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McClellan Made Blades

McClellan Made Blades

Well-Known Member
Hey Dawgs,
I've been working on a through tang Bowie/Fighter, I have just about followed my plan from beginning to, or closer, toward the end. I've had a lot of health problems since I first started working on it. And way too many flare ups, that has kept me from the shop, or at least working as much or as hard as I'm accustomed. Anyway, I was planning on a toggle type of junction from the tang to connect the butt cap, for some reason I had 3/8''s, stuck in my head for it. Here is the part I didn't have pre-planned well enough, the plan was to use 3/8"s all thread at that junction. But it just didn't feel like it would be a strong enough junction between the peened on All Thread, with that being the weakest part. So I decided to Die my own bolt.

So here is the question, what size rod should I use to start with to die it 3/8"s (16 count if that matter's). I was planning on at least getting 3 threads into the butt cap on there, will that be enough? The butt cap will be 3/8th's, to start with, I may want to embellish it.

My plan is to use that method to pull it all together, I'll more than likely AcraGlass the handle, the butt will be JB welded on after final finish. I'm open for suggestions, this is a different type build for me. I don't want,...err, I mean I will not have a weak joint on the blade. I'm pretty confident in AcraGlass, but I still want it to be done tight. Thanks Dawgs! Rex
 
I don't have a vast amount of experience threading bolts for a butt cap.
3 threads does sound like a possible failure to me, I would go about 3/16th's of a inch of threads at least!

Bowie's are a hard use knife by design and I wouldn't want the butt cap snapping off if someone did some pounding with it.

Best of luck on this project and your health as well!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
Good morning.
i would try 3/8" W1 annealed drill rod. 3/8-16 threads works out that a full turn is 1/16" found two short sources that may help. http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/beginners-question-re-threading-rod-159483/ this link talks about actually threading the rod.
http://www.engineersedge.com/screw_threads_chart.htm this link is a round stock to die chart. depending on the thread pitch, it looks like you should use 3/8"(0.375") material. found them at MSC direct for $7 for a 36" piece. they also have this in O! & A2.
hope this helps.
scott, the old sailor

"OLD SAILORS NEVER DIE, THEY JUST BECOME CRANKY OLD MEN."
 
rhinoknives said:
I don't have a vast amount of experience threading bolts for a butt cap.
3 threads does sound like a possible failure to me, I would go about 3/16th's of a inch of threads at least!

Bowie's are a hard use knife by design and I wouldn't want the butt cap snapping off if someone did some pounding with it.

Best of luck on this project and your health as well!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks Laurence!
This is new to me as well, but once I've done it a few times, I can proudly add that skill to all of the skills I've learned.

This is a great skill for all knifemakers and it's kind of a thrill for me to be able to teach myself how to do things. That's provided I can do it right

You mentioned some good points about it being a hard use knife, and this junction could be a weak spot. Peened on and left slightly floppy, to be able to turn a curve is good too. I've considered welding it on, but my welding is so crappy, I can't trust it yet, so I'm gonna try again with a mild steel rod with it died to 3/8''-16. From what I've read 3 threads is the minimum connection, more is better, of course. Tina is out running errands, I called her and she picked up a 3/8th's round stock. I just had a thought run through my brain, is it possible that this steel may need to be annealed? To make it softer for the die?

Thanks for the well wishes I'm doing pretty good today so I'm going to the shop for an hour or 2, I have gotten my first Custom knife order so I'm pretty excited about that. I picked up some of Aldo's 1075 at Blade, I'm going to attempt an interrupted quench with heated water, I'm going to add some Anti-freeze to the water, not sure of the ratio yet. We had a great thread a while back about doing it like this, it should produce some seriously dramatic HAMONS!!!!!! Lets keep our fingers crossed, Thanks for the input, I really appreciate all the help! Rex
 
I suggest soldering the all-thread to the tang. I used a 1/4"-20 thread for the knife shown in the following photos. I bent the all-thread to fit the curved hole in the handle. If soldered correctly (silver brazed or tin soldered), the all thread will never come loose.

To do this, I slit the end of the tang (after heat treat), and ground opposing flats on one end of the all-thread. I then wedged the all-thread into the slot and soldered it in place.

By the way, I used solder to fasten a nut to the inside of the butt cap too.

This will make a hard use knife.

Hopefully, these photos will help:

Good luck,

Mike LoGiudice

(This is the 12th knife that I ever made)

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Mike,
That is a beautiful knife! And well built, the only difference between yours and mine, is I planned on using a thicker butt plate, and tapping it. It will start out at about 3/8" thick, right now, unless my guard isn't dead on, if it isn't and I have to make another, then I will go with all mild steel fittings and blue them all, with the blue liners and nickel silver spacers, it should really POP! I went for a hamon on this one, in 1084, and so far it looks like it might be coming out,....., never mind, I've only seen one side and I don't want to jinx it!!

I just had to say that this knife in the pics is awesome, you should do a WIP!!! I think that it could help a lot of people with construction ideas!!!
Thanks for sharing, REX
 
I sincerely appreciate the compliments on this knife.

I have been quite busy, but I will search through my past photos of the construction process and repost this as a WIP instrutional thread, although the knife has been completed and sold for about a year. I'll find time to do this in 3-4 days.

Mike L.
 
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