I’m going to do this with a big Ol bone, and use the burn in method to make the cut off of the bone into the scabbard. Then I’ll do the heat and sharpening after.
I have a button with a drop tine on it like you had in your hand when you're talking about the pieces not to throw away and I made it into a whistle for the woods! 8)
Friskmunn Thank you! I can't remember where I saw it done, or maybe someone mentioned the technique to me once, but it is easier than trying to poke a long drill bit that deep!
Excellent video, Very educational. This one I will be saving and I will chk out others. keep up the good work. Dec 11 2016, 76,697 .. wow over 200 in one day
TonyArlo thanks very much, I appreciate the support! Yeah I have no idea why this one particular video is so popular, or where you all keep coming from!
Beautiful work, I'm going to try something similar with a couple of Mora 711 blades, will not be as nice as your work, but going to have a go, thanks for your vids, friend!
Mike, nice work, like the bezel/guard you made. I drill the full width of the antler, notch the tang 3 or 4x each side, mix my epoxy with metallic dust and do a pour. It's very solid and no burning required. The epoxy has a nice shimmer to it so I am cool with it being visible on the top.
I heard you can boil the antler(so it gets soft)and put it on, then the antler will shrink and it will stick and you dont need to do more then that. The best part is that u dont even need to make a hole in it!
I saw somebody get the antler hot in water and then pressed the tang on as the marrow seemed to take to a glue state he then put it back in the water and just kept pushing it on and eventually it fitted he then let it cool and hey presto it was solid
Nice work bud, beautiful, ha ha you finished this video saying you had 450 views. Well if you were stoked about 450 then 87,309 must be awesome. Good stuff.
Thank you bud I'm just applying the final coats of clear coat on the pommel right now. I made a dark walnut and cherry wood pommel with a piece of mother of pearl inlaid in the butt . My blade was made from an old skill saw blade. The tang which I didn't what it was called being this is the 2nd knife I have ever made I had to add on after the blade was already cut and made. I think it came out alright. I used a 3/8" steel rod and took a hacksaw and made a 3/4" cut length wise in it and then used a smaller dremmel sanding drum to cut out a U shaped section at the base of my blade so that the two pieces would inter lock. Then I made an ash and Juniper pitch rosin to attach the antler and blade together. It was a 30 hour project but the hard woods I used to make my pommel cap were done entirely by hand and besides the initial rough cut, the blade was done by hand with files (a belt sander it on my wish list but for now metal files are what I have lol) So anyhow sorry I went off on a bit of a tangent there I'm just happy with the way she came out. Thanks again bud.
Thx bud I turned out really nice but sadly it has a bit of an unhappy ending. I always had a thing about giving a knife or receiving 1 from a friend you give them a coin or vice versa otherwise it will cut the friendship. I had done this more out of habit then anything when I would get an Old Timer Knife set for Christmas or a birthday gift I always gave the person a coin. And when I gave someone a Knife I would ask for one. Well this time a coin was not exchanged and within 24 hours events unfolded that for the most part severed our friendship. Kind of weird I know but I was thinking about that silly superstition and couldn't help but wonder. On a brighter note the knife turned out beautiful and I'm on my next on right now as a matter of fact. I accounted for the tang when I cut the blade out this time (thanks) and I'm sanding down the cherry wood handle shes almost ready for the stain and lacquer coating to start. Still dreaming of that belt sander to drop in my lap one day .
Tristin Storm wow, I'd say that's a tradition you should probably uphold! Good luck with the next one! My first belt sander was a super cheap 4x36 with a little 5" disc combo that I got on sale for like $80. It wasn't great but it did the trick long enough for me to decide to drop in on a 2x72.
The video I just watched...the brother boiled his antler. After twelves tries he managed to get the antler onto the tang. He let it cool and didn't need apoxi.
Hey, sorry for the late reply! youtube stopped sending me notifications of comments.. you can email me or fill out the quote request on mikejonesknifeandtool.com Thank you!
How did you glue it up over night? I've seen people use bar clamps but the knife I'm making is too large and too curved to use one but I have a vise and saw a video where a guy used that.
yeah a lot of creativity comes into play here. I've seen all sorts of crazy ways to apply pressure to squeeze the handle on overnight.When it's a real crazy blade shape, it's sometimes best to eliminate that from the equation. Mask up the blade real good around the ricasso area, clamp that in a vice (with softjaws or some leather or something in there) and then figure a way to press the handle down to the vice with a bar clamp, or even elastics or something like that works too. Good luck!
