Recommendation? Looking for someone to drill and tap some screw holes for a pocket clip.

T

turboboob

Joined
Feb 26, 2018
Messages
8
Hey guys, is there someone around here that's experienced in tapping bolsters to add a pocket clip? I have a Buck 112 elite auto I want to add a pocket clip to (don't crucify me, belt sheaths aren't my jam.) I really love the knife but I'm never carry it because it falls sideways in my pocket. Any recommendations would be awesome.
 
eKretz said:
Do you have a clip in mind? You cover shipping and I'd do this for you free. I was a job shop machinist for a couple decades so I've got a little experience. It's pretty easy to drill and tap holes. You might well be able to handle it yourself.
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That would be really cool. I have a Lynch deep carry clip I was thinking would work. Do you have an email where we could make a plan?
 
I do but not real keen on posting it publicly for spambots to harvest. Apparently can't send PMs here without buying a membership.
 
eKretz said:
I do but not real keen on posting it publicly for spambots to harvest. Apparently can't send PMs here without buying a membership.
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You can post it on his profile wall and if you’re really worried about spambots do it like this: mrexample (@) email.com
 
eKretz said:
I do but not real keen on posting it publicly for spambots to harvest. Apparently can't send PMs here without buying a membership.
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It's okay I have throwaway email accounts I don't mind posting. Want to maybe hit me up at wcswrobel @ gmail.com and we can go from there?

A little backwards for you to email me, since you'd be doing me a favor, but it solves that problem at least haha
 
I actually just got it done. Turns out the #2-56 tap that I thought I had was actually a #2-64, so had to order a tap. Which apparently got lost in the mail and took two weeks to arrive. He just got it back yesterday. He mentioned that he was going to post some photos of the finished product but doesn't look like he got around to it yet.
 
I like Guhring taps. You don't want to skimp in this area, especially with tiny taps. If you break one off in the hole, you'll be capital 'F' f***ed ummm.... you know what I mean.

Also, be extremely careful drilling the holes. There isn't much leeway for the hole size going too big or you won't have much if any thread. In other words, make sure you've got a well sharpened drill (no hand grinds here) and don't drill with a hand drill, use a drill press at minimum.
 
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E eKretz I have only used very basic taps in larger sizes before. Can a "Blind Hole / Bottoming Tap" be used for through-hole applications as well?
 
Mr.Wizard said:
E eKretz I have only used very basic taps in larger sizes before. Can a "Blind Hole / Bottoming Tap" be used for through-hole applications as well?
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It depends on what the material is. Bottoming taps are normally only used for finishing the last few threads in a hole that's already been tapped as deep as possible with a plug tap. On very soft material like plastic, brass or aluminum you might get away with it, but tougher material will give trouble.

There are three varieties of tap - taper, plug and bottoming. The only difference is the amount of tapered relief ground at the end of the tap. Bottoming taps usually have almost none so that they can thread nearly to the bottom of a blind hole. A plug tap will have tapered relief for around 4 threads and a taper tap might have double that.

What that accomplishes is basically allowing a sort of gradual cut, with the first taper ground tooth removing very little material and each following tooth taking a little more material. At the end of the taper, the first full tooth finishes the thread, and the rest of the full teeth should do nothing but follow the existing thread.

All of that said, in the machine shop we mostly used plug taps for everything. If we needed a blind hole threaded all the way to the bottom (not very often, usually we were able to drill the hole a little deep and just use the plug tap to full thread depth) we'd put a bottoming tap in by hand and finish the threads at the bottom of the hole.
 
turboboob said:
Yep! E eKretz just finished it up. It looks absolutely amazing. I had him take the OEM clip off the 112 slim and put it on my 112 auto.

https://i.imgur.com/DKccv6z.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/uRg6IZe.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/P3HV2h0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Bk3T2bl.jpg
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So how's it ride in the pocket? Are you happy with it?

DKccv6z
 
Here are a couple more shots since his didn't post on the page. These are just a couple I sent him while we were waiting for the tap and after it finally got here.

20190208_200911.jpg


20190228_122641.jpg


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