Hidden Tang Knives

The first thing that I found out about making a knife with a hidden tang is that you don't need to make the hole in the handle wide for the full length of the tang. If you have a blade where the tang tapers, you can make the hole taper as well.

If you make the hole too big, you run the risk of sanding down into the hole when you shape the handle. Yet, you can still come out with a really nice knife even if you fall into the hole.

Hidden Tang Knives

When I started making knives, I kept with the traditional full tang knives. I didn't know anything about making a four inch hole in a piece of wood or stag. I also didn't know about how to fill up the hole when I finally got the depth to hide the tang.

I finally learned about this "new" technology called a wood bore. (Ok, you are now thinking that I didn't spend any time in High School wood shop. Actually, I didn't!) The wood bore differs from a drill in that the bore does not fill up the hole that you are drilling. There is room for the sawdust to either stay in the hole or sit behind the active bit.

I am currently using two V79-M from Damascus USA to make the first hidden tang knives.