The steel is very excellent. So much so that without an edge it can chop wood! It is why I knew it was good older blade because of its steel quality. Pre world war 1 or that Era are my thoughts. It was found in a pioneer area location with lots of coal miners around. Guess I was being extra careful. I do like the idea of a solid handle so may do it this way. Getting the antler is of course the next step. I think elk would be perfect if not too thick and I can get a piece that can be carved on the butt end. And do you have a video on proper knife sharpen process? If so I will take a look. I tend to use jewelers files. They are finer than the small hobby ones. Also clay porcelain bars then leather. I find the clay is great in sharpening fine chisels etc is very good at getting that razor sharp surgical edge. Takes the steel down to the fine even edge that is then ready for polishing on the leather. Thanks for the reply too! Cheers buddy!
Wow sounds like a very cool find!! I don't have anything on sharpening yet, but I use diamond stones. Whetstones are excellent too, and stropping with the leather always leaves a beauty finish! Good luck with it! Sounds like you are breathing new life into a piece of history.
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool I would love to post a picture of it here, but not sure how to do that!LOL If I can find out, or a link to your email, I will send that along so you can see the neat knife that it is! I can use it camping etc. I may have found some Reindeer antler from a deer farm for it too...yeah!!!:) I may do that heat method..smell or no smell!LOL
Making my first knife right now with a old file for my blade an antler off a deer i harvested ... ive been careful to keep metal cool while working it into the shape im looking for my question is when u heated the tang for burning hole into the antler is there a possibility of taking the temper out the steel ? Hope thats not a dumb question i just dont wanna ruin mine at the end and all my time to have been for nothing .... thanks in advance
Scotty Trahan yeah for sure you can run the heat down into the blade and wreck the temper. Having a long tang will help, and just heat the tip. Also if it takes a few heats to get the tang burned in you can always dunk the blade to make sure it’s cool. Might be worth looking at how to heat treat the steel for next time, then you can anneal it so it’s soft and easy to work, not worry about overheating, and then harden and temper it to something suitable for a blade. Files (quality ones) are super hard, which holds an edge great but are a real pain to sharpen.
@Mikejonesknifeandtool thank u for the advice i truly appreciate it im almost to finish line .... i wish i had the means of building me a little forge to be able to tinker around with at the house .... my 2 young girls have been asking alot of questions about the whole process as they have watched me attempt to make the blade im working on now maybe one day they will be doing the work while i watch and ask questions lol .... thanks again
I enjoyed this video very much. I have two questions though. Would the burning technique work with wood? and how do you make sure you're melting it in the correct direction so that the blade is in line with the handle? very creative techniques I hope to use them on my future projects
Max Falore thanks for the comment! This works very well in wood too. I drill a bunch out first, as straight as possible, which helots guide the tang when pushing it in.
This one was a LePage 60-min epoxy I think.. I try different stuff a lot to see what I like best. The LePage is good, don't let it sit on the shelf forever though, I think I had an opened package go bad on me.
Anonymous _ the guard isn’t to keep the antler from splitting but to cover the end, and usually it extends down to keep your finger from sliding onto the blade
I’ve been told that the burning or sawn/carved antler or bone is not good to breath in? I use a respirator for safety. Not sure if that advice is solid but, the lungs are important to keep safe IMHO
Picko Pickles Depends, I try to drill as deep as the tang needs to go, and I try to drill a couple holes as parallel as possible to remove as much material as I can first, but at that length the drill bit gets flexy and tends to wander into previous holes. In the end I'm looking to burn out as little material as possible because it's a longer process, but there's always enough to burn out to ensure a nice tight fit with the tang. Any extra space gets filled with epoxy and that's not a bad thing either. Thanks for the comment!
Any opinion on bedding the tang in the antler? Just came from bladeforum where everyone was insisting that since the pith of the antler is porous and weak, it's better to get rid of it and use a putty epoxy to fill the void. Of course, the subject was a big Bowie knife so there's a big difference.
I'm sure that would be a good thing to do, I've never had a problem. I think that since the pith is so porous, and if your epoxy is warm (thin) enough it will fill a lot of that and solid that pith up quite a bit. In face I've had a lot of epoxy leak out the butt end if it's not capped and is exposed pith. I was planning to seal it up with CA glue but the epoxy sorted it out for me. Again I've never had a problem so far.
