How to do a slotted guard??

SBranson

SBranson

Joined
Oct 29, 2006
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I've been trying to just deduce this not having an example to study.
I saw this knife by Sean O'Hare over in the custom section and it got me thinking about Loveless's and such..

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Without a milling machine, how do you do a slotted guard so that there is no ugly gaps up at the spine? Just slow patient filing?
I am guessing that you could slot the guard and the tang to get a clean fit but that would look weird on the spine.
Also I know that soldering is used too but can it be done without? I just can't imagine being able to get a clean transition from guard to ricasso on a pinned guard without a milling machine or soldering.

Any links to good tutorials? Is "slotted guard" the best search term or is there another title used?

I'd like to try a Loveless style but haven't got my head around that yet.

Thanks.

PS... this question is about the "U" shaped guard for a full tang knife in case that's not clear. I've done hidden tang knives but not the full tang with a guard style.
 
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I use the Loveless method. You mill the guard slot, the guard is also pinned the pins are peened and then it is soldered. You don't have to have a mill, but it makes it easier. The solder fills any gaps and should flow all the way through to the bottom, for a waterproof seal. I try to leave a .005 gap all the way around the guard slot. The Loveless book How to make knives, has step by step instructions. Also the ricasso of the knife will have a hand filed radius to fit the radius in the guard slot. I think this is the strongest method.
 
I *THINK* either drill holes and file or drill one hole near the bottom of the slot, bandsaw to the hole then start filing. Remember to cut inside the line and file out to the desired size.
 
I always drill an undersized hole in the guard stock close to where the slot will terminate, cut the slot up to the hole inside of my scribed lines, then carefully hand file the slot to fit the tang shoulder until it fits closely enough that the solder only has a very fine space to flow into. (Ususally the slot will have a square bottom to match the square edge of the tang.) Then I drill and pin the guard on, then solder. Always worked pretty well for me. Soldering is an area where anyone needs a good bit of practice to suceed consistently.
 
I bandsaw the slot undersize on a knife like that, sears sells a thin 3/32 file which is perfect for fitting in a narrow slot. I mark my lines for the slot and bandsaw inside the lines and then file to fit.
 
Patrickknives said:
I bandsaw the slot undersize on a knife like that, sears sells a thin 3/32 file which is perfect for fitting in a narrow slot. I mark my lines for the slot and bandsaw inside the lines and then file to fit.
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Thats the way I did it before I got my mill,I still cut the slot with the band saw and then mill to fit.
Stan
 
So it's kinda what I expected. Slow and steady work. Thanks everyone. I wondered if there were some surefire tricks to making a perfect fit.
I just envision some terrible case where you get it fit and in the final grind down to meet the tang a void appears.
 
SBranson when you make your blade have a slot in the blade also so the guard will slide up into it for the blade to guard fit. I drill a 3/32 hole close to the edge then come back with the drill bit size that is under the guard material size. It is best to leave a curve cut out on the blade versus a square one to not have a stress riser. When you make your guard slot then you can file a slight bevel to start it into the guard slot to have a no show junction.
Several I have seen use their file guides to make sure their slots are square and in the old Bob Loveless book one of the tricks shown was to mirror polish the guard front and you could see the reflection of the file to tell if you had it straight in the slot or not.
 
I'll have to try that Bruce. I thought maybe I could close a gap when pinning the last one, no go.
 
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