peening knife haft

[flm_shooter]

I'm attempting my first knife project. Without a forge and a ton of knowledge, how can I best peen the haft?

I clamped it in a vise with the tip resting on really soft wood and pounded the bejeezus out of it without accomplish anything.

 

[LRB]

Your question would require more details. I assume you are trying to peen the tang over a pommel or washer plate? Did you make, or buy the blade? Is the tang annealed? Is this simple carbon steel? If the tang is hard, you cannot peen it. Heat the last inch or so of the tang red orange hot and let cool a couple of times, and try again. If you make the slot for the tang in the plate or pommel a close fit, It doesn't require a lot of upset to hold. When I do a through tang, I make a close but not too tight of fitted slot, then file the top of the slot hole to have light to moderate bevels, then peen, locked in the vise much as you described. It helps to bevel the edges of the tang also, as this helps prevent the tang edge from cracking as you peen a head on it. You should not have to use more than moderate hammer blows, if the steel is in an annealed state. If the steel is hard, it just ain't gunna happen.

 

[flm_shooter]

Sorry, guess I did forget a lot. It is a purchased blade, I thought it was annealed. Now I think otherwise. I am going through a plate. Hadn't thought about beveling the edges, I'll try that and the heating. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't way off base by sticking it in a vise.

 

[LRB]

If this is a stainless blade, it may not soften enough, but you can try. Trim the tang back as far as you can, and still leave enough to make a strong head when you peen it.

 

[flm_shooter]

Well, it kinda worked. The top one is my first try. I must not have heated it enough times, I never got it to peen. So I trimmed it off short, stuck a pin through it, then cast a 'pewter' cap over it.

The second time I followed instructions more closely. Filing the end cap to fit the haft was a pain. And I also ended up taking off more length than I wanted, so the handle is a bit short. I tried to make it up by pouring a bolster instead.
This one did peen just fine. However, a bit later I dropped it on a concrete floor. It hit on the heel, bounced, then hit right on the tip. No more pointy tip.

I really liked the hexagon-to-round style of the first handle, but some folks who handled it says it feels a bit thick. So I went with a slimmer rectangular handle on the second.

 

[JamesG]

Very nice work. :thumbsup:

 

[NJStricker]

Nice work indeed. On the next one, if you go for "hexagon to oval" instead of round, it will fit the hand much better.

 

[tnguy]

nice knives. are those pioneer arms blades? i have looked at them for a while now.

 

[flm_shooter]

nice knives. are those pioneer arms blades? i have looked at them for a while now.

They are, the Ticonderoga blade. He delivered fast and they are good quality. I will order more.