Good video bro the knife with the antler turned out really nice. Do you ship your stuff to London UK by any chance I'd be interested in purchasing a knife off you
@Mikejonesknifeandtool will be in touch with you very shortly bro thanks for the contact email address the UK knife law for legal EDC is 3 and a half inches. Thanks for the reply. Hope you had a great thanksgiving bro;o]
PS...oh but you know the long process is what makes it fun!!:) Great vid...will check out your others. I also have 2 of those old knives I will want to redo too! Good idea! Any thoughts on making those old knives hold an edge? And with heating the tang, does that not make it less strong...sorry for all the q....many just don't give all the info out there...sigh. Cheers! Vicki
+Vicki k Gibson Thanks for all the questions! That's what this is supposed to be all about! Old knives of a reputable brand should be made of quality steel, and is hopefully heat treated, so once sharpened, with luck, they should hold a good edge. If not, heat treating them can be a challenge. First of all you'll have to remove the handle, and then you're not even sure what steel it is, so the heat treating process is a guessing game. At that point, I'd be tempted to shelf it and carry on with something else! The tang of the blade does not need to be "hard" in a tempering sense. When a knife is heat treated it is hardened to its' absolute maximum first, but it is also very brittle (think glass, very hard but won't bend). The blade is then tempered, to take the hardness down, and bring some "toughness" back into it. It is then less brittle, and should bend slightly, rather than crack or break right away. Depending on the intended use, there is a happy medium to be reached between hardness and toughness. Now with the tang, it doesn't need to be hard at all, in fact it should be less hard and more tough, so heating it repeatedly like this (especially just the tip) doesn't effect its strength. In order to harden, steel needs to be quenched in a much more aggressive manner than shoving it into an antler (heating to the point that it is no longer magnetic, and immediately dunked in cool water or oil). I hope this is less confusing than it is helpful! Thanks again for the comments!
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool hey man! how to fix the blemish in the antler! take a torch to the pale part until it's just turned a dark brown or black then lightly sand it down and it will be a nice brown to match the rest of the horn! awesome work man!
Josiah Musser - it won't let me reply directly to you for some reason, but I just use a typical LePage 5-min epoxy right now. When I run out I'll get a 60-minute, because the slower-curing glues tend to have a stronger bond.
Any brand-name epoxies work well, generally the longer the set time, the stronger the bond (i.e. 4hr vs 5min). There are a couple companies making knife-specific epoxies like G-Flex and Blade Bond. I haven't tried these yet so I can't say how well they hold. Many of the knife guys I know use them, so maybe they're great or maybe they just like to say they use these special glued. Walter Sorrels did a great video testing all kinds of different epoxies. He's a great channel to follow if you don't already. Hope this helps, thanks for the comment!
I used a LePage 30-minute epoxy, and I don't know why it wouldn't work for stone but you'll have to read the instructions on whatever glue you use. Thanks!
Genuine question here because I assume you have more experience with knives than I: Wouldn't you want a tempered tang on a hidden tang knife (i.e., one with a smaller tang than a full tang knife) because it would be less likely to bend? I would think it would be alright not to temper a full tang knife, but you'd want to with a hidden tang.
cogitaretoo it's a good thought, and some guys might do just that. 2 things come to mind: first, if you're of the tang-tempering variety, you could still heat the tip to burn it into the handle, without enough heat getting to the base of the tang, where you'd want your temper to remain. Secondly, I tend to avoid tang-bending applications with my hidden tang knives. Does this make sense?
Totally makes sense. Thanks. Was asking because I have an Ontario Marine Raider Bowie that I want to make look like a traditional bowie. It's got a similar tang to the knife in this video and I want to put an antler handle on it myself in the most secure way possible. I don't plan to abuse it, but I have what is probably a universal desire to keep it as tough as possible. Also considering a stacked-leather handleThanks for the detailed reply!
Is this from an animal you killed or just a shed? If it's an antler from something you killed, what do you have to do to the antler before you can use it as a handle?
Tiago Alencar this was a shed, but I like to leave them to dry for a couple years, you can even stabilize them which helps keep them from shrinking. Not such an issue on a hidden tang though.
So won't the heat create cracks on the antler surface, and even be too big once finished on the inside? JB quick works very well in setting such blades. I have an antique Bowie knife that was found in a river. I have refinished it (mirror polished now) and need to insert a hidden tang. However it is also 3/4 inches by 43/4...won't that be too large to heat and set? I do like the idea, just not sure if it will work on this knife.....any ideas? I am thinking of cutting it in half and carving out the area to hold the tang, dill out the 3 holes the tang already has and insert knife rivits to also help hold it in place once appoxied....thanks for any ideas...Vicki.
+Vicki k Gibson Hey Vicki, thanks for the comment! I haven't had any issues with the antler cracking at all, the hot steel burns a hole into the core of the antler, so it's not like it's splitting it apart. The finished hole is a little bigger than the tang itself, but just enough room for epoxy. That knife you're trying to re-handle sounds like a fun project. The size of the tang shouldn't restrict you from using this method. I always drill out as much as I can first, because the heating/burning process is pretty slow, so holes give me a head start for sure. I know lots of guys who use a pin for extra security on top of epoxy, but I can attest that in my experience, it is not necessary. In fact, I have a broken knife that I made last year, and I've been trying to get the tang out to save the handle, and have not been able to budge it at all! When you heat the tang to push it into the handle, you only need to heat the very tip, not the whole thing, so the length shouldn't be a problem. I try to use at least a 4" tang in my knives. Good luck! I hope this helps.
