Safe to drill into Handle

[barber oregon]

I have a couple of Mora Knives similar to this:

http://www.campers-village.com/store/shopping_frame_min.cfm

I'd like to drill a hole with my new power-drill (Christmas gift) at the rear of the plastic handle for a lanyard. My Question: does anyone know how far the tang of this knife goes into to handle? Would it be safe to perform such a procedure without hitting metal?

 

[RobertHankins]

No pic

 

[Jeff Clark]

Try:

http://www.campers-village.com/store/prod_images/x34268.jpg

 

[wrc]

Originally posted by barber oregon
<SNIP>

My Question: does anyone know how far the tang of this knife goes into to handle? Would it be safe to perform such a procedure without hitting metal?

I would buy a good Ti-coated drill bit of the appropriate size for a few bucks and not worry if there was any tang where I was drilling. Going through the tang near the end would even ensure the handle didn't slip off the tang by some twist of fate if the lanyard got caught or something.

This is assuming your knives are similar in price to the CAD$8.95 knife you reference.

 

[Alberta Ed]

You should be OK if you drill within half an inch or so of the butt. The stick tang extends almost but not all of the way through the handle. These are good tough knives, excellent beaters. I keep one as a loaner.

 

[calyth]

I'm betting that it's a rat tang.
Lee Valley tools have some blanks (unhandled version), if you could spare the cash, buy the one that matches the length, and make sure you don't drill near it.
Afterwards, you could start a handle project

 

[crucible]

I've done it to two Frosts mora cliipers without any problems. I just positioned the hole in the bottom 1/4 inch of the pommel and drilled it out with a 1/8th" bit.

Added paracord lanyards and tied monkey's fists on their ends just to help draw them out of their sheaths with gloves or mitts.

 

[Theo Baartse]

Hi, you can drill without problems.

The tang of a Mora knife you refer to is about 2inches long.
Keep this in mind when you drill the hole, there's no need for special drill's.
If you like to see more Mora knives, witch is actualy Frosts, check out my Swedish linkpage.

 

[rev_jch]

More than likely its a rat tang, like most moras. If you drill remember you may hit no metal, or very little, the tip of the taper. If this happens the bit could very well slip on you so be careful.