drilling 5" hole for hidden tang?

B

bowdude

Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
133
Hi all,

How do you makers get a hole 5" or so down into a handle for a hidden stick tang? I'm in the process of finishing off a large 10" bowie, and I'm using a piece of wood 5.5" or so long to accommodate the 5" long tang.

Must be some sort of drill press trick I haven't figured out yet.
 
This is a great idea:thumbup::thumbup:
I havent tried it but I will:D :D

07-06-2006, 09:58 PM
bladsmth
Ilmarinen Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Norfolk,Va.
Posts: 1,878

Clamp a piece of 2" thick wood in your drill press vise. Drill a 1/4" hole most of the way through it (don't remove the wood block).Cut a piece of 1/4" drill rod so about 1" sticks out the hole.Grind it to a 45 degree point.Drill a 1/4" deep starter hole in each end of the handle where you want the hole to be. Place the handle on the rod (with the starter hole on the rod tip) and drill about 2" deep from the other end.Reverse the handle and drill down to connect the holes. It will be perfect every time. This is especially useful for drilling handlers that are not straight,or don't have flat ends (stag or such).
Stacy
__________________
Stacy E.Apelt
 
if you have a lathe (wood or metal) you could chuck it up and run a long drill in the tailstock.
 
Or just buy a long drill bit and chuck it in the drill press, lower the table till you're able to get the workpiece underneath, wrap tape around the drill bit at the depth you want. Drill down till it stops(most drill presses won't have the travel to do it all in one shot), lift the chuck about 3/4's the way back out of the hole leaving the drill bit still inside it, lock it in place, and then loosen the table and raise it again. The drill bit will provide tracking for you. Tighten the table and finish the drilling to the depth you wish.

You'll have to loosen the table to lower it enough to get the bit out and there you go.

One last thing. Drill a 5/64" hole at a 45 degree angle to the long tang hole to intersect the tang hole at or near the bottom, on the underside of the handle. That will provide an air escape hole when you pour thick epoxy in the tang hole and keep you from getting a huge air bubble which would not be good for handle strength. When epoxy starts to exit that hole, patch it with duct tape or what have you and just keep going.

When you do your finish work on the handle you will barely see the small hole with epoxy in it.

Another way to do this is,
http://www.primosknives.com/articles/mortised_tangs/mortised_tangs_1.htm
 
Thanks for all the info. I hadn't given the through-drilling any thought, but now I have that more or less covered as well.

Off to get some chips flying....
 
Aw man Chuck,

You got me there. I just about finished one side @ 220, and I have the guard 2/3 up the tang, and stopped until I get the blade to 600.

I have some "practice wood," and then I'll try on the real deal.

Hopefully I can get the USB port fixed on the computer, and then I'll be able to get some pics up. But then again, if I really botch it up, then the computer may develop a permanent malfunction... :D

Since you banged out the blade for me, I'm gonna have to send you paper pics in the meantime.

Larry
 
Larry don't worry about paper pics. Hey if you get some paper and have a scanner????? maybe. Just a thought. It would be nice to see the progression even if you send them all at once.

Chuck
 
bowdude said:
Thanks for all the info. I hadn't given the through-drilling any thought, but now I have that more or less covered as well.

Off to get some chips flying....
Click to expand...


I wasn't talking about through drilling, if you were referring to my post. Just talking about drilling a deep blind hole. I would suggest though that you grind or cut the tang to 4.25"-4.5" and drill the hole 4.5". in a 5" block. Handles don't usually look good on most knives if they're longer than 5".

You can get the extra long drill bits at most knifemakers supply houses or some good harware stores. They're about 6" long, aprox.
 
Oh not your post, the 2nd one from loussharp has the through-drilled hole technique.

I am definitely gonna try yours, since the tang is around 5" long. I'll trim it back a bit, then go from there.
 
bowdude said:
Oh not your post, the 2nd one from loussharp has the through-drilled hole technique.

I am definitely gonna try yours, since the tang is around 5" long. I'll trim it back a bit, then go from there.
Click to expand...


OK. make sure to notch the edges at irregular intervals to provide steps for the epoxy to lock into. They don't have to be deep.

You also might have to round the tang a bit to get it to fit in that hole. That's normal. Just take it one step at a time and you'll be fine.

That 5/64" hole coming in at a 45 degree angle into the bottom, or near there into the tang hole will be a big help in getting that epoxy all the way down in that hole without forming huge air bubbles in it.

I would suggest having lots of paper towels at hand when you start to insert that tang, it will overflow the epoxy so have something on hand to wipe up the excess. When you have the tang seated, get some large rubber bands and place then from the guard to the bottom of the handle to holt it tight while it sets up.

Don't forget that epoxy will run out of the little air bleed hole when you're filling the tang hole, it's OK, just have something under it to catch the drips until the tang hole is about 1/2 filled then wipe it off and wrap the hole with duct tape a couple of times around the handle to stop it leaking. It's done it's job by then. Insert the tang and do it slowly and move it up and down to break up any large bubbles that might have been captured. Epoxy will rapidly rise over the top of the handle as you insert the tang. That's normal and you wipe it off . Make sure that everything it pointing upwards during all this. It will be messy!;)

Good luck.
 
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