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool, I'm new to handle making and a friend gave me a blank he made out of a saw blade but it's a half tang and was just wondering what would be the best handle for it
+Trenton Hoffman by far the cheapest and easiest would be wood. If you secure it without glue it would be easy to remove later too if you don't like it or want to try something else.
Adam Mortensen the blades? I sell knives, finished knives, if you're looking for one of those, see my website www.mikejonesknifeandtool.com and shoot me an email.
mooseeh7 hey thanks for the comment. I use lepage 2-part epoxy because it is what I can source locally. I guess before you start, do as much research on the processes you'll be undertaking, to the point where you feel like you've already done it before. Wear gloves when gluing, you can seal up exposed pith in the centre of the handle with super glue, cleaning epoxy is easier when it's still wet, take your time and have fun with it!
Thanks for the great info. You make everything look so easy!
Very informational, thanks Mike.
Klasse Vorstellung und schönes Ergebnis...
"Because I don't value my time at all..." got me to overcome my laziness and give you a like.
Jesse Allan much obliged
Came here from the Rogan short to check you out bro! Awesome content 👍 keep it up please you rock!
Beautiful work.
That is some great work.
Good help and knowledge, thank you.
Really enjoyed this video, Mike...very informative, easy to follow steps, clear and in focus...thanks! Gonna put your info into practice!
Different way to do it and i like the result beautiful knife, very nice job.
I’m going to do this with a big Ol bone, and use the burn in method to make the cut off of the bone into the scabbard. Then I’ll do the heat and sharpening after.
Awesome
Great help
I have a button with a drop tine on it like you had in your hand when you're talking about the pieces not to throw away and I made it into a whistle for the woods! 8)
Thank you
If you are into making push daggers, the smaller pieces of antler are great for making the handles
That's awesome. I'm looking into making my 1st knife. your video is very helpful
Before you make your knife bro learn about your tools not saying you don't know them.
Congratulations on the wonderful work! Like #677
A hug from the South of Brazil!
Mateiros Carijós thanks very much!! This video gets a lot of love! Cheers to Brazil!!
Again great video, gave me some easy ideas for my Mora knife.
Thank you! This is a reaaaallly old video but hopefully it still helps with something! Good luck!
nice
Never seen this method of making the hole. Genius! Keep it up!
Friskmunn Thank you! I can't remember where I saw it done, or maybe someone mentioned the technique to me once, but it is easier than trying to poke a long drill bit that deep!
Very nicely done video. Very nice looking finished product!!
Thanks very much! I appreciate the support.
I'm making one the same but painting it black
Nice job both with the knife and video! I just found your channel and subscribed looking forward to watching more!
quinton riley thanks very much!
Incredible job
Brian Philbrook thanks very much!
Nice one Mike.I AM going to do one soon. Thanks for showing me how. I like the steel guard too. See you soon.
right on glad to hear it!
That's awesome. I'm looking into making my 1st knife. I have a set of antlers for the handle. your video is very helpful
Great! Good to hear, and thank you. Good luck!!
Thanks,I keep breaking the horn so now I know what I need to do to correct, This video makes me understand thanks again...Ron T in Tennessee
Ron Thweatt happy to be of help! Good luck!
Nice work mate. Looks good.
+Mad Mac Cheers! Thanks for the comment!
thanks for the video know I can make a antler handle for my knife
+Jose Aguayo good luck, I hope it goes well! Thanks for commenting!
Tangy!
"Woo, it smells bad!" Haha, been there done that! Antler really does stink when it gets hot, doesn't it... xD
Becker Forge well, it's just hardened blood so it's gonna stink lol
Looks sick but it would look better with a bigger blade
😂 burn in. I used a boiled in method for a hidden tang knife. 🤓😄 Came out good.
bingo now your thinking
some people boil the antler for a while and force it on the antler drys and makes a tight hold u can google for exact instructions
awesome video. thanks
Jimmy Willingham thanks very much!
I have used horn for the top handle stop before it looks nice .
Yours looks beautiful bro nice piece of art.
War pig Hammer thanks very much!
thanks man super helpful
Andrew Smith cheers! Thanks for the comment
Excellent video, Very educational. This one I will be saving and I will chk out others. keep up the good work. Dec 11 2016, 76,697 .. wow over 200 in one day
TonyArlo thanks very much, I appreciate the support! Yeah I have no idea why this one particular video is so popular, or where you all keep coming from!
Thanks brother awesome job 👍🏻👌🏻👌🏻
thank you!
Beautiful work, I'm going to try something similar with a couple of Mora 711 blades, will not be as nice as your work, but going to have a go, thanks for your vids, friend!
Wonky Lommiter thanks for the support! Good luck with the moras
Very Fine work...
+Elvin A Millan Thanks Elvin!
Mike, nice work, like the bezel/guard you made. I drill the full width of the antler, notch the tang 3 or 4x each side, mix my epoxy with metallic dust and do a pour. It's very solid and no burning required. The epoxy has a nice shimmer to it so I am cool with it being visible on the top.
