combat knife handle design

[NavySWCC37]

I am making a combat knife, double edged, out of a Nicholson file. firstly, when I started knife making, this was the one I vowed to make perfectly one day to honor the person who got me into knife making, so I am very committed to it being the original design if possible. Whilst looking for advice about tempering it after cold stock removal working, someone pointed out a flaw in my idea.  that flaw was the tang,  I want to make a full-tang handle and have a diagonal cut white to black Garolite scales. but I acknowledge the rust prone nature of that design.  how could I make the edges very rust resistant?

 

 

 

Post relocated to proper area 23 Dec.

[jmccustomknives]

Good to see you found us, glad to have helped.  This is a tang design I believe, if done properly, will out perform a full tang.  You will need access to a torch to either silver braze the tang or weld it.  If you weld the threaded section on you must heat the weld zone up to a red heat and forge the weld other wise it will break.  I then weld or braze a nut on the butt cap, build the handle and epoxy the inside then sqeeze it all together.  bullet proof.

[Charles R. Stevens]

JMC, why not forge it down and swage it to size and use a threading die?

Navy, I assume (and as a former ground ponder I know the meaning of the word) you are talking about a Fairbourn/Syks or Applegate/Fairbourn type dagger. The former style lends it's self to JMC's eloquent solution, wile the latter lends it's self to a full tang, or one that is nearly so and fully incased.
Assuming that the file is W1 or similar carbon steel the whole knife is suseptiboe to rust, but epoxie will seal out moister from between the handle slabbes, and with proper care, the edges of the tang and the blade will discolor, but sould remain serviceable. I have a chef's set from WW2 that sees daily service in my kitchen.
As to hilts on such knives, blood and sweat will make the hilt slippery, especially in gloves, so make it super "grippy"

[Rich Hale]

It always scares the bejeebers out of me when I read that a person starting out making knives wants to make a combat type of edged weapon.  When we finish a knife if it leaves our hands we have no way of knowing wot will become of it in its new life. Think wot could happen if it is indeed put to use as a defense weapon. Made by someone with limited or no knowledge of heat treating fundamentals. Haveing never taken the time to see just wot it takes to make a blade fail in shop testing.

My life mantra is: Wot is the worst thing that could happen if I do this?

In this case if this is applied this project would be set aside until skills are appropriate. Or Perhaps you could purchase a well made piece that is right for the use.

And if it will help you  if you scroll down on the home page there is an entire section on knives........

[jmccustomknives]

Charles, I did it that way for two reasons.  First I was working the file already in the hardened condition.  Second I have a lot more control of the thickness (not as much clean up) doing it as stock removal.  I use a slicer wheel on a side grinder to cut it out.  This was more of a demonstration of how to do a file knife without forging which has its own pitfalls.  Here's what the finished blade looks.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Thanks JMC.

[NavySWCC37]

thanks all, i think for this knife i am going to make it full tang, WITH a brazing around the edge. and this is my 3rd combat knife so far, I LOVE 

[Rich Hale]

Might want to think about the heat needed for brazing and how that may affect the heat treat on your blade.

[ThomasPowers]

When working a file *cold* you always want to draw temper on it FIRST so if you drop it while working it's less likely to shatter.

As for rust resistance; well it's not an alloy that specializes in that. You can have the entire blade parkerized after it's done and before it's hilted. And the tip about bedding the tang in the handle in epoxy to exclude water it a great one too!