Making a hole in hardened steel

A

AfterTFD

Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
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Is there a way to put a big (up to a half inch diameter) hole in a heat treated blade without affecting the heat treatment?
 
Straight flute solid carbide drill. Cutting Edge Tool Supply is where I get mine. They are not cheap. Sometimes you can use a carbide tipped masonry drill.
 
Be a bit more specific about the location of the hole and the purpose of the hole i.e. ( holes in the handle of a full tang blade for the purpose of making it lighter, holes in the blade for aesthetic purposes, etc.) Anything from a torch to a carbide drill or endmill could be appropriate depending on what the holes intended location and purpose is. But more important is, what tools you have available.

For most applications, my choice would be a carbide cutting tool, whether it be a drill or endmill, for removing material from hardened and tempered steel.

There are other ways though, depending on what tools you have available.
 
The tasks I have in mind are extra holes in the tang for weight reduction and smaller holes for putting thumb studs on production knives such as saks.

I don't currently own any relevant tools. My plan is to started making and modifying knives as a hobby as soon as I have the space and I was wondering if I would need any extra equipment for this besides the basics. I have about $1.5k saved up so far.

Thanks for the advice. :)
 
I would not use a masonry bit for drilling steel period. They have a decency to shatter (right Scar?:thumbup:)

You could also submerge the edge in water and torch draw the spine for the thumb studs and the tang doesn't need to be hard so you could submerge the whole knife and torch draw the tang also
 
AfterTFD said:
The tasks I have in mind are extra holes in the tang for weight reduction and smaller holes for putting thumb studs on production knives such as saks.

I don't currently own any relevant tools. My plan is to started making and modifying knives as a hobby as soon as I have the space and I was wondering if I would need any extra equipment for this besides the basics. I have about $1.5k saved up so far.

Thanks for the advice. :)
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Not sure what your "basic" machine tool selection contains, but if you have a decent drillpress you're all set. Get a couple of straight fluted carbide drills like sharpe suggested and you're good to go. They should work fine for what you have in mind and shouldn't effect HT in any way.
 
What is the hole's location relative to the edge and type of steel ? Simpler carbon steels you can easily spot-anneal as long as it doesn't ruin the edge.

Otherwise it needs to be a carbide bit. It also requires a very rigid setup (a mill is the best), as carbide is uber-hard and chips very easily.

Once I made a set of dies and had to remove some steel after hardening. Carbide EM had no problems eating RC60 A2
 
i'm getting ready to cut a slot in a tang today so i can attach the scales without pins. i just use my dremel tool and a cutoff wheel. it takes some time but it works and wont create a bunch of heat or break an expensive carbide mill or bit.
 
richard j said:
i'm getting ready to cut a slot in a tang today so i can attach the scales without pins. i just use my dremel tool and a cutoff wheel. it takes some time but it works and wont create a bunch of heat or break an expensive carbide mill or bit.
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Good idea Richard :thumbup:

Like they say, "there's more than one way to skin a cat" ;)
 
rashid11 said:
What is the hole's location relative to the edge and type of steel?
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I don't have a specific steel in mind. I'm not planning on doing anything closer than most of a centimeter away from an edge.

I'm not sure I'm coordinated enough to use a dremel tool. With my luck I'll end up putting huge scratches everywhere. :)
 
its not hard to cut a slot in the tang. just go slow and dont worry about scratches since the slabs will hide any (unless they go to the edge) i can take some step by step pictures if that would help as i set things up and as i make the cuts.
 
That would be great. It's always easier for me to figure things out if I can see a bit of the process.
 
aftertfd. send me your email addy and i'll send you some pictures. it would be easier than posting them here
 
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