Facepalm. Please help...

B

built4life

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Jan 5, 2014
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So to preface this, i do know better, i just need help for my boneheaded mistake.

I just spent allot of hours profiling, grinding and hardening two beautiful skinning knifes out of 1095. I drilled my bolster holes before heat treating however thought i would leave my handle holes until later for several reasons i wont go into.

So now, i can't get a drill bit through these blades, whats the best way to anneal these blanks without ruining them... thanks it advance!

John
 
built4life said:
So to preface this, i do know better, i just need help for my boneheaded mistake.

I just spent allot of hours profiling, grinding and hardening two beautiful skinning knifes out of 1095. I drilled my bolster holes before heat treating however thought i would leave my handle holes until later for several reasons i wont go into.

So now, i can't get a drill bit through these blades, whats the best way to anneal these blanks without ruining them... thanks it advance!

John
Click to expand...

What's the best way?
A: 'Tanotta'


'To not to' if that needs translation...


Use a carbide bit and git-r-done.


-Eric
 
YES! Where do i get one?? These knives are for family leaving for a hunting trip in just a couple of days /:
 
lastbrunneng has it. Put the blade in your vise and heat up the area for the pin holes with a torch. The vise will act as a heat sink and protect the blade, while the hole areas will be drawn back to drillable.
 
Even if you use carbide, it will be helpful to soften the tang some first. A number of different ways ranging from a potato to a pot of water to keep the blade cool while you torch the tang to at least blue if not more.

A crummy carbide masonry bit from Lowes will chew a ragged hole through that.

Be very careful not to helicopter a sharp blade on your drill and lop off some fingers
 
Yes, do all of the above but take a look at carbide tipped drill bits for drilling holes in glass instead of the masonry bits. I think they will make cleaner holes.
 
Try an accu drill. Solid carbide drill but doesn't have the typical twist a HSS bit has. Im not sue its the right name for them but I've used them to drill a 1/4 hole through a hardened piece of O1 so I could attach it to my angle plate for squaring up blocks in the Bridgeport. They leave a decent hole with a decent finish. Best to try to drill holes thru hard steel while locked in either a fixture or a vise in a milling machine. Then make sure you either us just air or FLOOD with coolant. Never use coolant intermittent as this can cause fracturing of the carbide. If needed just reply and I can get the technical name for these drills.

Jay
 
Just looked it up I guess their just called "straight flute carbide drills". They do work much better than twist carbide drills. Hope this might work.

Jay
 
I just got a few blades back from heat treat myself and what did I forget?...I got some carbide straight flute drill bits from McMaster-Carr. I installed their app on my IPad and searched carbide drill bits. They have a number of types to choose from. I got the short length tin coated version. They went through hardened O-1 with little effort.
 
When I forget to drill holes pre-HT, I just grab some carbide tipped masonry bits from the local hardware store for 4 or 5 bucks each. It will drill a little over sized, but for handle pins that's usually not a big issue.

Be carefull of tear out on the back of the hole though. Clamping it to a piece of throwaway steel should mitigate this.
 
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