Couple more finished

[RyanW]

These are two that I plan on putting through the paces... a Wharnie (I know some people hate them, but I find them very useful around the shop) and A small burled Drop Point.

Question: I am using 1/8" Stainless Steel pins what drill bit should I be using I find the 1/8" Bit to be very tight and worry about cracking the Scales. Any tricks or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Wharne:
Steel: 1/8" O1
OAL: 7.5"
Blade: 3.5"
Handle: Mac Ebony
Pins: 1/8" Stainless Steel

Burl Drop Point:
Steel: 1/8" O1
OAL: 8"
Blade: 3.5"
Handle: Maple Burl
Pins: 1/8" Stainless Steel
Thong Tubing: 9/32" Aluminum Tubing
** Even made a sheath for this one!

 

[Erin Burke]

I really like the look of that maple burl handle. Nice.

Question: I am using 1/8" Stainless Steel pins what drill bit should I be using I find the 1/8" Bit to be very tight and worry about cracking the Scales. Any tricks or tips would be greatly appreciated!

I am not an expert... but this is what has been working for me lately:

I drill the tang and scales w/ a 1/8" bit and then I clean out the scale holes with a #30 bit. It is so small a size increase (0.0035") that it is not visually noticable, but it sure helps things go smoothly when epoxy is everywhere and I'm trying to press a pin through.

Erin

 

[PIndelicato]

I'll echo Erin in both really liking the maple burl handle (nice work!), and also in the use of a #30 bit, although I use it for both tang and scale holes and don't seem to have any problems. I do however have an oversized bit for 1/4" thong tubing, which I wanna say is an F bit going from memory, and it seems to have a lot more slop in it for some reason. On my last knife I drilled first with a 1/4" bit thinking that maybe my tubing was undersized and not really 1/4", but it wouldn't go through the hole.

There's a chart you can probably Google and find online of all the drill bit sizes. I printed it out and have it on my bench next to my drill press so I can remember which sized bit is the next size up from the size of my pins that I'm using.

 

[Phillip Dobson]

That's a neat idea to use the #30 bit. I've always just given my pin stock a quick sanding with 60-grit. The rough finish might help adhesive bond, too.

 

[Bailey Knives]

very nice knives. I really like the burl handled drop point. Excellent work.