The Blankenshield tang method makes the
weakest point on the sword, the junction between the blade and the tang,
as strong as possible, and it makes the guard as firmly in place as possible.
If you want your sword to "sing" when it strikes rather than
buzz or rattle this method works well. The illustration is pretty self
explanatory. The tang is made in steps and the step extends through the
tang slot in the guard. The shoulders exposed through the guard are split
with a chisel and the split shoulders forced down on the guard to permanently
force the guard against the base of the blade. If heat is used such as
a welding torch be sure to heat gradually and allow to cool gradually.
Even playing some heat on the area a bit after the splits are made. This
may soften the area a bit but that is better than making it brittle by
cooling the joint too fast.
