Start heading towards using decorative screws and just recess the heads. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

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Now if I could find a really fast & easy way to sand the final pins down flush after the glue-up I'd be all set.

Karl,

How does the West Epoxy hold up to grinding heat with copper liners for example? I've used it in boating applications, but I did not apply heat then :-).

Used some floating pins while shaping handle scales, worked great.

Thanks!

Bob

I really have no idea. I don't do any type of grinding on my handles where I would generate any heat.

I mostly only use files for shaping.

My purpose in using West System is that in addition to it having an extended pot life, until it goes almost dead hard, the excess can be cleaned off with denatured alcohol. That way the entire knife can be completely finished before any epoxy is used.

Then just wipe it off.

And denatured alcohol doesn't harm any of the other knife parts.

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Karl,

How does the West Epoxy hold up to grinding heat with copper liners for example? I've used it in boating applications, but I did not apply heat then :-).

Used some floating pins while shaping handle scales, worked great.

Thanks!

Bob

Thanks Karl, I'll just give them a call Monday.

Bob

This was an extremely helpful topic, being that I just had some trouble with making a bowie handle recently. I think that from now on I will try and do as most of you seem to do, with the two slabs that are carved to form the tang, then come together and then is sanded to one piece. Great topic!

Master Smith Lin Rhea posted a tutorial on the technique on the ABS Forum at, Click: How to Make a Mortise Handle

OR Download and print the tutorial with the photos embedded from the same article posted on the ABS Website, Click: Master Class Tutorial by Lin Rhea,MS

A while back I read Lin's tutorial on mortised handles and have been doing it that way ever since. My favorite part, as Karl mentioned earlier is that you can finish the knife before gluing it. You can also use the seam between the slabs as a reference to keep everything symmetrical, which is something I was having problems to before mortising the handles.

One thing I haven't heard mentioned is the strength of this type of handle compared to a drilled handle. Because the fit is so snug, you get a rock solid connection between tang and handle.

Anyway, Thanks Lin, that method made a huge difference in the quality of my finished knives.

What's your favorite way to bore out your hidden tang? The handle design I'm looking at is with a guard/spacers/accents etc.. then a back half of wood where the rest of the tang is hidden into the back, and a single pin is put through the middle to add a mechanical lock.

I'm not finding it very easy to burrow that hole out with a press, or my technique is just inefficient. I'm using stabilized hardwood.

I've done burn ins where I drill the bulk of the wood out and burn the rest of the way in, and that has always been the tightest and most efficient way that I can find so far. But I'm hoping someone has a technique or tooling idea that would knock this down to a 15 minute task instead of an hour one. Plus burning in a stabilized handle makes me nervous.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

This sounds like a good topic of the month.

The number of handles I've drilled out with a pedestal drill press are countless.

I really have no idea - 100s.

I replaced the jaws on my drill press vise with 1/4" aluminum that rise above the jaws about 3 1/2" to hold the block in place better.

I would trace out the shape of the tang on the handle block and drill it out with an undesized bit. Then clean it up with a closer sized long shank end mill.

I still do the same thing but on my larger mill.

Sometimes it's so accurate and easy that I feel like it's cheating.

I drill two holes top and bottom of the slot about the same thickness of the tang and use a slot broach to clean out the material between the two holes.

I use a standard drill but it seems that I should use a flat tip one because if measured precisely the end of the tang will not seat in the bottom of the hole without being shortened.

Nicholas,

Karl's method is pretty much the way I do it also. Start with blocks that are flat and square. Draw out your handle and tang from your template. Put the block in the vise on the drill press, and align the bit with the angle of of the tang line. Drill 2 holes, one each for top and bottom of the tang. Clean out the remaining wood between the 2 holes with a mill or by hand with a broach.

Nick Wheeler has several videos on his YouTube channel showing how to fit up a block handle step by step. The videos go into detail on getting everything square and centered.

Lin has a tutorial on making a mortise handle on this forum.

Bob

I can't drill holes from top and bottom because there is no bottom. I don't want to penetrate the back of the handle.

I didn't think of using an endmill, good suggestion. I'll go try to find one long enough.

Drill bits do not drill straight holes.

I will use a small bit and the use a long shank end mill of the next size up to straighten it.

Don't forget that you can also buy end mills in metric by the millimeter and 1/2 millimeter.

And instead of filing out the web between the holes, use the end mill. It's a lot easier.

Nicholas,

You miss understood. I wasn't implying you drill from the butt end, too. Drill two holes from the guard end that follow the top and bottom outline of the tang. Then clean out the remaining wood in between.

Bob