Making straight pins

[Frozen Bear Trading]

I am new. I have pinned about 20 knives and have process down some.

I can't keep my holes straight. I have measured and tried my best and they are always a little off

Why cant I do this simple thing.

Any tips?

 

[GoldSkula]

You're not the only one. I have the same problem too. My only tip is go slow and steady.

 

[john april]

for straight ( or plumb) holes you need a drill press. i put holes in my tang first, then clamp or glue the scale to the tang and use the tang holes as a guide, drilling through them.

 

[J. Keeton]

I utilize the method outlined above by john april . Using the holes in the tang as a guide and clamping the scales to the tang with a kant-clamp. I also make sure to insert a pin or drill bit after each drilled hole to keep the assembly straight.

Go to 3:27 in this video to see the process:

Note: I'm using a 1'' kant-clamp:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AI7LCA2/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Frozen Bear Trading]

for straight ( or plumb) holes you need a drill press. i put holes in my tang first, then clamp or glue the scale to the tang and use the tang holes as a guide, drilling through them.

Some times I wonder if I drill the tang off lol

 

[weo]

Some times I wonder if I drill the tang off lol

This is possible, too. Especially if you do tapered tangs. I know a number of makers who will drill the holes the next drill bit size larger (~.003"+/-). Unless you're relying solely on the pins to hold the handle on and not epoxy.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I have a piece of squire tube with a hole in the top I use for drilling.
That way I can clamp the scale underneath the tang and drill trough the tang holes.
It is handy if you use natural materials with a textured outside

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The trick to getting all the holes to line up is in how you drill them:
First - make the tang holes 50% larger than the pins.
Next clamp a scale to the tang with extra sticking out past the ricasso and the butt.
Mark the holes with a pencil.
Remove the scale and make a center mark in each hole. Drill all holes on this scale on the drill press. Slip the pins in and check that they all clear the tang holes easily. Remove pins.
Clamp the other scale to the drilled one and drill ONLY the front hole. Slip a pin through this hole, locking the scales together. At this point, I usually wrap a piece of tape around the other end to hold things together easier than a clamp. Drill the rear hole - slip a pin in, then drill the middle hole if you have one.

Remove the pins and test assemble on the tang. At this time, mark the position and shape of the front of the handle on the scales. When marked, rempove from the blade and pin back together.

This way all pins will align and the blade will easily fit . The excess in the tang holes allow for epoxy to fill the space, allowing for minor adjustments while assembling the handle.

Now, take the scales with the pins in them and use some tape to hold them tightly together and keep the pins from falling out. Cut, Grind, Sand, and Finish the front end as desired, making sure all the front part is done … as you cant do this area after assembly without messing up the blade.

Tape up the blade to within 1/2 inch of the handle and assemble the handle with slow set epoxy (24 hour cure is the best). Only clamp lightly or you will squeeze all the epoxy out of the joint and have scales pop up or off later. Wipe off any squeeze out with denatured alcohol and let sit for an hour to set up. Wipe again and then let sit undisturbed overnight.

When the resin is cured, grind and shape the handle as desired.

 

[Drew Riley]

I usually center punch my tang holes with a relatively robust center punch and a hammer. I know a lot of guys like the auto punches, but even the quality spring loaded punches will only make a light mark, so it's best to follow these up with a larger manual punch that you KNOW will grab your drill point. As long as your bits are sharp and the points are centered, you should be able to drill a fairly precise hole. Just make sure your table is trammed at exactly 90 degrees to your bit.

Once my holes are drilled into the tang, I usually just trace and cut two scales, then I put a drop of CA glue on each end and glue the two scales together. From there, it's just a matter of clamping the scale stack to the blade tang, and drilling through the holes I've already made in the steel, down into the pair of scales clamped underneath. The hardest part (which isn't hard) is just positioning the clamps where they won't be in the way of the bit or drill chuck. Sometimes I have to place a clamp on one end of the stack while I drill the hole(s) on the other end, then I'll clamp over where I've already drilled and remove the first clamp to reach any holes on THAT end. Hopefully that makes sense.... If I have too, I'll even just drill into the first scale about 1/8" wherever I'm gonna have a pin, then I'll remove the blade and clamps and finish drilling the holes all the way through the scales. After the holes are drill, just knock the scales apart and finish accordingly.

I've never had pins, corby rivets, or whatever, not line up when doing this. Just make sure the scales are clamped securely to the blade during the process of drilling (or marking) the holes.

 

[Randydb]

Like Stacy says, tang hole bigger than the pin hole. Once I started doing that it all got a lot easier.

 

[Jason Fry]

I’m a simple fella... drilling the tang holes before you taper the tang solves that problem. Then I shim the handle material up by the amount I took off the tang, and use my tang holes to drill through. Pin each hole as you drill the next. Easier to show than to explain in text.