Louis P. Yeah I do things very different to this now, was almost 5 years ago!
Hey Dodos, guess the animal!
I’m gonna try to make my own!!!!
do it!
Good sized hunting n skinning knife last a lifetime man .
Cheers
thank you!
Mind=Blown
+Want.To.Play.Agar lol cheers!
You should have titled this crouching deer hidden tang
I heard you can boil the antler(so it gets soft)and put it on, then the antler will shrink and it will stick and you dont need to do more then that. The best part is that u dont even need to make a hole in it!
it sure work i tried it
Ojo con el calentar el metal , no se debe usar para no perder el templado .
I saw somebody get the antler hot in water and then pressed the tang on as the marrow seemed to take to a glue state he then put it back in the water and just kept pushing it on and eventually it fitted he then let it cool and hey presto it was solid
I've seen that as well. I've also heard it's not very permanent.
all that tang where the poon tang
Cow horn smells pretty bad when cutting scales with it too.
Nice work bud, beautiful, ha ha you finished this video saying you had 450 views. Well if you were stoked about 450 then 87,309 must be awesome. Good stuff.
Tristin Storm hey thanks! Yeah it's crazy, I don't know why this video gets so much traffic, none of my other ones do! Thanks for the support!
Thank you bud I'm just applying the final coats of clear coat on the pommel right now. I made a dark walnut and cherry wood pommel with a piece of mother of pearl inlaid in the butt . My blade was made from an old skill saw blade. The tang which I didn't what it was called being this is the 2nd knife I have ever made I had to add on after the blade was already cut and made. I think it came out alright. I used a 3/8" steel rod and took a hacksaw and made a 3/4" cut length wise in it and then used a smaller dremmel sanding drum to cut out a U shaped section at the base of my blade so that the two pieces would inter lock. Then I made an ash and Juniper pitch rosin to attach the antler and blade together. It was a 30 hour project but the hard woods I used to make my pommel cap were done entirely by hand and besides the initial rough cut, the blade was done by hand with files (a belt sander it on my wish list but for now metal files are what I have lol) So anyhow sorry I went off on a bit of a tangent there I'm just happy with the way she came out. Thanks again bud.
Tristin Storm wow what a process, congratulations on the project! The ones that take the most work always mean the most.
Thx bud I turned out really nice but sadly it has a bit of an unhappy ending. I always had a thing about giving a knife or receiving 1 from a friend you give them a coin or vice versa otherwise it will cut the friendship. I had done this more out of habit then anything when I would get an Old Timer Knife set for Christmas or a birthday gift I always gave the person a coin. And when I gave someone a Knife I would ask for one. Well this time a coin was not exchanged and within 24 hours events unfolded that for the most part severed our friendship. Kind of weird I know but I was thinking about that silly superstition and couldn't help but wonder. On a brighter note the knife turned out beautiful and I'm on my next on right now as a matter of fact. I accounted for the tang when I cut the blade out this time (thanks) and I'm sanding down the cherry wood handle shes almost ready for the stain and lacquer coating to start. Still dreaming of that belt sander to drop in my lap one day .
Tristin Storm wow, I'd say that's a tradition you should probably uphold! Good luck with the next one! My first belt sander was a super cheap 4x36 with a little 5" disc combo that I got on sale for like $80. It wasn't great but it did the trick long enough for me to decide to drop in on a 2x72.
For me, scroll saw with metal blade ~ blade for metal ~ works best to cut antlers. I have no tear outs or breakaways. Good video, thanks!
Thanks for the tip! I need to try a metal blade for cutting out knife blanks too. Cheers!
You should try turning antler on a lathe, not only does it stink but you end up coated in stinking dust...
Great video, very informative! I'm looking into doing a similar project and was wondering, how you apply your maker's mark?
I etch it with vinegar and a battery charger. I think I did a video on it, although it was early and not very good.
Teach us how to make a karambit
They're all basically the same, just different shapes. Cut out the shape you want, grind it, and glue a handle on!
The video I just watched...the brother boiled his antler. After twelves tries he managed to get the antler onto the tang. He let it cool and didn't need apoxi.
I've heard of that before, I prefer one try and the nice seal of the epoxy around the hole though
what is, right of the bat ?
You can sell out the scrap to people who make beads, carvings, ect.
Great idea, thanks for the tip!
Good hunting nife i wuant buy one du you sell
yes, go to mikejonesknifeandtool.com and all available knives are in the Store
Awesome job!! I sure hope your customer like it. I've been looking to get one made. How could I get in contact with you? Thanks for sharing
Hey, sorry for the late reply! youtube stopped sending me notifications of comments.. you can email me or fill out the quote request on mikejonesknifeandtool.com Thank you!
What kind of glue you used for that one ??
