Tightening up a loose handle (Rigged!)
Nov 17, 2009 8:14:29 GMT
Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 8:14:29 GMT
Ok, so either by change of humidity, altitude, phase of the moon or whatever the handle of my VA 304s Practical Longsword had started to become loose. In all actuality, the reason it has become loose is probably due to my poor technique, but regardless...
The problem was that when I slid the handle over the tang, I could see a visual gap that the tang could move around in. It was not always this way and the tang more or less dented the sides of the wooden handle.
The screwdriver was held up against the bottom of the handle to give you an idea how bit the gap is.
A penny could easily fit in the space, and while I couldn't get a good angle, there was also a small space along the sides.
I pondered a great deal on how to fix this and asked around getting answers ranging from tightening the pommel nut more to filling the handle with poxy and making it a fixed unit. Neither of these options appealed to me much, so I kept thinking.
I finally came up with the idea to make a sleeve for the tang that would wrap around it and fill in the gap between the tang and handle. I considered shaving down pieces of wood to glue to the inside of the handle, and I might have gone that route if I had the equipment to do that.
Instead I decided to fill it in with an aluminum can. I went down to the local gas station and bought one of tho's 99 cent Arizona Ice Tea cans and quickly drained the contents into my mouth (it was delicious).
Then I cut the top and bottom off the can and cut a slit vertically down the can. After that I wrapped the sheet of metal around the tang, made some marks on where it should bend, then bent the metal into a sleeve type shape.
Trimmed it up a bit and yee haw, I had an aluminum sleeve to fit around my tang. It was a rather snug fit and I had to tap the handle on for the last inch or so.
Results:
A perfect handle! The tang no longer wiggles inside the handle and it's as tight as a (insert crude analogy here.)
It's not a perfect solution, and when I have the patience to try, I'll attempt to build a new handle for it. But a cut up can works for this back yard cutter!
The problem was that when I slid the handle over the tang, I could see a visual gap that the tang could move around in. It was not always this way and the tang more or less dented the sides of the wooden handle.
The screwdriver was held up against the bottom of the handle to give you an idea how bit the gap is.
A penny could easily fit in the space, and while I couldn't get a good angle, there was also a small space along the sides.
I pondered a great deal on how to fix this and asked around getting answers ranging from tightening the pommel nut more to filling the handle with poxy and making it a fixed unit. Neither of these options appealed to me much, so I kept thinking.
I finally came up with the idea to make a sleeve for the tang that would wrap around it and fill in the gap between the tang and handle. I considered shaving down pieces of wood to glue to the inside of the handle, and I might have gone that route if I had the equipment to do that.
Instead I decided to fill it in with an aluminum can. I went down to the local gas station and bought one of tho's 99 cent Arizona Ice Tea cans and quickly drained the contents into my mouth (it was delicious).
Then I cut the top and bottom off the can and cut a slit vertically down the can. After that I wrapped the sheet of metal around the tang, made some marks on where it should bend, then bent the metal into a sleeve type shape.
Trimmed it up a bit and yee haw, I had an aluminum sleeve to fit around my tang. It was a rather snug fit and I had to tap the handle on for the last inch or so.
Results:
A perfect handle! The tang no longer wiggles inside the handle and it's as tight as a (insert crude analogy here.)
It's not a perfect solution, and when I have the patience to try, I'll attempt to build a new handle for it. But a cut up can works for this back yard cutter!