Fixing a tang nut on G.C. Co hunting knife, and restoration project

[dbe4876]

I have been working on this G.C. Company hunting knife for a while. It was left to me by an uncle who passed years ago. Tag on it said "Traded." I think he traded me for it cuz I know I had one EXACTLY like it which I have been unable to find. The blade had some surface rust so I hand sanded it off, and then did my best with the dremel to buff it up again.

I then dis-assembled the handle to see what condition all the elements were in. The stag did have a little loose wobble in it. The brass tang nut was particularly stubborn, and I'm afraid I made quite a mess out of it getting it off.

The threads also did encounter some damage while removing the tang nut. So I purchased a thread repair file, as well as a 10x32 die, and did some repair on it tonight which seems successful.

The original brass tang nut goes on nicely now. Unfortunately, the nut is a mess on the top side. I did order some tang nuts from Crazy Crow, but it seems like none of them are correct. So, that leaves me with either trying to repair the damaged brass tang nut (doubtful), or finding a replacement from a similar knife. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Advice?

[Madmarco]

I don't have any suggestions for you, David, but kudos for taking on the project and your efforts so far, if you stick to it I'm certain you'll have a great bowie once it's finished.

[Suredan]

Pretty easy to reproduce if you have a friend with a lathe. You can make it by hand. Find some solid brass rod of the appropriate diameter, center punch it and drill a hole through the center. Then tap the hole and file the slot on the top. Use a split screwdriver to tighten. Good luck.

[Bill DeShivs]

What you did to the nut could have been completely avoided by simply making and using the proper tool.
You can file the damaged end flat, and recut the slots, but it will have to be installed with the proper tool.

[eveled]

You might get away with cutting a slot in the other end and installing it upside down.

[herbva]

I just checked for you, and a number of the suppliers that I deal with have various tang nuts. Try Texas Knifemaker's Supply, and KnifeHandles.com. for starters. The brass tang nuts come in different sizes the trick is finding the right size for your knife, especially if yours takes one of the less common sizes. Once upon a time, I was having trouble finding a tang nut that would fit the threads of the knife I was working on, so I took the knife to a local hardware store and we tried different steel nuts until we found one that matched my tang threads, and then all I had to do was copy the exact thread size from the label on the tray that I found those nuts in. FYI, you might want to buy or make a tang nut tool so that you don't bugger up a new tang nut. Attached are pictures of the tang nut tool I made from a large screw driver years ago and have used many times. Although it is rather primitive, it works fine and for stubborn nuts I can attach a wrench just below the handle.

[1967redrider]

Herb has some experience with these.


What Bill said.

[dbe4876]

Please keep in mind this is my first knife restoration project EVER. Every bit of this was new to me. I did watch several YouTube videos by knife makers/sharpeners, which gave me some courage to undertake it. I tried making a tang nut tool but failed on that (chisel not a good chouce! LoL).

I got out the dremel last night and tried to clean up that nut. Turned out okay, I think. But it is shorter now.

[doglegg]

Please keep in mind this is my first knife restoration project EVER. Every bit of this was new to me. I did watch several YouTube videos by knife makers/sharpeners, which gave me some courage to undertake it. I tried making a tang nut tool but failed on that (chisel not a good chouce! LoL).

I got out the dremel last night and tried to clean up that nut. Turned out okay, I think. But it is shorter now.

David, you sure learned a lot with this one. Valuable experience. I look forward to the completed knife.

[SwedgeHead]

Others mentioned this too, but its about finding the right diameter brass round. If its common like 1/2", 3/8ths, .375 and others in mm's then you just buy the brass round stock for $5-10, cut off a slice, drill, tap and groove. Sounds easy but takes tools, you already seem to like to tinker anyway so there you go.

But if your new creation looks good, just run it !
Share pics later.

[Fisher Cat]

"I got out the dremel last night and tried to clean up that nut. Turned out okay, I think. But it is shorter now."

