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Japanese swords and traditional Tanto are made with the hidden tang and so also
are a host of other traditional patterns. The tang on Japanese Tanto can sometimes
be so short that expecting them to perform as required seems to defy logic. Yet
perform they do and then some. The trick is in the design. Only four pieces are
required to haft a stub tang. Properly designed and constructed, it can be as
reliable as a full tang.
Light weight and improved weight distribution without any trade off in reliability,
are tangible assets of a well designed hidden tang.
Scribe a rectangle onto the guard material corresponding to the crossection of the tang. Drill a line of holes inside the rectangle and file out the web between them. Once it is possible to slid the guard part way up the tang look for bright areas on the inside of the guard hole where it rubbed on the tang. They are high spots so file them down and the guard will go a bit further onto the tang next time. Once the guard is almost home put the blade in a vise and set the guard onto its seat with a heavy pipe and a hammer. If the hole ends up too big, use a ballpein hammer to spread material into the hole then polish off the front surface and press it onto the tang again.
If the tang is tapered correctly on all four planes from the ricasso to the end, guard fitting is considerably easier. Many makers like to solder the guard but it is acceptable to make a good fit and leave it at that. It also means that you can take off the guard at a later date should you wish to dismantle the knife.
The front surface of the wood block is prepared to mate with the guard.
The outline of the tang position is drawn on the block and drill lines are
extrapolated from same.In this way the angle of the tang and position and depth
of the two initial holes can be plotted with ease.
Two longtitudinal holes are drilled in the block and the material between them is chiseled out with a chisle size equal to the thickness of the tang.. Trial fittings of the tang are made and the hole is gradually enlarged until the tang fits all the way home. With care a very good fit can be established. Some makers like to burn the tang into the wood at some point but I do not favor this.
Once the wood and tang fit well together the front surface of the wood is prepared to mate seamlessly with the guard material using a sharp scraper and the position of the pinhole is marked out.
The tang is inserted into the wood while the pinhole is drilled to ensure they all line up during final assembly.
All mating surfaces are thinly coated in epoxy and the tang is pressed back into the block for the last time. If you want to make it dismantleable wrap the tang in a single layer of cling film.
The pin is coated in epoxy and driven home. Unless the pin hole is close to the end of the tang a separate drain hole is required in the block to vent excess epoxy and allow the tang to be pushed fully home.
Excess is ground off and finish is applied.
