Drill hole in hacksaw blade

[Cliff Stannebein]

I am making knives from hacksaw blades.

What is the best way to drill holes to attach scales (handle)

Thank You,
Cliff

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Cliff,

If you're just doing a few you can either:
1) Use a sharp-pointed punch to put a dimple in the center of the hole location, then use a carbide drill bit to drill out the hole. Be sure to clamp the blade material down well before you drill it, or it will climb up the drill bit and spin (and maybe cut you - I know from experience).
2) Use a metal punch with properly-sized backing plate.

If you're doing a bunch, stack a number of blades together and drill like above with a drill press. Use cutting oil to help the speed and keep heat down.

Later,
Karl

[Joe Watson]

Spring loaded center punches work nice for something small like this.

[Roger Strautman]

Right or wrong this works for me. I will heat the hole area up to a cherry red and let it air cool this takes the harding out which makes it drill able with a HS bit. A blue line will show up outside the cherry red area take care not to advance it into your blades cutting area, this is the point between hard and soft. Good Luck!

[Cam Livingstone]

Not having the above mentioned tools, I used a dremel tool to make a hole in a stainless steel knife. It took a few hours and I used up 2 small grinding points but it worked eventually. A wood template helped to keep the tool on target.

[Phil Joines]

The glass drilling bits at the hardware store will drill through hardened steel. Use high speed and water for lube and cooling. It might take a while.

[Jim Underwood]

I have tried various ways to drill some air hardening spring steel that I aquired several years ago. I finally broke down and bought a Bad Dog Tools drill bit set. (They are VERY tough carbide bits with a lifetime guarantee). These will drill right through most anything (files, taps, drills, HSS) with no lube and the proper RPM. Spendy though, @ $90 for the set.

But I tried a lot of things before doing so. One thing you might try is take a 16 penny nail and cut the head off, chuck the thing up in your drill press, and put the RPM up to top speed. Clamp your hack saw blade in place and then "drill" it with the nail until all glows cherry red in that spot. Then let it cool normally. This may spot anneal it (remove the temper). Then see if you can drill it with a normal drill.

I had limited success with a masonry drill, but it was too brittle for what I needed to do... I wound up cracking it all to bits before I was able to kinda drill/grind a hole with the leftover carbide...

[Terry Beadle]

You can also buy diamond bits off the net.

[lowell holmes]

I have absolutely no idea about a hacksaw blade, but I have drilled holes in bandsaw blades. Chuck a nail in your drill and draw tha temper out of the blade at the point you want the hole. The rotating nail will cause heat. After the temper is drawn, it is easy to drill the hole.

[ray hampton]

I wish to thank the poster for this idea about using a nail in your drill press for a spot heat