How do you drill a hidden tang handle?

[oic0]

So I made a hidden tang knife at 1/8th inch thick. The problem is I can't for the life of me figure out how to drill a 1/8th inch slot 3 inches deep. Should I just drill a bigger hole and fill in the air space with epoxy and saw dust?

 

[Jeremy Barnard]

You could. You could also drill a couple holes and use a broach to scrape out the wood in between the holes you drilled.

They look something like:
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4645132699174995&pid=1.7&w=301&h=188&c=7&rs=1

That's a John Perry broach. I have one my self and they are very nice.

 

[Hengelo_77]

you can ger extra long drill bits.
Pre drill with a normal one then go deeper with the longer one

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Most folks who drill for a thin hidden tang drill a slightly larger hole. The epoxy will fill the gap. It is not as big a gap as most assume. If you drill a 1/4" slot for an 1/8" tang, there will only be 1/16" space on each side to fill. The extra allows for positioning the blade accurately at the guard, thus avoiding gaps.

TIP - Warming the resin before pouring it in the slot makes filling the slot easier.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Stacy, how do you go about warming the resin?

 

[rwn2000]

Stacy, how do you go about warming the resin?

I dont know how Stacy does it, but I put the 2 bottles of epoxy in a cup of warm, not hot, water for 3 to 5 minutes before mixing.


Randy

 

[leifjl]

look up aircraft drill bits. Or you could possibly burn it in.

 

[12345678910]

I've warmed epoxy holding it over a light bulb

 

[Gody]

Looks like there are many good ways to warm epoxy. I´ll either warm it gently with a heat gun or mix the epoxy on a piece of cleaned milk box, and heat it over a lighter or candle, untill its thin. Just dont overheat it, if it starts to boil, it´s too hot.

Brian

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks guys, I needed that, especially for the tangs that have a bigger curve in them.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Resins that are as thick as axle grease will get as thin as hot pancake syrup when heated to 100-120F.

I have a little warmer plate that was used for a potpourri warmer room deodorizer. It just gets rather warm, but not hot. If I am mixing a larger amount of resin for several handles, it works great.
Most of the time, I just stick the cup of resin in the microwave for a few seconds.
Be forewarned, heating the resin will also speed up the set time, so use a slow set resin, and be ready to fit the handle before warming it up.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks Stacy.

 

[oic0]

Thanks for the advice. Managed to get it done. Using a larger bit also had the benefit of being able to apply a little side load so I could use the bit to slowly hog out the material between holes.

Just a dinky lil 1084 knife with a handle made from a lawn implement. Cuts vegetables well enough though (Thats a reflection of carpet where the handle meets the tang, not epoxy crud)