BLADE Magazine

There are a few things to be careful of when making a knife of hidden-tang construction.

The Blade and Tang Both Need to be Straight

First, make sure that your tang and blade are straight. If the tang is tapered, it must be evenly tapered on both sides. The centerline of the tang must be straight to the centerline of the blade.

If the tang is warped a little to the right or left of the blade, or unevenly tapered, then you are not yet ready to fit either the guard or the handle. Go back to the forge or grinder and make your corrections to get things straight right from the start.

A limited amount of “fudging” can be done while gluing the handle to compensate for a tang that is not 100 percent straight and center. To repeat, in my opinion, it is best to correct things right from the start.

Fitting the Guard

After making sure your tang is not going off to the left or right, go ahead and fit your guard. Take your time! The guard must be at 90 degrees from the center-line of the blade and tang, even if you are making a knife with a slanted guard.

Attaching the Handle

Now you can start fitting your handle. Fit the handle to both the guard and the tang as you normally do. If you do this, the handle will be straight to the blade.

Most often I will not cut the handle material in half when making a hidden-tang knife. I will usually use a solid block of wood or a piece of stag.

First, I drill a couple of starter holes in the end where the tang will be inserted. The thickness of the drill bit will depend on the thickness of the tang. I then file the hole out to fit the tang.

It is more important to fit the handle material to the properly fitted guard than it is to fit it tightly to the tang. This does not mean that the fit should be sloppy, just that it is not necessary to make it that tight. Besides, you need to leave some room in between the tang and handle for the glue to be effective and have a strong bond.

With either of these methods, if the blade and tang are straight and the guard is at 90 degrees to the centerline of the blade and tang, then the handle will have to follow.

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Pearl Inlays: Impressive Yet Simple

From the Editor: Wally Hayes is probably best known for his tactical folders and Japanese-style knives and swords, but he also offers something on the embellished side when he can.

The Canadian ABS master smith has penned a number of informative how-to stories for BLADE®, and his seminars on how to wrap a Japanese knife handle at past BLADE Shows have been some of the most popular and best hands-on demos in show history.

Here, he shows you how to inlay pearl—specifically, in the shape of a butterfly—into a handle. He said it’s easy once you know how.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, be sure to check out BLADE‘s other knifemaking features.

Get the Supplies

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ABS master smith Wally Hayes details each step in this photo series. This demonstration wraps over a ray skin handle.

What is a Full-Time Knifemaker?

There are different definitions of a full-time maker. My definition is that of a maker whose sole source of income comes from the making and selling of his/her knives. This is no easy task.

In fact, by my estimate, less than 2 percent of the makers worldwide fit into this category. The reason the number is so low is it is very difficult to depend on knifemaking as your sole source of income.

I asked five full-timers what it takes to make a living making knives: David Broadwell and ABS master smiths Jerry Fisk, Daniel Winkler, Don Hanson and Shawn McIntyre. All agree the following are keys to becoming a full-time maker.

#1 – Treat Your Knifemaking Business Like a Business

Fisk’s advice is to take college courses on business management, accounting and marketing prior to going full time. McIntyre agrees. He recommends putting as much effort into learning to run a small business as you do into making knives.

I recommend adding a certified public accountant (CPA) to your knifemaking team. In addition to handling your books, a CPA can recommend which type of business entity you should form. Perhaps the CPA’s best skill: tax planning.

#2 – Invest in Equipment

What kind of equipment? As Winkler noted, he and his partner, Karen Shook, “invest money in new equipment that will make our work better and more efficient.”

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#3 – Find Your Niche

This is where your marketing plan comes into play. The objective is to optimize how you introduce your knives to potential buyers. At a minimum, your plan should address how you will make the most of attending knife shows, advertising in print and on the internet, and the potential of working with a dealer and/or purveyor.

#4 – Communication Matters

For Hanson, it is one of the most important aspects of being a full-time maker.

“I answer phone calls and e-mails very quickly, and deliver on time or contact clients and let them know why there is a delay,” he stressed. “I listen to my clients.”

#5 – Create a Competitive Advantage

What separates you from your competitors? Winkler said adding Shook and her period style of sheathmaking to his operation years ago gave him a competitive advantage at the time.

