Round Knife Ferrule

[Mablung]

Does anyone have a good line on methods to tighten up a ferrule that's working loose?  I have a bad habit of pressing down a little firmly on my round knife and have loosened the ferrule slightly from leverage.  It's not even close to becoming a problem, but I want to know how to fix it in case I can avoid a future problem and so that I can fix a problem that arises.  I've looked through here but haven't found anything addressing this particular point, so figured I'd ask in case someone could save me a little time searching hither and yon without really knowing what I'm looking for.

Edited July 31, 2024 by Mablung

[bruce johnson]

depends on how loose. If there is enough of a gap fill it with epoxy or thick cyanoacrylate with a needle dispenser. Leave it sit at least 24 hours to cure.

[Mablung]

It’s not even close to that loose, mostly just a little displaced and allowing the tang to wiggle ever so slightly. I’m not worried about it, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

[dikman]

If it's a hidden tang and it's already starting to loosen I'd pull the blade out of the handle, remove the ferrule and reglue both with an epoxy.

[Mablung]

I think it has a small brass pin peened over the handle as well, but I don’t recall off the top of my head. I’ll look at it tonight. 

[Aventurine]

I'm curious how long the tang is, how well the wood is fitted around it, and how hard the wood is.  My inclination is like @dikman's to take the thing apart before the problem gets bad in order to save the wood from getting worn by the shifting and wobbling, slight as it is. 

Yeah, I'd also go for the epoxy, on the assumption that you will never need to remove the blade again.

Edited July 31, 2024 by Aventurine

[JDFred]

If you hold the knife blade down handle up and tap the end of the handle with a mallet it will pull every thing back together.  Then you can stake the ferrule of epoxy it or both.  Or if there is enough room between the tang and the handle you can try to put a toothpick in there and draw it up with the tang as your tapping the end of the handle, and it will act as a wedge and keep things tight.  I’ve used this on everything from 16 lb hammers to pitch forks to sharpening steels.  But use good judgement when taping on the end of your handle if you have a fancy wood so you don’t mar it. Hope this makes sense.

[dikman]

I guess we need a photo (or two) showing the construction of said knife.

[Mablung]

It’s the same one I posted a while back, when I first bought and sharpened it. I’ll take some closeup pictures of the handle soon, hopefully tonight. 

Edited August 1, 2024 by Mablung