[Karl B. Andersen]

[attachment=1591:attachment]Here's a little gadget I made the other day and have found very useful!
It's a hidden tang guard clamp.
I think I saw one of these somewhere, but I can't remember where or who made it! Maybe it was in a catalog. I just don't know.
Anyway, I slotted a small piece of mild steel on my mill about .280 by 3/4". Drilled two holes into the slot from each side and tapped 10-32 for 2 socket head cap screws.
At each end of the slot, drill and tap another 2 holes for 2 two inch thumb screws.
Slide the slot over the end of your tang and stop about 1 1/2 inches from your guard. Tighten down the cap screws against the tang.
Run the thumb screws down against the guard to push the guard against the shoulders. This is just to hold the guard in place while you solder, NOT! to force the guard to fit. In other words, make sure you already have the guard nicely fitted to the shoulders. This jig will hold the guard in place while soldering, or while your "stuff" sets up if using the solderless guard method.
Cool thing about this is that you can place the knife up or down in a vise and the guard is held in place!
I sometimes end up with some spare time between forgings and other knifemaking endeavors and could make more of these if someone wants to buy them.
KBA