AKCT - Full Tang Knife Tutorial by M. Lee

1. First off, the most important step - Wrap your blade in paper / cloth and tape it up well. This will not only prevent it getting scratched or damaged during the build but it will also ensure you keep your fingers! When this is done, lay your blade on the wood and mark out the outline and pin holes.

For this project I’ll use a simple blade with simple design to keep things well, simple.
This is a Nessmuk blade which I’ll be handling with a piece of Maple using brass pins.

Required tools:

Saw
Drill
Belt sander or wood files
Vice
Various grades of sandpaper

If you don’t have a belt sander you can use wood rasps and a small saw to remove the bulk of the wood.

2. Drill your holes. I’m using 4mm brass pin so I drill 3 x 4mm holes. A pillar drill keeps things nice and straight but if you are careful then drilling by hand will be ok. If you want to use fibre liners please see the Mini-tutorial which I will link to at the end of this tutorial.

3. Mark how you want the top of the scales to look on the blade - draw it onto the wood block.

4. With a belt sander securely clamped onto your bench, sand down the block until you’ve got your end profile just right. If you don’t have a belt sander then files will be just fine. If you do have a belt sander then be careful! Rest the wood gently onto the belt at first and gradually increase the pressure to sand it down - this will avoid it being whipped out of your hand - and watch your fingers!

5. When you have the shape right, sand it right down to a fine grit - you won’t be able to easily sand this part when the knife is made up so it will make life so much easier to give it a final finish now.

6. Mark a centre line along the block where you will cut it in two to form your two scales.

7. Saw the block in half. A table saw again is handy but not essential - just keep that saw level. If you cut it slightly crooked this can be straightened out by flattening the scales on the belt sander.

8. Cut your pins to length and insert them into one of the scales. Slide the blade onto the pins to ensure it fits on ok.

Now comes the time to stick the whole thing together. I am using Devcon 2-Ton Epoxy resin but you can use any 2 part epoxy resin - just make sure it is a slow drying one if this is one of your first knives. You don’t want the epoxy going off before you’ve got the thing together and it only takes a pin to fall on the floor for disaster to strike!

9. Cut two short lengths of off-cut wood (preferably soft wood like spruce or pine) and tape cardboard around them. These will protect your scales from the jaws of the vice and also apply even pressure along the scales if your vice is not as long as the scales themselves. I say use a soft wood as and excess pin will stick into the wood and not effect the clamping process. The card stops any spilt epoxy sticking the scales to the off-cuts.

10. Mix up the epoxy resin as per the instructions on the pack and spread a thick layer on one side of the blade. Slide the blade over the pins onto the one scale.

11. Push the second scale onto the pins and use your vice to push the two halves firmly together, ensuring you have got your off-cut blocks between the scales and the vice. Tighten firmly but don’t over tighten. Make sure you position the blade so you can access the blade where it meets the scales.
With the whole knife firmly clamped, use a cloth to wipe away any excess epoxy from the top - make sure you wipe it all off cleanly, it’s much easier to get off now then later! You only need to worry about the top - don’t bother with any excess anywhere else.

12. Push the second scale onto the pins and use your vice to push the two halves firmly together, ensuring you have got your off-cut blocks between the scales and the vice. Tighten firmly but don’t over tighten. Make sure you position the blade so you can access the blade where it meets the scales.
With the whole knife firmly clamped, use a cloth to wipe away any excess epoxy from the top - make sure you wipe it all off cleanly, it’s much easier to get off now then later! You only need to worry about the top - don’t bother with any excess anywhere else.

13. Using the belt sander with a 40 grit belt, remove the excess wood from around the blade. If the scales are too thick, you can lay the scale flat on the belt sander and reduce the thickness to the desired level. Make sure the scales are sanded down evenly - sand - check - sand - check etc. When this is done, switch to a finer grade belt to leave a smoother finish.

14. Now you are ready for the last stage in shaping the handle. Take the corners off by again laying the scale ‘tang down’ on the belt sander and slowly rotating it until the scale is ‘face down’. Repeat this for the other side at the same rate for an even shaping.
Continue the process until you have the desired shape for your handle.

15. Switch to finer grades of belt and give your knife a final finish by hand with sandpaper. I like to take the wood down to a 1200 grit finish. You can then seal the wood using your preferred oils or wax.

Fibre Liners.

If you want to add an extra special touch to your hand made knife, you can add some liners made from Vulcanized fibre. This gives a very distinctive and effective look to your new knife.

To add these to your knife, simply follow these steps:

1. Cut out two rectangles of fibre (I’ve used cardboard to illustrate) and using one of your scales, drill the pin holes.

2. Assemble the two scales and the liner (NOT the blade) and sand the corners down on the belt sander until they match the profile of your block. Sand down to a final finish.