A gained respect for guards and knifemakers...

Crayola

Crayola

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
3,831
Hey all!

I'm just working on a spear point of my design for a customer, filing the guard to fit. It is nearly there, only needing to go the last centimetre (3/8") or so. I thought I'd pause and write this. Guards are a lot of work! Getting a little hole in a bar of stainless to match the dimensions of a stick tang is exacting and tedious! I am trying to get this to fit as perfectly as possible without having to use solder or some other method to attach the guard. For those of you who do this regularly, I salute you! I probably won't be doing any guard again for years!

I sure hope this sucker turns out! File, file, check. File, file, check. File, file, check.
 
special k, i know a maker who does those a lot, if they fit really tight, he sometimes drills a hole through the guard, and the tang, then sticks a pin through them and uses a jack (like a car jack) and its like peening the pin until its really tight in there.. he then sands the guard so you cannot see the pin, and continues wi th a mirror finish
 
No, I beleive its
File, Check, Swear, walk away, sneak back and check again,swear louder, file, check, swear........;)
 
I'm taking a break from doing the exact same thing:(

I hate guards,handles too.I love the forging.Finishing sucks.
Till it all comes together, then you get to say ahhhhh.

Mark
 
Back in the mid eighties solderless guards became the rage. No one wanted to go thru the trouble of soldering on a guard followed by the large chore of cleaning up the excess solder, flux etch, and heat discoloration.

I saw a lot of guys jump into it without thinking it thru. On a knife that is to be used........no matter HOW good you get the fit, it wont keep out moisture or blood or anything else that will start the rust process inside the guard. Then you are screwed.
Of course, for knives that arent going to be used, it doesnt matter; however, not many of SR Johnson's knives get used and he still puts that PERFECT solder joint on every single one.

Just an observation........I am NOT saying you have to do it that way.
 
I have been soldering all my guards and will continue to. If a guy dose a good job of soldering clean up is a snap, HOWEVER we all probably have our moments I know I do. Gib
 
Guards and sheath making is why I made the folder decision way back then :D I got tired of doing them:)

Like Tom said, if you aren't gonna solder them, at least use some JB Weld or something to keep the bad stuff from getting under the guard and making bad.
 
Thanks for the support and tips everyone.

Kit: I talked with Pat about guards about a month ago. I have my JB weld ready :) I'll be pinning and JB welding this sucker.

After that, I hope to get a mill and a lathe and a real grinder and switch to folders :)
 
Crayola, to do the right kind of solder job, you first have to learn the proper cuss words, and then be creative with them.
 
Originally posted by John Andrews
Crayola, to do the right kind of solder job, you first have to learn the proper cuss words, and then be creative with them.
Click to expand...

John,
That's one of the most profound statements I have ever seen on this forum. It is more true than most people would have you believe.

That just about wraps up the whole concept of knifemaking. Practice, practice, practice and by doing that, you learn by your mistakes and in the process become very creative with colorful language. Yep, that's knifemaking! The whole ball of wax.

Craig
 
Yea!
Made my first guard this summer, after careful marking using the dial calipers then drilling 4 .055" holes, It was over 3 hours of connect the dots and open up to the finish size with the needle files.

Jim Siska saw it at our NECKA Hammer In last week, I was going on about how I wanted to fix the fit-up before soldering, He takes one good look and says "solder it"

I guess I will.

As for "colorful" words, Well there is always room for the proper encouragment of tools, things, people and machines. I think I invented a few over the years. Remember practice makes perfect.
 
Glad to see you're progressing in your knife making Karl!
Looking forward to reading the thread about your first folder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top