docIII

a few years ago, i saw a post here that showed how to make a beautiful design on the exposed tang of a knife using two files. now try as i might i can't seem to find the post now. i was thinking about doing something like it, so i was wondering if anyone could post a link to any posts like it. it would definatly be appreciated. thanks.

please do not assume that you know why i asked. i asked to get some ideas, not to imitate anyone else.

i wasn't trying to cut corners. i just have access to very specific tools and havn't gotten the money togeather to buy the tools to do things the way that i think they should be done. i will post pics as soon as i can. i just have to find time to get to a friends house to use his camera. Using the plasma cutter worked well, and the slight discoloration was taken away when i used the rat tail file, (the only small enough file that we have in the shop) to get it to the correct size for the tang. what the people on here post is of immense value to me, and i have learned a lot here over they years before i joined. just because i do something differently doesn't mean that i have disregarded their advice, i just means that either i didn't have the rite tools and equipment to follow their advice to the letter, or that i was trying something new, which is how everything anyone on here knows was figured out in the first place, someone, somewhere, at some point in history, trying something new. if it worked they kept it, if it didn't they chocked it up as a learning experience and moved on.

well i got the hole in the bolster. i actually ended up using a plasma cutter to make a hole that was slightly too small for the tang to fit through, then used a file. it was stainless so the fileing took a little while, but it worked out well.

i was thinking about that. i also thought that if i used mild steel instead of stainless, (even though it wouldn't look as nice) i could cut a slot out with the drill and the band saw, then use the mig welder to fill in the excess space, and grind it smooth.

I have been thinking about making a bolster from a piece of stainless round stock. i can easily shape it but the problem i'm having is trying to figure out how to make the hole to slide the tang through. (sorry, i have tried to remember all the terminology for things but for the life of me half of the terms escape me) i no longer have a functional forge, most of my work is in stock removal for now, so the methods i would use in the forge are unavalable to me at the moment. but i do have access to a press punch, plasma cutter, mig welder, oxy-propane cutting torch, and a rather large band saw. plus a drill press and a few hand and pnumatic tools. any suggestions?