Wantin' To Make and Antler-Handle Knife

[squib load]

Hi luie,I soaked the antler for a day or two in water until the center got soft.I put the blade in the vise and hammered the antler on.Not hard at all.squib

 

[luieb45]

I've got the antler cut down and am now ready to drill the holes for the tang. I think I'd like to do the figure-8 thing like people have recommended. The tang is a little less than 3/8" wide and fairly thin. How big of holes should I drill? Should it be just enough so that it barely fits then use an adhesive to make so the blade sticks in the handle?

 

[LRB]

Taper the tang if it not already tapered. Not drasticly but an obvious taper. A little taper on the sides won't hurt either. With a file, Dremel tool, or whatever you have make some shallow notches on the tang edges. It can fit a bit loose in the antler. Pour in Devcon 2 ton epoxy, not the 5 minute stuff, maybe 1/2 deep or a tad more. It is good to have a full fill when the tang is set. Set the tang. Wait 25 to 30 minutes, clean up any epoxy over spill with acetone, or white vinegar and a tooth brush. Wait until the next day and it's ready to use.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Because Antler centers can soften in water, I like to use Epoxy resin to glue the antler to the tang. Preparation is the key to success here. If you do soften the antler and drive it onto the tang as suggested, stop short of the handguard, or hilt, and remove. Now use small drills the size of the thickness of your tang to cut out the rest of the hole deep enough to let you get the tang onto the antler all the way down.

Let the antler dry for a couple of days.

Now, after using a triangle file to file notches in the tang, to give the epoxy something to hold onto, pour some epoxy down into the hole in the antler, and then push the tang in completely. If your dry fit the tang, this should go in fairly easy. There will be excess epoxy coming out the top where the antler and hilt, or handguard meet.

I like to drill and pin the antler, using brazing rods I bought from a Machine shop. I drill the hole through both sides of the antler, with the tang removed- then put the tang into the antler, and mark the center on the tang for the hole. Then, I drill the hole in the tang with the blade clamped in a vise, without the antler being on the tang. I don't want to chip out any antler, or elongate the hole in the antler if my drill slips on the tang.

Use a good Center punch to set the drill in the tang.

If you have a drill press handy, use it, instead of any hand drill. I have done these holes with a simple hand drill- no electric power, using a short Square to keep the drill at right angles to the tang as I drill. Powered drills make the whole process faster, but they also can mess up your work faster, too. :shocked2: :surrender:

Once I put the antler on with the epoxy holding it, I insert a length of pin stock while the glue is wet. Sometimes you see glue coming out the pin holes. I don't trim the pins, nor peen their heads down until the glue sets up and cures.

Some people use rivets instead of pins, or even screws to hold their handles on the tangs. I don't think either is necessary when the handle is an antler. The glue probably holds the Antler enough for all normal uses. The pins are like the pins I put through ramrod ferrules to hole the ferrules to the ends of my hickory rods- added insurance. :shocked2: :wink:

The epoxy actually gives strength to the Antler's core, and helps protect it from Breakage. The size of the hole you drill or cut into the core of the antler is not so important if you are using Epoxy to strengthen the core. I have drilled holes as large as 3/8" in diameter in antlers, then filled them with epoxy before putting the 3/8" wide tang of the knife in the hole. Because of the epoxy, the handles have held well for years, now.