Drilling and Handle Material Questions

K

KrabbyKakes

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Jun 22, 2013
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My dad and I just tried to drill holes in my blades and we ran into a lot of problems.

1) What drill bits are needed to drill through hardened 1084? The current ones my dad has just spun in the metal.

2) How do you drill holes in kirinite? It keeps breaking. It broke when I cut some with a hacksaw. Salvaged and glued that pair. Then, a different pair broke when we drilled it and cracked. I managed to save that one with glue as well. When we drilled the one that broke previously, it broke again. In a different spot though. This one was not salvageable. I have one more set to drill and I want to know how. We don't have a drill press and I think it is because my dad was using too much pressure. I am going to have to order more supplies anyway which leads me to my third question.

3) What is the difference between stabilized and non stabilized wood? Also, what do I need to get in order to get the nice looking finish on wood scales? I'm am thinking about wood as an alternative because it is cheaper and easier to work with. G10 and Carbon Fiber are out of the question because my dog lives outside and while we can let him in while I grind, he will still be exposed to the left over dust. That leaves micarta but I would rather work with wood than that.

Sorry for the long post but all answers are greatly appreciated.
-Kris
 
Drill the holes in the blade before heat treat. Or, you could heat the area you want to drill with a torch, as long as you don't get the blade too hot.

If handle material is cracking or blowing out the back of the hole, put a piece of tape on the backside to help with blowouts.

Stabilized wood is more stable, easier to finish.
 
What Jason said. Hold the blade in water while you heat the tang to where you can just see some red showing, do that 3 times and it will drill like butter.

Tape and , I usually put a piece of wood under my scales, so when he drill bit breaks though, I is supported. I have never used kirinite, but that is what I do on all holes that I want not to split out.

Stabilized wood has been saturated with polymers, kinda like a thru soak of super glue. It don't really expand and contract or absorb moisture like wood does.
 
One problem with drilling things like kirinite is that you really have to raise and lower the bit repatedly with a drill press to clean out the flutes in the drill bit. If the bit packs up, and it will with thick materials of that style, the. The bit stops cutting, the flutes fill up, and the material can split.
 
The dust of micarta, CF, G10 and stabilized wood are all dangerous. I've only used Kirinite once, and I had not issues with it. It worked like butter.
 
Using a dull bit will make breakage and blow out worse, I have to keep and eye on my bits and am constantly sharpening. I also will use a compressor to blow air across the bit as I drill this helps keep it cool and the flights clean. If you do not have a copressor take frequent stops to let the bit cool some guys will even dip it in water. By keeping the bit cool you will also avoid getting a ghost ring around the hole. Are you using a drill press or a hand drill? If hand drill keep the drill perpendicular this is hard but important, keep the pressure even, than have the handle material fully supported on something as flat a posable. Keep it on something as flat as possible reduces stress.

Also let me add on to the suggestion about using tape or glueing a thin strip of soft wood to the back, I like pine for this because it is soft and easy to sand/file/grind away later.

To pile onto what Mooseyard said wear a mask when sanding and filing the handle. The fine dust produced is just not good for your lungs/ air way, some woods have nasties in them (black walnut, cocobol, Ipe and so on), and carbon fiber dust will tear your lungs up. Hope this helps and enjoy your project
 
Wow. Thanks a lot for all of the responses. I will try all of these on my last set today once he come home from work. I just have one more question. When you heat the handle with the torch, do you let it air cool like an annealing process? If so, does it need to cool down completely before heating it up again?
 
Heating with a torch isn't like annealing its more like spot tempering. You can either pack the blade in wet sand and heat the tang or just hold the blade with your fingers over a bucket of water and heat the tang. When the blade gets hot enough to hurt your fingers you can dip the blade in the water up to the ricasso to keep it cool. I hold it in my fingers more than using wet sand and I hold it near the edge because it is thinner and will heat up faster. As far as cooling the tang when you get the color you want it too can be dunked in the water no need to slow cool it.
 
If you clamp the blade end in your vise, it acts as a heat sink while you heat the tang end. Like Barry said, it's more spot tempering than annealing. As such, you can dip in water if you don't want to wait for it to air cool.
 
About drilling in hardened metal, it can be done without heating by using a special drill (I use a wydia drill for detent holes)
These drills are not cheap(around 20dollars I think)
 
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