putting holes in saw plate

[Noah Wagener]

I would like to put some holes in a gent's saw's plate for a regular handle. I have read on here somewhere about spot annealing band saw blades so they can be drilled. The person put a nail in a drill and ran it till it got real hot. Is there any danger of the heat spreading to the teeth and if so should I clamp something to the blade to suck up the heat? I think this is what is referred to as a heat sink?

I also saw a guy sandwich a big timber saw blade between two plates each with a hole in them and simply drove a pin punch through his saw. He does it at about the 26 minute mark of this video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=12&v=BcW1cX5jmq4

Would this work on thinner gauge steel?

[Stewie Simpson]

http://www.blackburntools.com/new-tools/new-saws-and-related/carbide-spade-drill/index.html

[Jim Davis]

No, the heat will not spread to the teeth. It will also be hard to get the heated spot to cool slowly enough to not reharden. As for punching, it's the traditional/historical way to put the holes in a saw plate. Every now and then a screw-type saw punch shows up on eBay. Disston made some and I think Miller's Falls and others. Using a regular pin punch between stacked blades will probably not leave a very clean hole, but might work.

Jim

[Bill Adamsen]

Neat. Thanks for sharing!

[lowell holmes]

If you can view Matt Cianci's video (Popular Woodworking) about making back saws, all will be revealed. Stewie shows you a source for solid carbide drill bits. They will penetrate the saw plate without heating the steel. The video will also show how to cut a slot for a blade in the saw handle.

[Cody Cantrell]

I use a Roper Whitney Punch no. 5 jr. I picked it up at an antique store for around $30. Probably a little high for 1 saw though.

[george wilson]

I have said many times that I use a cheap masonry bit run at high speed to drill right through saw plate steel. The bit should be run as fast as your drill press will run. It heats up the saw steel and burns its way through. CLAMP EVERYTHING DOWN WELL. You could get horribly slashed if the saw steel starts whirling around. Let the masonry bit cool a little between holes. If it gets too hot,the braze will melt and the carbide tip will fall off.

Trying to spot anneal saw steel is just about impossible as it is thin,and cools too fast to stay annealed. It just re hardens. I have even tried leaving 1/2" wide strips of .042" thick 1095 overnight in the electric furnace to cool slowly. It did no good at all. The strips were still spring tempered in the morning. The strips had been heated to an orange color before turning the furnace off. Normally,I'd just heat spring steel till it went past blue and turned gray,but it can be very stubborn stuff.

We also had an old Disston hand punch at the shop which worked fine,but had a very shallow throat.

[Ken Shepard]

I have drilled saw plates, with various levels of success, using titanium-coated bits and carbide bits. However, by far the best and easiest way is to use a metal punch. The one I use is from Northern Tools, makes clean accurate holes, has several sizes of punches, and costs only $25.

Ken

[Robert Engel]

I saw an electrician use a hole maker tool to make a hole in an electric box.
He torqued it down with a wrench and after a bit POP and there was a hole.

Don't know if it would work in hardened steel but just a thought.

[Jim Koepke]

I saw an electrician use a hole maker tool to make a hole in an electric box.
He torqued it down with a wrench and after a bit POP and there was a hole.

Don't know if it would work in hardened steel but just a thought.

The hole punches "torqued down with a wrench" have to be at least a bit bigger than the bolt doing the torquing. Not practical for saw nut holes.

My father called them chassis punches. He used them on custom chassis he built back in the days of vacuum tubes. He left me quite a few of them. Seldom have a need for them.

(pictures on request?)

jtk

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have drilled saw plates, with various levels of success, using titanium-coated bits and carbide bits. However, by far the best and easiest way is to use a metal punch. The one I use is from Northern Tools, makes clean accurate holes, has several sizes of punches, and costs only $25.

Ken

I went to their site and the ones I saw were from $180 and up. Can we get a link?

[James Waldron]

I went to their site and the ones I saw were from $180 and up. Can we get a link?

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200635671_200635671

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Thanks James! That's a great deal. My only concern would be will this tool bend the metal when it makes the hole? The die seems to be rather small. I was thinking this was one with the big square die that holds the metal flat when punching.

[Cody Cantrell]

That looks just like my RW no.5. It doesn't distort, slight burr on bottom of hole

[Noah Wagener]

If the thin metal cools too quickly to soften, can i cut it with an abrasive wheel on an angle grinder with impunity? Is there a better way on the cheap to cut it? I need to make long rip cuts.

[Stewie Simpson]

I have drilled saw plates, with various levels of success, using titanium-coated bits and carbide bits. However, by far the best and easiest way is to use a metal punch. The one I use is from Northern Tools, makes clean accurate holes, has several sizes of punches, and costs only $25.

Ken

Hi Ken. If the metal punch approach resulted in a no interference burr on the underside of the saw plate then I would agree its a good option.

Stewie;

[Noah Wagener]

This guy uses one at 10:30 if you are interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlVJQEdcl9U

Hard to tell what the back looks like though. I did the method above that the timber saw doctor used. I got very slight distortion around the hole but i was using a nail set that was a little smaller than the exit hole/die. A little filing and it is fine. All the distortion was within the 5/32" exit hole. It did not bulge outside that.