Hey everyone, I finally had a few minutes to sketch something up for the KITH. I'm still not sure on materials yet or if its going to be a stub tang or hidden tang.
I'm debating on using O1 for this one but I have one concern. Can I weld a threaded tod to the tang? I've heard that welding O1 can be troublesome.
I could braze it but I've never done that before lol. I was also thinking if doing a two piece hinge type tang and using a threaded rod for the tail end. Thanks for the compliment.
I want to make a threaded damascus nut to hold everything together. Or make a threaded pomel. Still banging my head over the idea. Another thing I was thinking was a stub tang but then I'm worried about strength issues. Another idea would be to peen the end of the tang but I'm not sure how easy that would be.
I was just wondering. I'm still in the design phase (steel is ordered) and considering a through tang like that. I was thinking I'd round the end of the tang and putting threads on it, or just peen it. I think I'd be more comfortable with the latter.
Threads is lookin pretty good to me. I'm just not sure about mig welding O1. I'm using 3/32" steel so I won't have enough meat to just thread the tang.
Hey jules just a heads up. Welding any tool steel can be very tricky. The steel neeeds to be heated to proper temp and it is usually tig welded with the proper rod for the steel being welded. If not done properly you can end up with messy cracks. We send out a2 and d2 to specialized welding places. I have never had to weld o1 but i'm pretty sure its the same idea and welding a different type of material to it makes it trickier.
And that is exactly why I'm afraid to try it. Apparently I need special mig wire and to pre/post heat it.... Does anybody think solder would be a bad idea? I would braze it but I don't have any brazing rods.
Don't weld it or braze it at all. Profile the tang so it excepts a 1/4" dye. Then just tap the end cap and dye the tang. I've done this before and it works great. Just remember to grind the tang a little at a time until the dye starts to fit. You can always take metal off but its hard to put back on.
I changed my mind and went with 1/8" o1 instead. This 7" OAL rule is kickin my but.... It's so hard to get good ergonomics with a 7" limit lol.
Got mine cut out to its rough shape. I left the tang extra long. I'm using the file guide to get the shoulders nice and square for the guard.
I'm at a loss here... Visually my drawing looks good BUT the handle is to short... The handle is 3.5" and on paper it looks good but the shape doesn't feel good on a short handle. I don't want to make the blade any shorter because then it looks funny... Here's where I'm at so far. Gotta grind the blade down to the lines.
Looking great !..............don't feel bad !! my handle doesn't look anything like my original drawing either !! hahaha , went to plan B ........still not sure
