Putting scales on blade question

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Bearklr

Joined
May 8, 2018
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So I'm close to wrapping up my first batch of blades for heat treat and had a question about drilling the holes for the scales. It makes sense that it would be easier to drill them now as opposed to after it's hardened but I don't know if the alignment would change at all after treat. If I do it after treat it would be a lot harder and I don't have a drill press at the moment. My question is, in what order do you guys typically fit your scales and drill the holes for the corby bolts?
 
alignment will not change after heat treat. Drill them before sending for heat treat. Also, Get a drill press. If you intend to make any quantity of knives, and don't want your pins to look like crap, it's one of the first things you should buy as a knife maker.
 
What he ^^ said. Starting out you can get a cheap one from harbor freight for around $50 if you're in the states and have one available if your funds are limited. They do have some run out but will work good provided you square it up good, or find one on craigslist. They come up in my area frequently for good deals. You have many uses in knife making for a drill press, it's worth the investment.
 
Thanks guys! I will definitely be buying one for sure but between buying grinders, sanders, steel, scales, pins, abrasives etc... I'm getting what I can with what I have over the past 3 weeks. With these first couple knives I'm just doing what I can with what I can get but a drill press is definitely next on the list for sure!
 
Mark the location of the holes be sure to center the holes to correspond to center line of the knife/tang. When placing holes make them equal distant as much as you can. Most buyers and users will check pin placement because the eyes are drawn there instinctively so equal spacing is a plus. Use a good punch to mark the holes and drill a pilot hole first since you are using a hand held drill saves on premature large drills getting dull.
 
I started out using a hand drill. It can work pretty well if you have drill guide. You can buy a guide or make one. I made one out of some tubing and a flat piece of steel welded together at a right angle. I held a square piece of wood to keep the pipe and plate at a right angle while welding. Not super precise but the end result worked fine.
 
Busto, when you say equal distance do you mean the same distance between the two pins as between the pins and the ends of the scales? I am planning on measuring the center line and using a punch to pilot drill them but wanted to be sure that you were supposed to leave the same distance between the pins and the ends of the scales. For example, 1 inch from end of tang to pin, 1 inch from pin to pin and 1 inch from pin to edge of scale where it meets the blade?
 
for the corby bolts, tang holes drilled before HT. i will either use 2 small drops of superglue, or clamps to hold the scale material on the tang while drilling the holes. if you use the glue, you can just knock the scale off with a wooden hammer handle when you are done drilling. get all the holes drilled then use a counter bore to make the shelf or rim for the corby bolt to sit against. a drill press is required for this, you need one with a depth stop so the counter bore will only go so deep. some people will do this with 2 different sized drill bits also.
 
Also, drill the tang holes 25% to 50% larger than the bolt shank size. This will allow a little wiggle when installing the bolts. Epoxy will fill the gap around the bolt where it goes through the tang and make the handle more shock resistant.

I drill almost all tang holes 50% oversize.
 
Thanks, I definitely did not know that!! I would have drilled to fit and then probably bitched and moaned trying to assemble them lol.
 
Bearklr said:
Busto, when you say equal distance do you mean the same distance between the two pins as between the pins and the ends of the scales? I am planning on measuring the center line and using a punch to pilot drill them but wanted to be sure that you were supposed to leave the same distance between the pins and the ends of the scales. For example, 1 inch from end of tang to pin, 1 inch from pin to pin and 1 inch from pin to edge of scale where it meets the blade?
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If the handle material is 5" long the center is 2.5" that is the center point and my first drill hole. Now I measure 2" to the front drill hole and 2" to the rear hole....However I will mark my actual Hole Location to give me true 1/2" to each end of the scale it's splitting hairs but it's enough to deceive the eye and still have a full 1/2" to the front/rear pin location and they look and should measure 2" from center hole to front and rear hole. Make a drawing of the tang and mark the proposed holes and hold at arms length to see if they are equal distant.
 
Lay them out like dovetails? so you have one in center, then take 2/3 of each half for a location. The end to the first pin is then 1/2 the distance . It is amazing what the eye can pick up.
 
I'm going to cut across the grain here for a moment.... I would not worry about precise, equal spacing. Instead, think in terms of proportions. Maybe the spacing between the second and third pin is 1.5 - 2X the spacing between the first and second pin. Maybe the pins are on an arc that is the same arc as the belly of the blade inverted. Look for lines and proportions in your blade to mimic in the handle and pins. If you strive for precision and miss, you'll see it. If you have flowing lines and proportions small errors may not be as problematic.
 
Other thing I would add to this is when you can make sure you spend the money on good bits. It is worth it.
 
TRfromMT said:
I'm going to cut across the grain here for a moment.... I would not worry about precise, equal spacing. Instead, think in terms of proportions. Maybe the spacing between the second and third pin is 1.5 - 2X the spacing between the first and second pin. Maybe the pins are on an arc that is the same arc as the belly of the blade inverted. Look for lines and proportions in your blade to mimic in the handle and pins. If you strive for precision and miss, you'll see it. If you have flowing lines and proportions small errors may not be as problematic.
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%. It's one of the first things I teach my graphic design students- precision and perfection do not matter if the end result doesn't look right. I space my pins roughly equidistant but I adjust them by eye until it looks correct in that specific handle design.
 
Get a real drill press! Harbor or Grizzly ,, don’t buy a used one unless you know about run out etc, save that BS for later! It’s time to make knives now, you will lean how to rebuild machines in good time!:p Many things Have been mentioned, buy quality drill bits, not the cheapies! After holes are drilled, a little oversized, blades HTed—————————I mark around the tang while holding the scale to it for both side! Be care you don’t make two left or right sides:D .. I stack them both with liners under the tang and tighten it down with a 1” C Clamp.. I use a piece of bamboo flooring cut to size to evevate the knife tang as needed to drill out my three holes for Loveless bolts. Also use G-Flex Epoxy! Don’t use that 5 minute stuff. That might just be how long it lasts after it hardens! Stay Safe & Have Fun!;)
 
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