Arturito García it was a long time ago, probably LePage 30-minute epoxy.
Becoming quite difficult and more expensive to get hold of some decent antler these days as they're used as dogs chews
gotta get em before the dogs do!
Does the heated tang method work on wood? Looked this video.
Yes. Exact same method, smells much nicer!
“No two are alike” lol how many antlers do a deer have on their head lol jk i know they can differ and know what u mean good job and nice knife
They grow a new pair every year...so potentially they have a lot of antlers on their head. 😉
How did you glue it up over night? I've seen people use bar clamps but the knife I'm making is too large and too curved to use one but I have a vise and saw a video where a guy used that.
yeah a lot of creativity comes into play here. I've seen all sorts of crazy ways to apply pressure to squeeze the handle on overnight.When it's a real crazy blade shape, it's sometimes best to eliminate that from the equation. Mask up the blade real good around the ricasso area, clamp that in a vice (with softjaws or some leather or something in there) and then figure a way to press the handle down to the vice with a bar clamp, or even elastics or something like that works too. Good luck!
The steel is very excellent. So much so that without an edge it can chop wood! It is why I knew it was good older blade because of its steel quality. Pre world war 1 or that Era are my thoughts. It was found in a pioneer area location with lots of coal miners around. Guess I was being extra careful. I do like the idea of a solid handle so may do it this way. Getting the antler is of course the next step. I think elk would be perfect if not too thick and I can get a piece that can be carved on the butt end. And do you have a video on proper knife sharpen process? If so I will take a look. I tend to use jewelers files. They are finer than the small hobby ones. Also clay porcelain bars then leather. I find the clay is great in sharpening fine chisels etc is very good at getting that razor sharp surgical edge. Takes the steel down to the fine even edge that is then ready for polishing on the leather. Thanks for the reply too! Cheers buddy!
Wow sounds like a very cool find!! I don't have anything on sharpening yet, but I use diamond stones. Whetstones are excellent too, and stropping with the leather always leaves a beauty finish! Good luck with it! Sounds like you are breathing new life into a piece of history.
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool I would love to post a picture of it here, but not sure how to do that!LOL If I can find out, or a link to your email, I will send that along so you can see the neat knife that it is! I can use it camping etc. I may have found some Reindeer antler from a deer farm for it too...yeah!!!:) I may do that heat method..smell or no smell!LOL
I don't know if you can post pictures in a youtube comment, but for sure shoot me an email! mikejonesknifeandtool@gmail.com
Thanks!
Seriously if you ever need hand tooled leather sheaths, I can make some for you with a western design.
What's the name of the glue you used?
WHO!!!!!?????.........Mike Jones
Try bsi works perfect and how much do u charge for your work ?
Cost depends on myriad variables, I quote on an individual basis. Thanks for the tip!
Question: Why would you not insert the tang into the base or root of the antler just wondering if there's a reason
just for fit in the hand, they're all different, go with whatever feels best.
Making my first knife right now with a old file for my blade an antler off a deer i harvested ... ive been careful to keep metal cool while working it into the shape im looking for my question is when u heated the tang for burning hole into the antler is there a possibility of taking the temper out the steel ? Hope thats not a dumb question i just dont wanna ruin mine at the end and all my time to have been for nothing .... thanks in advance
Scotty Trahan yeah for sure you can run the heat down into the blade and wreck the temper. Having a long tang will help, and just heat the tip. Also if it takes a few heats to get the tang burned in you can always dunk the blade to make sure it’s cool. Might be worth looking at how to heat treat the steel for next time, then you can anneal it so it’s soft and easy to work, not worry about overheating, and then harden and temper it to something suitable for a blade. Files (quality ones) are super hard, which holds an edge great but are a real pain to sharpen.
@Mikejonesknifeandtool thank u for the advice i truly appreciate it im almost to finish line .... i wish i had the means of building me a little forge to be able to tinker around with at the house .... my 2 young girls have been asking alot of questions about the whole process as they have watched me attempt to make the blade im working on now maybe one day they will be doing the work while i watch and ask questions lol .... thanks again
I enjoyed this video very much. I have two questions though. Would the burning technique work with wood? and how do you make sure you're melting it in the correct direction so that the blade is in line with the handle? very creative techniques I hope to use them on my future projects
Max Falore thanks for the comment! This works very well in wood too. I drill a bunch out first, as straight as possible, which helots guide the tang when pushing it in.
How do you make sure knife is secure
Glue.
+Mike Jones what type of glue
This one was a LePage 60-min epoxy I think.. I try different stuff a lot to see what I like best. The LePage is good, don't let it sit on the shelf forever though, I think I had an opened package go bad on me.
