Making Pommels for NamBam Style Knives

The pommels are composed of a terminal plate and a tab (or spur) that inserts into the handle and is epoxied and pinned in place. The pommels start as either 3/8" brass or 1/4" nickel-silver plates. The profile of the end of the handle is traced on the plate and cut out using a Harbor Freight bandsaw. Also cut out is a tab - a rectangular piece 3/8 to 1/2" wide by ~1" long. One end is narrowed down by parallel cuts such that the remainder is approximately square, i.e., if the plate is 1/4" thick, the narrow portion of the tab will be 1/4" across. Using a hand-vise, the corners are rounded and the wide end 'pointed' as shown. While I use a small lathe to turn the square section into a cylinder, the same effect can be gotten by using a file or chucking the tab in a drill and carefully touching the square section to the belt on your grinder. What you are looking for is a cylinder with the diameter equal to the plate thickness and a length 1.5 times that dimension.

The next step is drill an appropriate size hole at the correct spot in the pommel plate. A dial indicator is a great aid in determining the diameter. If you have already drilled a hole through the handle, you can either transfer the location of that hole to the pommel plate using an appropriate sized punch (assuming that you haven't already filled the cavity with epoxy) or trace the handle's end and use the tracing to transfer the location. If there is no hole, you can drill the hole in the center of the pommel plate and use the plate to transfer the hole's location to the handle. In any event, be sure to countersink the hole on both sizes (one for the rivet and one for the shoulders on the tab since even with a lathe, the cylinder is unlikely to meet the rest of the tab at a precise right angle. Also be sure to anneal the tab (for non-ferrics, heat to red hot and let it cool in the air - quenching in water is not needed).

If you like the pommel to lie at an angle to the handle (like I do), you'll need to figure out what the angle is. This is also a good time to trace the outline of the tab on the handle to be loater used as an aid in figuring out where to drill the hole for the lock pin. You may also have to file out the hole to allow the rivet (=cylinderical) section to lie at the correct angle. I simply clamped the tab in a machinist vise at the correct angle with the lower shoulder just above the level of the jaws, slipped the plate over the rivet section, made sure it was firmly down by tapping with a special punch (a chuck of round stock with a 1/4" hole in one end), and set the rivet. Remember the annealing? If you don't, you can probably start over.

The next step is to make a cavity big enough to accomodate the tab. The end of the handle should have been sanded flat and smooth and will have either a hole or a mark. Drill a hole with a diameter equal to the smallest dimension of the tab at the correct angle to run the tab down the axis of the handle. I find that a micro-die-grinder (Harbor Freight for ~$50) makes a great router when running surplus carbide bits (American Science & Surplus, ~$3.00/set of 4). Enlarge the hole until the tab slips in and the plate lays smoothly against the handle. If you haven't done it already, mark the location of the tab and the tang on the handle (I find white pencils help here). Mix up some epoxy with colorant, fill the cavity, and clamp it. When the epoxy has set, drill the lock hole and the tang hole (as described in the preceeding page). Once you glue in the pin, you and the pommel are set.