Tang For Knife

[Ned C.]

How do you make a guard for a knife and how are they fastened? I am new to blacksmithing and have been forging RR spikes some.

Edited December 3, 2009 by Ned C.
Meant guard instead of tang

[dphigh]

You make a tang on one end of the knife (kinda a step down) the tang must be quite small so it can be riveted at the other end but for a guard you make a guard that fits the tang slide it on then put on the handle then rivet the ends

you can see a good knife making vid on this link
YouTube - A.S. Jordan Bladesmith - Documentary "Knives" (part 1)

[ThomasPowers]

On a knife the thickest part is where the blade and tang meet. As the tang is uniform or tapered you can then slide a guard up it until it lodges at the junction of blade and tang. Some knifemakers will use a low temp silver bearing solder like stay-brite to solder the two together without messing up the heat treat of the blade.

All this should be explained in your knifemaking book---you do have one like "Step by Step Knifemaking" or "The Complete Bladesmith"? Or do you expect a couple of paragraphs on the net to be as good as several hundred pages in a good source book?

I'd suggest you go to your local library and ILL both these books and others and decide which ones you might want to own---christmas is coming! (I usually provide a list of books to my family so they can always buy me a gift that I really want!)

[Ned C.]

Did not know about the book or video.
Thanks,