Is the metal guard necessary to stop the antler splitting or not
Anonymous _ the guard isn’t to keep the antler from splitting but to cover the end, and usually it extends down to keep your finger from sliding onto the blade
I’ve been told that the burning or sawn/carved antler or bone is not good to breath in? I use a respirator for safety. Not sure if that advice is solid but, the lungs are important to keep safe IMHO
I don't think it's a bad idea to wear one any time something smells like anything other than fresh air. I wear one almost all the time in my shop now.
Don’t know how you put the glue inside the bone?
just kinda dripped it in there off the stir stick
@Mikejonesknifeandtool cool thanks, I cant wait to make my deer antler knife for granpa!
Loved the video. How far do you drill down the antler? Before you heat the tang and push it in.
Picko Pickles Depends, I try to drill as deep as the tang needs to go, and I try to drill a couple holes as parallel as possible to remove as much material as I can first, but at that length the drill bit gets flexy and tends to wander into previous holes. In the end I'm looking to burn out as little material as possible because it's a longer process, but there's always enough to burn out to ensure a nice tight fit with the tang. Any extra space gets filled with epoxy and that's not a bad thing either. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks, I hope it turn out!
Any opinion on bedding the tang in the antler? Just came from bladeforum where everyone was insisting that since the pith of the antler is porous and weak, it's better to get rid of it and use a putty epoxy to fill the void. Of course, the subject was a big Bowie knife so there's a big difference.
I'm sure that would be a good thing to do, I've never had a problem. I think that since the pith is so porous, and if your epoxy is warm (thin) enough it will fill a lot of that and solid that pith up quite a bit. In face I've had a lot of epoxy leak out the butt end if it's not capped and is exposed pith. I was planning to seal it up with CA glue but the epoxy sorted it out for me. Again I've never had a problem so far.
I was watching Bob Dylan - TANGled Up In Blue, the Yootubes suggested this!
Wonky Lommiter makes sense!
Good video bro the knife with the antler turned out really nice. Do you ship your stuff to London UK by any chance I'd be interested in purchasing a knife off you
Hi, thanks for the comments! Yes I can ship worldwide, just make sure your local laws allow it. Shoot me an email! mikejonesknifeandtool@gmail.com
@Mikejonesknifeandtool will be in touch with you very shortly bro thanks for the contact email address the UK knife law for legal EDC is 3 and a half inches. Thanks for the reply. Hope you had a great thanksgiving bro;o]
thanks I can work with that! Let me know!@ryanmcgrath339
PS...oh but you know the long process is what makes it fun!!:) Great vid...will check out your others. I also have 2 of those old knives I will want to redo too! Good idea! Any thoughts on making those old knives hold an edge? And with heating the tang, does that not make it less strong...sorry for all the q....many just don't give all the info out there...sigh. Cheers! Vicki
+Vicki k Gibson Thanks for all the questions! That's what this is supposed to be all about!
Old knives of a reputable brand should be made of quality steel, and is hopefully heat treated, so once sharpened, with luck, they should hold a good edge. If not, heat treating them can be a challenge. First of all you'll have to remove the handle, and then you're not even sure what steel it is, so the heat treating process is a guessing game. At that point, I'd be tempted to shelf it and carry on with something else!
The tang of the blade does not need to be "hard" in a tempering sense. When a knife is heat treated it is hardened to its' absolute maximum first, but it is also very brittle (think glass, very hard but won't bend). The blade is then tempered, to take the hardness down, and bring some "toughness" back into it. It is then less brittle, and should bend slightly, rather than crack or break right away. Depending on the intended use, there is a happy medium to be reached between hardness and toughness. Now with the tang, it doesn't need to be hard at all, in fact it should be less hard and more tough, so heating it repeatedly like this (especially just the tip) doesn't effect its strength. In order to harden, steel needs to be quenched in a much more aggressive manner than shoving it into an antler (heating to the point that it is no longer magnetic, and immediately dunked in cool water or oil).
I hope this is less confusing than it is helpful! Thanks again for the comments!
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool hey man! how to fix the blemish in the antler! take a torch to the pale part until it's just turned a dark brown or black then lightly sand it down and it will be a nice brown to match the rest of the horn! awesome work man!
+coltoncurtis50 Hey great tip! I'll have to try that out. I've got some other I screwed up that I will test this on. Thanks very much!!
Josiah Musser - it won't let me reply directly to you for some reason, but I just use a typical LePage 5-min epoxy right now. When I run out I'll get a 60-minute, because the slower-curing glues tend to have a stronger bond.
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool You said you had only 450 views before this video? This video is over 10K views now. Congrats!
Thank you! It's mind blowing. However, this video has way more than double the views of any other, for some reason..
17,460 Dec. 2016.Nice video...
hhoward14 wow! I'd love to know where they all come from! And why one video has more views the all the rest of the combined! Thanks for the update!
what type of epoxies hold the best?
