by A.R.Massey (writing as Lord Giles de Macie)
In a previous article, I gave an overview of the steps involved in creating an eating dagger from a used file. In this article, I will be giving tips on how to finish the blade, by putting a guard, and handle, on what will be a hidden-tang knife or dagger blade.
Tools required: Drill, drill bits, chain-saw file, thin flat files or jewelers file, propane torch, metal polishing paper, sandpaper in various grits, heavy-duty file, wood rasp and metal-cutting hacksaw, small vise, small acid brush (small, metal handle), center punch and hammer, pencil, vise grips.
Materials: Brass, nickel silver, or low-carbon steel barstock, at least 3/4 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick. Horn or wood for handle, at least 1 inch around. Epoxy, low temp silver solder (jewelry repair solder) and soldering flux.
I am assuming that you already have before you a more or less finished dagger or eating knife blade, with a narrow tang at least three inches long. Now, before we start, make sure that the degree of finish you have on the blade is what you’re happy with. If not, finish sanding it now, because working on an already hilted blade is a pain. Next, hold the blade below a light, with the edge up, and ensure that it’s very dull. That’s right, dull!! If not, run a sharpening stone across the edge and make sure that it is. In this procedure, you will be handling the knife by the blade and a dull edge will help prevent accidents.
Measure the thickness of the blade where the tang runs into it and the width of the tang at this point, technically called the ricasso. Ensure that nowhere on the tang is thicker or wider than this spot, or you won’t be able to fit your guard.(This should not be a problem if you have started with a file as your raw material for a blade.) If this is not the case, take your heaviest file and ensure it is. Protect your blade with some scrap leather if you clamp it in the vise.
Take the barstock you wish to use for your guard material and cut off a piece a little bigger than you wish your finished guard to be. Remember, a guard on this style of blade has basically one purpose- to prevent your hand sliding up the blade. A guard big enough to do this is good. Making it too large defeats the purpose as essentially an eating knife by making it awkward to use. The immense guards on the Renaissance period main-gauches were intended for parrying and trapping sword blades in a specialized style of swordplay, and have no use on a utilitarian dagger. Two inches or so is plenty.
Mark with a pencil or fine indelible pen the area which is going to be removed for fitting it onto the knife. You are going to be drilling out a series of holes, almost touching each other, onto this area. Now, center punch where the first hole will be. Then, fitting a drill bit which is the same size or slightly smaller than the thickness of the tang where it joins the blade, drill out the first hole. If you are using a hand drill, clamp the metal in the vise. If you have a drill press, hold the piece of stock in vise grips. Do not try to hold this piece of metal with your bare, or even gloved hand! Drill down slowly, with moderate pressure. If your drill isn’t biting, it’s too dull. You can use a bit of cutting fluid, or even plain water, to keep the bit cool. Use the spot marked by the center punch as a guide to keep your drill bit from skating when you are starting to drill.
A word of warning here-do not wear gloves, especially loose ones, while working with a drill press- or a belt sander, for that matter. If you get your fingers in the way, bare skin will get cut and burned. The material of a glove will get caught, and may lead to fingers literally being torn off.
Repeat this, placing your next mark so that this hole will almost touch the first. Continue until an area wide enough for the tang has been drilled out. Now, take a round file small enough to fit in one of the holes,(this is where a chain saw file comes in handy) and with your guard clamped in the vise, start “connecting the dots”, filing down through the holes, linking them up until you have a ragged slot
Next, take a thin flat file and start working at the sides of this slot. Alternate from one side to another. Remember to clean your file frequently, as this metal is fairly soft and will quickly clog the teeth of your file. Take what is known as a file card, and brush it vigorously across the file several times. When it’s starting to look like you are coming close to the area you want removed, stop and try fitting the guard on the tang. Don’t force it. If it doesn’t fit, remove it and make note of where you need to file, and do so. File a few strokes, then fit. Repeat ad nauseum. I know, it’s tedious- after 8 years of knifemaking I still find this the most tedious part of the job. It’s also one of the things that can make an otherwise good looking blade look poor- too large a gap, and it becomes difficult to fill in with solder, even if you are using a guard material which blends in with the colour of the solder, such as stainless or nickel silver. A guard material such as brass, bronze or copper with large gaps filled in with solder really looks off.
