and coat both inside grooves liberally  and one of the inside handle sides.


Clamp and let cure overnight. Kind of messy, but if you don't have some epoxy squeezing out, you didn't use enough. 

I use a disk pad sander with a rough grit for initial rough sanding. It's fast and the disks are cheaper than belts
Back to the belt sander. Start with a rough grit belt for shaping. For a final sanding, switch to a fine or worn belt. This is especially true for the brass guard
I use a small rotary sanding drum for tight inside curves such as found on the brass guard.
Final step is to buff the brass guard. Notice the protective tape to keep buffing compound and residue off of the bare wood.
I  like an antique oil or tong oil finish to really make the wood grain  detail pop  out. Easy to apply ( wipe it on and let it soak in for a minute before wiping off ) . Several coats polish out to a beautiful, durable finish. Tape residue ( soldering is going to melt some of the adhesive from the tape) needs to be cleaned up with acetone. Check the header on page 1 or 2  of this article for a better picture of what the finished knife ended up like. I like the  way two-tone wood handle turned out and plan on doing this again. 

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