Knifemaking photo-essay (5) Milling an internal angle in the guard

The previous post in this series was: https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-guard-105164/

The joints between the guard and the handle slabs will be scarfed. To make such a joint, the back of the guard must be internally angled.

My milling machine is a combination horizontal- and vertical-shaft tool. When slotting the guard, the vertical milling attachment had to be swung clear; now I’m going to use this attachment to cut an angle in the back of the guard.

1) Aligning the vertical mill so its shaft is at an angle of 90 degrees to the work table.

2) A home-made clamp is fitted to the swivel vice. Here, I’m adjusting the swivel vice so the clamp’s front face is aligned with the fore-aft movement of the work table i.e. so there’s zero runout on the dial gauge as I move the work table in and out.

3) The front of the guard is butted up firmly against the clamp face, and the clamping bolts are tightened. I use a tungsten carbide tipped (TCT) dovetail router bit to mill the brass.

4) Setting up the height of the dovetail cutter. I want the cutter to clear the steel tang by a very small amount.

1) I take multiple light cuts.

2) With the angle cut, note the cross slide reading (22 on the dial). Back off the cross slide, turn the blade over in the clamp, and angle the other side of the guard. Cut until the cross slide dial again reads 22 – now both cuts will be the same distance into the brass.

3) The angled guard. The pink arrows point to thin slivers of brass and solder attached to the tang.

4) Removing the slivers of brass and solder. I chisel off the bulk of the material, then clean up any remainder with abrasive cloth.

5) The cleaned up blank. It’s now ready to be fitted with the handle slabs.