Anyway, once you have a fit, then clean up the flat surfaces of your guard using a file and then metal polishing paper. Put a decent finish on it now- it’s much harder once it’s soldered on. Next, we proceed to the soldering.
Place the guard on the tang until it butts up against the ricasso. Now, take your vise grips and clamp them onto the tang, right behind the guard, and fix the whole thing in your vise, so that the blade is point up. The vise grips will keep the guard from shifting position as it’s being soldered.
Take your acid brush, and dip it into your soldering flux. Get your solder ready. Now, brush some flux in the area the solder will fill. Ignite your torch, and start running the flame over the area of the joint. As it heats up, check it with the solder. Touch it to the metal, not the torch flame! Once the whole area is hot enough, apply more flux, and start running some solder into the join. If it cools off before you are done, re-heat with the torch, and finish the job. Soldering can be tricky- if you are new to the art, you may want to practice on scrap metal first. Once the solder has filled the join, brush the area again with flux. This will help clean up the join. Let the area cool.
This is a good time for a word or two about accidentally drawing the temper- make sure what you are using is low temperature jewelry repair solder, not high temperature silver solder. True silver solder melts at a high enough temperature to melt some guard materials, and more than enough to remove temper. With low temperature jewelry repair solder, as long as you keep the heat just high enough for the solder to flow, this should not be a problem. Even if the steel starts turning brown in the ricasso area, you are not removing enough temper to worry about. If you are turning the steel blue, then you are using too much heat. Cool it off in water, and clean up, and start soldering again, being more easy with the heat. There are some compounds available from knifemaker supply places which act as heat sinks in a paste form- just apply to the area you don’t want to heat up. As it’s my standard practice to draw some of the temper in the area of the ricasso anyhow, I’ve never bothered using them.
Once cool, rinse the whole affair under the tap, to remove all the flux, as it is corrosive and will stain metal badly. Next, with sandpaper and steel wool, clean up the area of the joint. Don’t worry about the tang side, this will be hidden by the handle.
Now, for the easiest part, at least technically- fitting the hidden tang handle. First, don’t let anyone tell you a hidden tang is weak. I have examined Scots Broadswords, Indian Tulwars, German Zweihanders, and guess what? They all have hidden tangs! An Indian tulwar in my collection has a stub tang, under three inches long (I’ve got access to an x-ray) which is cemented into the grip. I’ve split kindling with this piece. So enough about full and hidden tangs.
First, cut, shape, sand, etc. your desired handle to your wishes. Next, drill a hole into it long enough and wide enough to accommodate your tang, ensuring the surface which butts up against your guard fits flush, with no gaps or uneveness. A flat wood rasp is good for this. Next, cut a couple of small notches, not very deep, into your dagger’s tang. These serve to give the epoxy a better grip.
Using a stir-stick mix up a fair quantity of epoxy. Coat your tang completely (This’ll also act as rustproofing) and put a goodish amount into the hole in your handle. Now, fit the two together, keeping paper towel ready to wipe off any excess that seeps out. Push the handle on and off a few time, to make sure air bubbles are gone. Clean up any excess, and leave to dry. Let sit a day. (I know it’s 20 minute epoxy. I also believe my politicians.)
After this, you can do additional work on your handle, guard, etc. as you see fit. Just make sure to protect any previously cleaned and/ or polished areas with scrap leather if they are going in contact with a vise.
And lastly, sharpen. Almost everyone has their own method, and what works for me might not work for everyone, especially as nowadays I use a 1000 dollar belt grinder. I will write an article in the future, however, once I’ve gotten some more experience again with that most ubiquitous, dreaded and cheapest sharpening equipment known- the standard, cheap double sided Chinese water stone, found in kitchen supply places everywhere….