Any brand-name epoxies work well, generally the longer the set time, the stronger the bond (i.e. 4hr vs 5min). There are a couple companies making knife-specific epoxies like G-Flex and Blade Bond. I haven't tried these yet so I can't say how well they hold. Many of the knife guys I know use them, so maybe they're great or maybe they just like to say they use these special glued. Walter Sorrels did a great video testing all kinds of different epoxies. He's a great channel to follow if you don't already. Hope this helps, thanks for the comment!
what kind of epoxy did you use and could it be used for a stone knife?
I used a LePage 30-minute epoxy, and I don't know why it wouldn't work for stone but you'll have to read the instructions on whatever glue you use. Thanks!
Nah you’ll get to a million views.
Wouldn't heating up the tang take out the temper?
Yup. I actually cringed when he said that's what he does.
Zachary Vince it would for sure, but the tang isn't heat treated, in fact the tougher (less hard) the tang is, the better.
Genuine question here because I assume you have more experience with knives than I: Wouldn't you want a tempered tang on a hidden tang knife (i.e., one with a smaller tang than a full tang knife) because it would be less likely to bend? I would think it would be alright not to temper a full tang knife, but you'd want to with a hidden tang.
cogitaretoo it's a good thought, and some guys might do just that. 2 things come to mind: first, if you're of the tang-tempering variety, you could still heat the tip to burn it into the handle, without enough heat getting to the base of the tang, where you'd want your temper to remain. Secondly, I tend to avoid tang-bending applications with my hidden tang knives. Does this make sense?
Totally makes sense. Thanks. Was asking because I have an Ontario Marine Raider Bowie that I want to make look like a traditional bowie. It's got a similar tang to the knife in this video and I want to put an antler handle on it myself in the most secure way possible. I don't plan to abuse it, but I have what is probably a universal desire to keep it as tough as possible. Also considering a stacked-leather handleThanks for the detailed reply!
Is this from an animal you killed or just a shed? If it's an antler from something you killed, what do you have to do to the antler before you can use it as a handle?
Tiago Alencar this was a shed, but I like to leave them to dry for a couple years, you can even stabilize them which helps keep them from shrinking. Not such an issue on a hidden tang though.
Ah yes, gorgeous men and knives, proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy
haha thanks!
So won't the heat create cracks on the antler surface, and even be too big once finished on the inside? JB quick works very well in setting such blades. I have an antique Bowie knife that was found in a river. I have refinished it (mirror polished now) and need to insert a hidden tang. However it is also 3/4 inches by 43/4...won't that be too large to heat and set? I do like the idea, just not sure if it will work on this knife.....any ideas? I am thinking of cutting it in half and carving out the area to hold the tang, dill out the 3 holes the tang already has and insert knife rivits to also help hold it in place once appoxied....thanks for any ideas...Vicki.
+Vicki k Gibson Hey Vicki, thanks for the comment! I haven't had any issues with the antler cracking at all, the hot steel burns a hole into the core of the antler, so it's not like it's splitting it apart. The finished hole is a little bigger than the tang itself, but just enough room for epoxy.
That knife you're trying to re-handle sounds like a fun project. The size of the tang shouldn't restrict you from using this method. I always drill out as much as I can first, because the heating/burning process is pretty slow, so holes give me a head start for sure. I know lots of guys who use a pin for extra security on top of epoxy, but I can attest that in my experience, it is not necessary. In fact, I have a broken knife that I made last year, and I've been trying to get the tang out to save the handle, and have not been able to budge it at all!
When you heat the tang to push it into the handle, you only need to heat the very tip, not the whole thing, so the length shouldn't be a problem. I try to use at least a 4" tang in my knives.
Good luck! I hope this helps.
+Mike Jones Knife & Tool, I'm new to handle making and a friend gave me a blank he made out of a saw blade but it's a half tang and was just wondering what would be the best handle for it
+Trenton Hoffman by far the cheapest and easiest would be wood. If you secure it without glue it would be easy to remove later too if you don't like it or want to try something else.
can i ask were i can get the blades?
Adam Mortensen the blades? I sell knives, finished knives, if you're looking for one of those, see my website www.mikejonesknifeandtool.com and shoot me an email.
what is your little handsander called called? Cause I just have a plate sander that is working with air to spin ...
It's an angle grinder with a flap disc.
Okay thx
What is sinew?
Ethan Lassen it’s like rawhide lace
What kind of epoxy do you use or recommend? I have an old Ontario knife and antler that I have as a project knife. First time trying anything. Advice?
mooseeh7 hey thanks for the comment. I use lepage 2-part epoxy because it is what I can source locally. I guess before you start, do as much research on the processes you'll be undertaking, to the point where you feel like you've already done it before. Wear gloves when gluing, you can seal up exposed pith in the centre of the handle with super glue, cleaning epoxy is easier when it's still wet, take your time and have fun with it!
What’s the knife at 1:13 with the hidden tang wooden grip?
No pin...... he tried I guess lol.