Another newbie question, quickly

[z537z]

Is there anything more complicated to pinning in a handle than just getting a snug fit (like 1/32" smaller hole in handle slabs) in the wood, and epoxy? Then grinding it all down together so it's flat and pretty.

Any easy to find pin material lying around a hardware store or anything? I don't need mosaics, just something about 3/16" diameter and that'll look ok.

Thanks yet again

_z

 

[shappa]

That's pretty much it. Snug but not so tight you have to really force the pin through. The tough part is getting the holes for the pins straight across.

Pin material can be brass or aluminum rod from the hardware store. Some use brasing rod. Hobby shops carry different rods too.

 

[z537z]

Exactly what I wanted to know, thanks buddy!

Now I wait for UPS...


EDIT: Yeah, I'm drill pressing everything. I couldn't drill a hole square to anything if my life depended on it, can never tell what angle I'm at.

 

[Will52100]

For brass, I buy a tube of it at the welding supply shop. I use mostly 3/32" and 1/8". For stainless or nickle silver I buy that from knife supply houses a little at a time while ordering other stuff.

One trick is to chuck a section up in the hand drill and spin it slowly while wraping with with fine sandpaper to get rid of the oxidation just befor pining and epoxying. Remember to remove finger oils before glueing

 

[Jason Cutter]

I would suggest that you DON'T make your handle holes 1/32inch smaller than the actual pin diameter. That is a sure way to eventually crack some nice handle material that you can't replace, because 1/32inch is a lot of width to stretch when forcing a pin through.

I suggest drilling your handle material with the same drill size you make the holes in the tang, and then either epoxy your rivets / pins in or pein the ends to lock the handle on. You will find that many natural and synthetic handle material tends to close up a bit after drilling, so if anything the pin will still feel a little snug as you put it in place. Epoxy will lock the pins in place even bettrer if you casually file a couple of random notches into the surface of the rivet.

Just my 2cents. Jason.

 

[DaWulf]

I would suggest that you DON'T make your handle holes 1/32inch smaller than the actual pin diameter. That is a sure way to eventually crack some nice handle material that you can't replace, because 1/32inch is a lot of width to stretch when forcing a pin through.

I suggest drilling your handle material with the same drill size you make the holes in the tang, and then either epoxy your rivets / pins in or pein the ends to lock the handle on. You will find that many natural and synthetic handle material tends to close up a bit after drilling, so if anything the pin will still feel a little snug as you put it in place. Epoxy will lock the pins in place even bettrer if you casually file a couple of random notches into the surface of the rivet.

Just my 2cents. Jason.

What Jason said except I generally drill the hole .0002 smaller. Gives a just snug fit.

 

[z537z]

Good stuff.
I threw out 1/32 as a random #, but if I drill press these the hole should be perfectly snug for fit. And epoxy will lock them in the rest of the way.

Thanks guys.

_z

 

[J. MacDonald]

What Jason said except I generally drill the hole .0002 smaller. Gives a just snug fit.

You must have one of the world's tightest drill presses. Holding .0002 with a twist drill would be quite a trick. Care to share your technique?

John

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

Any easy to find pin material lying around a hardware store or anything? I don't need mosaics, just something about 3/16" diameter and that'll look ok. _z

I use brass and stainless for pin stock. I use .125 stainless tig welding rod. It's cheap and easy to find. I buy brass from a brass supplier. I recently bought a dozen 3/16" X 48" rod and 6 pieces of 5/16" X 48" Rod for $29 shipped. If you want to make tubular pins you can get stainless brake line from auto supply stores pretty cheap.