Putting a tang on an integral bolster

[Conner Michaux 352]

After upsetting the bolster on this chef there was not enough material to pull a tang out of, the two options I’ve thought of are welding a tang onto the bolster, or drilling and tapping a hole to screw a tang into the bolster. What’s the best course of action? Thanks 

[Gerhard Gerber 470]

I was about to say drill & tap the bolster, but I don't know what heat treat would do to the threads.

 

If you drill a hole, insert the tang a bit then weld it, should be strong enough

[Alan Longmire 3,788]

I'd drill, tap, and braze with jewelers hard solder.  The hard grade flows at 1725 F, so shouldn't be bothered by heat treatment.  If you have the option of TIG welding, that would be good too.  I only have a crappy stick welder, and the cleanup would be a pain. 

[Pieter-Paul Derks 317]

Personally I would forge that out to a stick tang and start on a new integral

All methods of joining a tang would not be optimal.

Drilling and tapping a hole would be the next best thing, you could even drill all the way through the handle and use a nut to pull the handle tight against the bolster.

 

[Joshua States 2,502]

Salem Straub drill and taps on kitchen knives quite frequently. He also does a through tang of threaded rod with an end nut to hold the whole thing together.

[Geoff Keyes 672]

I have also used the threaded rod idea for a tang.  In fact Salem and I were talking at a show several years ago and I "confided" in him that I had done this and was worried that people might think it was cheating.  He laughed and said that he thought he was the only one who had done it.

 

If you have enough room to get 4 or 5 threads engaged (more is better) I've never had a problem.  It does let you get a totally flat mating surface on the bolster without any fuss.  I use grade 5 or better bolts and some kind of thread lock (JB weld is good) and I harden the bolster to make sure the threads are strong.

The through tang and nut is an added bonus.  That is something I often do on my more conventional tangs as well.

Geoff