Blacksmithing and Cutlery by Gérard HEUTTE Home Index A..Z Map About... Contact Links Bibliography Events Achievements Beginners Practical Metallurgy Workshop Cutlery Forge For Sale

Forging a hidden tang The forge of a hidden tang is a simple operation... When you know how do it! Leading edge To create the hidden tang it is necessary to make a douuble leading edge, by "digging" on each side of the blade. For that you can use: > Fuller. > Edges of the anvil. > Two branches of a tong. Note: Round horn of the anvil is generally too large for this operation. It is then necessary to detach the blade from the bar to be able to form the tang. Drawing out Stretch the surplus of metal. Take care of a regular width and thickness of the tang. Give a special attention for the departure of tang (indicated by the arrows). Take care of a quite regular round-off and a correct alignment of the shoulders at the top and the bottom of the blade. If needed, cut the tang to the desired length. Interface The part at the limit between the ricasso and the future handle is the most delicate. You will need a good geometry for a quality assembly! On the opposit drawing, the red area shows the small flat zone you need to support the bolster or the guard. Without this flat zone , the fitting cannot be precise. The blue area shows the transition round. The green area could be flat or concave depending on the shape to be given to the tang. These different zones will be begun at the forge, while thinking to keep a small margin for the final shape that will be made by filing. Result And here is: