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Heat Treating and Metallurgy Discussion of heat treatment and metallurgy in knife making.

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  #1  
Old 03-16-2014, 03:18 PM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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Help a newbie with drilling 440c SS

Hey folks, I'm a newbie and a relative novice to making my own knives. For now, im just buying blanks and shaping/adding my own scales. But, I've got a problem. I want to enlarge the pin holes that have come pre-drilled in my Stainless Steel blanks but the blades laughed at the titanium bits that I bought to enlarge the holes.
I tried drilling at a relatively slow speed (handheld drill, not a drill press) and even added a drop of oil to help keep heat down but no luck.
I'll take any ideas/thoughts.
Thanks, Mark
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  #2  
Old 03-16-2014, 03:31 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is online now
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It sounds like the tang was fully hardened, actually I would expect that it was. You probably need to get a carbide bit. Some people have had luck with carbide tipped masonry bits. Just keep the speed down when using one.

Doug


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  #3  
Old 03-18-2014, 08:13 AM
jemoran jemoran is offline
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Mark, a friend of mine was building a kit knife and asked me to drill another hole in the tang. I checked the tang, and as Mark mentioned it was fully hardened, at 61 Rc.

I have a CNC machine shop and carbide tooling, if this part were very expensive, I could put a hole in it, but the ruined and broken tooling would be 2 to 3 times the cost of this blade he wants me to drill.

The cost of the blade was $14.95, the cost of a 3/16 endmill is $20.00+.

Now if your still determined to enlarge the hole, you didn't say how big so lets say 1/4", get a 1/4 inch carbide ball shaped burr, ($20.00) and a bottle of Moly-dee ($15.00). Put the burr in your drill and with continuous light pressure (maybe just the weight of the drill) push down on the existing hole, keeping it wet with Moly-dee. It may take a while so be patient.

John
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  #4  
Old 03-20-2014, 06:54 AM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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Thanks for the answers. I understand I may spend more on enlarging the holes than what the blade is worth, but I really want to use some larger pins in the scales...for aesthetic reasons only. I'm looking for a local tool shop that has the carbide bits as my local box stores don't carry them. So far my " to-hell-with-it" factor is still low...but it may rise quickly if I'm not successful soon...I tend to be impatient like that. Lol
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  #5  
Old 03-20-2014, 07:44 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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Or, you could take a propane torch and heat the area around the hole to cherry red then let it cool slowly. That should soften just that area and allow you to drill it.
STeve


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  #6  
Old 03-20-2014, 08:02 AM
wineland wineland is offline
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I always used some concrete drill bits. They usually work but are not really precise on size if that is needed. They are cheaper than carbide bits but usually only work on one blade then they are ruined.
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  #7  
Old 03-20-2014, 12:47 PM
WBE WBE is offline
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You can drill it like butter while it's cherry red.
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  #8  
Old 03-22-2014, 07:48 PM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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Well, I did what Steve recommended and got a small butane blow torch and heated up the areas around the holes....long story short, it worked....I was able to enlarge the holes to my liking.
Now, the next question....heating the SS kind of made the SS turn color, or "stain"...obviously fron the heating. I used some SS cleaner and was able to remove most of the staining. However, is there any long term issues with the "stability" of the SS?
The knives I'm working on are simple fillet knives and oyster shockers...
Thanks...Mark
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  #9  
Old 03-24-2014, 07:45 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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I assume the holes that you expanded are under the handle. Heating just that area around the holes shouldn't affect the blade at all.
Steve


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  #10  
Old 03-24-2014, 10:56 AM
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WynnKnives WynnKnives is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SVanderkolff View Post
I assume the holes that you expanded are under the handle. Heating just that area around the holes shouldn't affect the blade at all.
Steve
x2... Unless the discoloration went all the way to the edge, in that case you MAY have tempered the blade to be softer in the colored areas. If you got a faint straw color you may be alright, but if it turned blue... I would be leery.
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  #11  
Old 03-24-2014, 02:57 PM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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The dis colorization was limited to the tang only...not down the blade at all. Thanks for the replies....I appreciate it. They turned out nice.
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  #12  
Old 03-25-2014, 09:12 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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Can yo post a couple of pictures?


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  #13  
Old 03-25-2014, 05:06 PM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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Here's a pic of some oyster shuckers and a fillet knife...i enlarged the pin holes in the fillet knife and the front shucker...
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File Type: jpg knives.jpg (46.6 KB, 33 views)
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  #14  
Old 03-25-2014, 10:57 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is online now
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The blades look fine but the handles are awfully flat and probably will not feel well to work with in the hand. You need to put more contour into the handles both top to bottom and front to back with a palm swell a bit towards the center. I find that hand tools work better for this. I like the Japanese carving rasps that I got from Woodcraft. I have the smaller ones in flat and half round.

Doug


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Old 03-26-2014, 10:54 AM
Vilanomark Vilanomark is offline
 
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Doug, I agree, and will work on that in future knives...but I gotta do baby steps. If you knew my level of "handiness" you'd probably be surprised that I can tie my own shoes.
Mark
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