Holes for handles...

K

KennyB

Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
2,312
I've been planning on making my first knife with a skeleton handle or some type of wrap because I don't have a drill press to drill holes. Is it possible to have it sent off to a custom handle maker just to get the holes drawn, or would it make more sense to have them just do the handles themselves? I don't have a belt sander either, so it might just be a better idea for me to send the blade out for handling.

What do you guys think?
 
My advice... spend money on tools rather than spending it to get someone else to do the work.

Come to think of it, I should follow my own advice and buy a heat treating oven... much to the consternation of my wife, who is SURE I will burn the house down every time I let a few sparks fly.

(sigh)
 
Get a 12" length of 2x4, 2 clamps, and a hand drill. Clamp your blank to the 2x4 clamped to your workbench. Use a ruler to measure your holes then SLOWY drill them.
 
tryppyr said:
My advice... spend money on tools rather than spending it to get someone else to do the work.

Come to think of it, I should follow my own advice and buy a heat treating oven... much to the consternation of my wife, who is SURE I will burn the house down every time I let a few sparks fly.

(sigh)
Click to expand...

I agree completely,Instead of spending the money to ship it and get the work done,go to Harbor Freight and get a 39 dollar drill press,making fixed blades it will serve you for years.You can finish the handle with a couple of rasps and sand paper.

And tryppyr,that's why my wife moved me into the backyard,she said if I'm gonna burn something down or blow something up and make all that dust it aint' gonna be in her house.:D
Stan
 
We learn more from trying....even (especially) if we screw up, than we
will from having someone else do for us...

Buy the best tools/materials you can afford.....and start learning.
 
Russ Andrews said:
We learn more from trying....even (especially) if we screw up, than we
will from having someone else do for us...

Buy the best tools/materials you can afford.....and start learning.
Click to expand...

that's GREAT advice.

one of my great friends in knifemaking is Dr Mike Blue who gave me my favorite quote, I use it in my sig line on all the forums

"wisdom and experience are built of bricks made from the mud of failure"


you gotta try new stuff and not be afraid to stuff it up, a little failure now and then is healthy
 
KennyB
First of all for your own sake give up the idea of making your own knife. It will only lead to making another, then another, then another then another... ;-)

If you make a skeletonized handle you will have to make a hole to start the skelitization process, right? With a drill? I'll bet you know SOMEONE with a drill that would let you drill two or three holes. This is yet another reason to be of the good side of the maintenance/custodial staff at work. Make a wood handle. It's not that tough and looks so much better than a cord-wrapped handle in my opinion.

I see that you are a computer programmer. Did you start out by programming something like Microsoft Office? I sort of don't think so. So in learning to make knives do you expect to make something really complicated or that will match the quality of someone with years of experience? Your life and self-worth does not depend upon this first knife being perfect. It's like your first time programming. I didn't expect my first attempt to be perfect and by golly I lived up to my expectations! Regardless of how your knife turns out it will be THE BEST KNIFE YOU'VE EVER MADE! My only suggestion is to not try to make a huge Rambo meat cleaver with a nine inch blade made from 1/4" high-tech steel. It will be less frustrating and more likely to be completed.

I think we should all strive to do the best be can, but let's be realistic. You're going to make a knife, a process you've never done before. Just do it. It's a learning experience and should be fun.

Good luck, we're all pulling for ya.

LonePine
AKA Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
So, this crazy idea of mine of scribing the holes perfectly in center with each other and getting all the parts perfectly flat with a surface plate and some dye, probably isn't the best way to go about it? I guess I was kind of going at it like that because I've made quite a few parts in the machine shop by hand, and have drilled/tapped quite a few holes.

I guess when I think about it though, those types of things were easier in an actual machine shop. I've barely got a vise setup.

So yeah, I suppose for now just eye-balling them and drilling the holes in by hand is good enough.

Anyway, yeah, I guess because I have the ability to make things to such precisions that's what I wanted to strive for on the knife too, but you guys are probably right not to try to take on the world on my first attempt. Probably need to get other things about the knife "just right" before I need to worry about trivial things like the flatness of the finish or how inline the holes are.

I had no idea a drill press was only $39 though. That's enough convincing for me to buy one; I just wonder how much a vise for it costs.
 
Getting all the parts flat with a surface plate and sandpaper is the best way to go,it makes for a good fit.But the holes don't have to be that precise.layout center and distance and drill.
Stan
 
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