“She brought a lot of business skills and makes sheaths that really put our work in a whole new league,” he observed.

More times than not your competitive advantage will come from being the first to adopt a new steel, handle material, design element, etc. You should incorporate such use of new materials or techniques into your business plan.

#6 – Delegate

No matter what their level of expertise, most makers realize they cannot do it all by themselves, though some try. Successful businessmen understand that utilizing the expertise of others frees them up to do the things they do best.

#7 – Use Professional Photography

One thing the makers interviewed all agreed on was employing a professional to photograph their knives.

#8 – Love What You Do (But Stay Grounded)

Enthusiasm and loving what you do are important factors in becoming a successful full-time knifemaker. However, understanding and implementing basic business concepts are equally important to building and maintaining a long-term, successful enterprise.

Final Words of Wisdom

Winkler may have summed it up best.

“I suspect very few makers are at [the full-time] level, as it’s the most difficult to survive in. It does not make your work more sought after. It does not put you in any kind of ‘exclusive club.’ But,” he observed, “if a maker can handle the pressure, it can be very rewarding mentally and somewhat rewarding financially.”

Step-By-Step Instructions In Photos

Vine filework is my favorite style of filework. If you break it down into baby steps, it is quite easy to do.

The materials you will need are a Sharpie® marker, a vise, and a 5/32-inch round file and a small triangle file. You can use a bigger round file on thick blade material or a smaller round file when engraving liners or thin blades.

The triangle file is ground safe (sanded) on two sides to produce one corner that is sharper than the other two corners. This provides a left and right safe side for opening up your vine file cuts, and for giving them sharp points as well.

STEP 1

Using your Sharpie® marker, lay out half-round marks approximately 5/16 inch apart down one side of the blade spine. (Though not shown here, be sure to secure the blade in a vise.) (Hayes photo)

Step 2

File the marked side with the round file at a 45-degree angle. File into the spine, stopping just short of the middle of the blade. (Hayes photo)

Step 3

Using the marker, put marks down the other side of the blade spine in-between the notches. (Hayes photo)

Step 4

File in another row of half-round notches on the “new” side. Remember to keep the file at approximately a 45-degree angle and stop filing just short of the center of the blade. (Hayes photo)

Step 5

Next, take your triangle file and place it beside one of the notches. I leave about a sixteenth of an inch between the half-round notch and the triangle I am going to cut.

Before you cut, make sure you have a safe (sanded) side of your file closest to the notch you are cutting beside. Tilt the file so the cut closest to the notch is perpendicular (90 degrees to the blade). This gives you a straight line into your cut and an angle coming back out of the cut.

In other words, you want this “V” notch to be straight on one side and angled on the other. (Hayes photo)

Step 6

Turn the blade around in the vise and cut “V” notches in front of the other half-round notches. (Hayes photo)

Step 7

Take the triangle file and file the corner of each half-round notch, producing a gentle curve opening up one side of the half-round notch. (Hayes photo)

Step 8

Open up the other sides of the half-round notches. In both cases, they are in front of the “V” notches. This is how I remember so I do not get mixed up. (Hayes photo)

Step 9

Now let’s move on to the “V” notches. Open up one side of the blade spine first. File the “V” notch to produce an even arc to the edge of the blade spine. If you do not twist the file in your hand as you file, you will get a flat spot. GO SLOW AND EASY. (Hayes photo)

Step 10

Turn the blade around and open up the “V” notches on the other side of the spine. Remember the “V” notch is opened on one side only, behind the halfround notch. The safe 90-degree side is not touched. (Hayes photo)

Step 11

Take the sharp safe-sided angle of the triangle file and file into each point of the “V” notch. File it to a sharp, crisp point. (Hayes photo)

Step 12 (Final)

For the 12th and final step, go over the entire fileworked area with fine sandpaper. Increase 3-inch strips of 320-grit sandpaper and put the paper over the round file and triangle file to back up the paper. Do not push too hard and tilt the wrap away from the safe sides so you do not round safe (square) the corners of the filework.

Have fun and stay safe.