Rectangular tang in a round blank

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More cat skinning! Flat tangs are a challenge, especially if they are fairly wide, but there are a number of ways to deal with them.

Option one would be to carefully saw the blank in half lengthwise. Then, trace the tang on one of the halves, and use a bench chisel to carve a recess for the tang. Then, glue the two halves handle back together leaving the recess as a rectangular slot - be careful to not let any glue get into the slot at this point. Turn the handle to the desired shape and glue the tang into that rectangular slot. If you are of the 'belts and suspenders' type, you could also put some pins through the reglued handle that pass through those notches.

Another option be to cut a kerf in the handle blank that is as wide as the thickness of the tang, but only goes deep enough to receive the tang. After turning the handle, glue the tang into the kerf. The challenge with this approach is that, depending on the design of the turning, portions of that kerf might be left as gaps. You could glue some thin stock into those gaps, or you could mix up a blend of sawdust (from the turning) and epoxy glue that you use as filler. In either case, you would have some hand shaping to do (sandpaper, perhaps a Dremel) to smooth the infill before finishing the handle. Alternatively, again depending on the design of the turning, the edge of the tang could be left exposed. The infill option is probably preferable because the infill would prevent the tang from trying to rotate if the tool is later used like a knife to cut cheese.

But in my experience, the easiest option is to make the flat tang into a round tang by padding it out with wood. My approach would b e to turn a scrap of wood into a dowel with a diameter equal to the width of the tang. Cut that dowel in half lengthwise, sand the cut faces to remove enough material that when the dowel is reassembled around the tang, the original diameter is restored. Then, use epoxy to glue the halves of the towel to the tang. Put it aside for the glue to cure. Then, drill a round hole in the blank with a diameter about 1/64" larger than the dowel. Make that hole as deep as you want to inset the tang. It doesn't especially matter whether you drill the hole in the blank before turning the handle, or drill the hole on the lathe as part of turning the handle. After the glue on padded tang has cured, sand any squeezeout, apply glue in the hole in the handle, and insert the round tang.

A potential issue with either the first or third options is that when you glue the tang into the handle, you need to put glue into the hole first, and then press the tang into place. If the hole is really snug (as it ideally should be), inserting the tang traps air in the hole that will attempt to push the tang back out of the hole once you release the tang. My approach to that is to apply some painter's tape on the outside of the handle, and then drill a very small hole through the tape and the side of the handle into the bottom of the hole that is to receive the tang. I use the smallest drill bit I own (#65) for that breather hole. Then, when the tang is pressed into it's hole, the breather provides a path for compressed air to escape. Excess glue in the tang hole will also be forced into the breather to seal that hole. If there is excess, the squeezeout is on the painter's tape where it can easily be peeled away after the glue cures. The remnant of the breather hole is so small that it's invisible.
 
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I've not turned items such as you are showing, but I did make a set of home made carbide tools that used square bar stock.... I used the first method Monophoto suggested.... I cut handle in half lengthwise, then cut slots in both halves of the handle blank the half the depth and the full width of the bar stock... then after turning the handles, slide the bar stock in place with ample epoxy to hold them... I also put brass ferrels on the end of the handle to ensure the glue didn't give way.
 
You could try using a belt sander and rounding the square tang round. But the better way is to cut it in half and trace out the tang and mortise it out.
 
I turn a dowel slightly small than the hole I drill to accommodate the tang, split it on my bandsaw and epoxy the dowel halves on either side of the tang.
 
I would use a dremel tool to make the tang hole as close to tang size and epoxy in. Less material you take out the stronger the piece.
 
I would use a dremel tool to make the tang hole as close to tang size and epoxy in. Less material you take out the stronger the piece.
One of the challenges here is that the tang is pretty small - the web site doesn't include instructions for this kit (?), nor does it state the thickness of the tang. The length is given as 25mm (about an inch). Glue, especially epoxy, can fill gaps, but John is correct that the less wood that is removed to create a cavity for the tang, the stronger the handle will be. Obviously, the ferrule is an important part of the kit, and if it were omitted, I would be concerned that the fitting between the knife and the handle wouldn't be strong enough for cutting a good firm Wisconsin cheddar.

I suppose that it should be possible to drill a series of holes in a straight line, and then use a Dremel burr to clean out the gaps between those holes to make a cavity. The fact that the tang is only 25mm long means that the cavity isn't all that deep. But my guess is that the tang is around 3/32" thick which means that the Dremel burr would need to be pretty small, and converting a series of holes into a rectangular cavity that small would be tedious work. Sure, it wouldn't have to be super neat because epoxy could fill any gaps, but still - - -

I've never thought about making tools of this sort, but I wonder if there are other kits out there that might have longer tangs and therefore produce stronger tools.
 
I made a Bedan tool out of square stock. Drilled the handle a smidgen under size and inserted the tool with lots of epoxy. Put a copper tubing collar on and turned away! I have seen two piece handles for flat stock.
 
Drill the hole with a bit the diameter of the width of the tang as deep as the tang. Fill the hole with epoxy and then insert the tang. The width of the tang should center the tang at the diameter. Place the ferrel to center the tang. A cheese knife doesnt need a lot of pressure as the user will be applying pressure directly down on the top edge of the blade most likely.

Might also mention for best results to turn the handle from mounting the blank on the now drilled hole before inserting the tang.

Also could insert tang and pour epoxy around the sides. The epoxy would flow to evenly fill the hole through the holes drilled through the tang.
 
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It appears from the photos that the kits include a ferrule that has a slot in it to accommodate the tang. This should cover up a sloppy hole or holes and epoxy. I suppose my first go at it would be to drill a few small holes next to each other and use a hand drill to try to auger out material between them until I could get the tang to slip in as much as is needed, then epoxy and install the ferrule.

Dave
 
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