Thread: Any fix for a broken tang?

Use a covered tang design and use titanium or some such as the cover.........screws could be inset from the back??

Thank you all for your responses! I like the idea of making a two pinned, narrow tang but what would you need in order to grind down the tang precisely enough without ruining the temper of the blade? Otherwise, the acrylic option is good too. I have never tried manipulating acrylic though.

Originally Posted by swampkeeper4570

Thank you all for your responses! I like the idea of making a two pinned, narrow tang but what would you need in order to grind down the tang precisely enough without ruining the temper of the blade? Otherwise, the acrylic option is good too. I have never tried manipulating acrylic though.

A good grinder--preferably with a flat platen--, a steady hand, and a cup of cold water.

Has anyone ever tried JB Weld. Its a 2 part glue that is for metal repair. I have used it for repairing the pivot hole when its way to big. Just fill the hole then redrill the hole where it was. It works great for that. It should reattach the halves together with just a seam where it broke. You can sand it like metal and drill it. It was for repairing car motors. Its really good stuff.

Keith

I too was going to say JB Weld or PC7 Epoxy. I've used them to seal unwanted emmissions vent holes on intake manifolds for old MGs - they do work really well for bonding metals back together in situations where welding or brazing isn't an available option (to get a glass-smooth finish on them dip your finger in a little water and then lightly rub the epoxy surface)...

That said though, Undream's solution would probably the most reliable and professional looking option (without the expense of a professional metalsmithing - which, in itself, would still destroy the maker's mark anyway).

I've nothing to add to the good suggestions already put forth by those who know a lot more than me. But I have a question.

Judging from the context the blade was being 'straightened' somehow, not far fetched to imagine that brute force was involved - the scales are still attached to the (sad looking) tang so no annealing was used. It follows that either by pushing or pulling, or impacting an attempt was made to bend... tempered steel.

Let me again remind you I know nothing about a whole bunch of stuff.

Is it not the case that tempered steel is brittle and not plastic? Seems like a really bad idea to try to reshape it, doesn't it?

I mean no disrespect to anyone, and my heart aches for the loss of such a beautiful object.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Something like Heat Fence will work well as a barrier while soldering or brazing.
Heat Fence 352-HF-12 - He HF-12 12 oz. Tube

Uhhh.... my heart just dropped viewing the photograph. Looks like it has a fine crystalline structure = nice material.

My suggestions since there's not much more to loose is to either have it welded. Refinish the tang (you may loose the hallmarks). If you weld the piece I would recommend having the person doing the work to immerse the blade in a material like Kool Jool, Thermaguard Protective Blanket or an alternative heat shield to best keep the temper of the blade. Having a bladesmith re-temper the blade would be tricky as the edge is so delicate.

Or... 3. drill and rivet the tang so you can mount it in a hardwood handle.

The grinding and welding/soldering sounds tricky and I think I might go with the drilling and repinning to a new tang. Hope it doesn't come out looking too Frankenstein'd. I assume the cooling agents would also be helpful, along with cutting oil, during the drilling process.?

sorry to resurrect a thread that is a couple months old, but I ran into a similar issue with my 1st restore. I was test fitting it in the scales and no matter what I did with the pivot hols in the scales or washers, it seemed to always close to one side (a lot). I finally realized "hey, this thing is bent!". So, not knowing any better, or at least not thinking clearly - I clamped the blade in a vise, and tried to tweak the tang by hand. Uh, not happening. This stuff is HARD. So, I slipped an 18" jack handle over the tang and gave it a nice, easy pull. It worked! Thinking about it now, I have no idea why it didn't snap. Just dumb luck I guess, and I was trying to be gentle (as gentle as you can be with a pry bar and a vise, lol).