You may be able to space it out with a washer (or two) between the tang nut and bottom of the hole in the pommel cap. Not an ideal solution, but no one would know unless they took it apart.

It would be easy enough to make a replacement for the original nut, but now one original dimension (the length) is missing. It could still be figured out pretty well by reverse engineering the depth of the hole in the pommel cap.

What you lack in skill and proper tools can usually be compensated for by slowing down and being more patient. Your knife looks good so far. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. - John

[dbe4876]

You may be able to space it out with a washer (or two) between the tang nut and bottom of the hole in the pommel cap. Not an ideal solution, but no one would know unless they took it apart.

My thought EXACTLY!

[dbe4876]

Took the plunge tonight and poured epoxy into the stag fitted to the tang handle. My little work area is downstairs, a board placed atop of the laundry tub. Had to run out to Harbor Freight to buy a clamp-on vice as I couldn't come up with a way to stabilize it otherwise. Found a nice little vice for $25. Gotta love HF.

Anyway, it was a bit of a panic. Thought I could use a syringe to suck up the epoxy and then plunge it down the stag between the tang handle. Epoxy mixed, and all of the sudden that didn't work! O boy, what now! So I quick pulled the stag off, taped up one end, and then fed as much epoxy down into it as I could. Then I flipped it over and quick fitted it to the tang handle. And, then I tried to carefully feed more epoxy into the small open areas at the top of the stag where the tang comes out. It was a panic.

I did tape the tang handle with plumbers tape, as well as the flat between the stag and the leather atop the hand guard. HOPEFULLY, after the epoxy is set I can get the stag off again to clean things up before final assembly. That epoxy pretty much got on everything. I'll have to clean out the tang threads again, and clean up the hand guard, and the leather padding atop the hand guard. More work to do.

[dbe4876]

Today I finished up the G.C. Company hunting knife. After yesterday's epoxy pour to build a new fit for the stag handle, I needed to remove the stag and clean up leftover epoxy. It was a challenge but I finally prevailed with the removal, and then I cleaned up all the bits of epoxy that had dripped places we don't want it.

I then reinstalled the stag, and then worked on installing the leather padding slices. I used contact cement on each layer. Then, I installed the aluminum butt, and assessed how much I would need to compensate for the now shorter tang nut.

I had some small washers that would serve as spacers but they were too large a diameter to fit. So, I put all the washers on a small bolt and tightened them up good, then I took it to the 1x30 belt sander and used an 80 grit belt to reduce their size. That finished, I was able to get 3 or 4 of them installed before the tang nut. I then threaded on the modified tang nut and got it to a good tight fit. That left about 1/16 inch above the butt end, and a quick trip back to the belt sander brought it nice and even with the butt of the knife.

I almost can't believe I'm finally done. This project took me about a month from start to finish. I needed to watch several YouTube how-to videos and purchase a couple new tools. I took my time, and with some trepidation, only moved to a next step when I was ready for it. My boyhood hunting knife is back into a beautiful condition.

[doglegg]

I enjoyed the trip. And it really looks good!

[C-WADE7]

Good work!

[Reverand]

My Marine buddies often tell me to "adapt and overcome".
It looks like that is exactly what you did!
Great job!

[TripleF]

Congrats!! Proud of you for sticking it out!!!
Looks ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhmazing!!!

[orvet]

Nice job! It looks good. I have restored a number of that type of knife. They have good steel and they look nice when finished.

A suggestion for next time you are using epoxy in a situation like this. When I'm afraid I will get epoxy on places where I don't want it, like on stag or on the tang threads, I coat the area with a coat of Vaseline. It doesn't have to be a super thick coat, but you don't want it too thin either.
Keep the Vaseline off of the area where you want the epoxy stick. If you do get Vaseline on areas where you want the epoxy to stick, just wipe it off with isopropyl alcohol.
This method has saved me hours of cleanup work and still gives a good bond where the epoxy is applied.