New knife maker here. Advice on drilling G10 and drill bits needed

SkagSig40

SkagSig40

Joined
Feb 1, 2001
Messages
2,671
Hey guys,
I'm a brand new knife maker and have a quick question. I just got my order of 1/4" stainless acorn/luke rivets and was wondering if you know what kind of drill bit I need to drill a "stepped" hole in my G10 handles? I assume I need a step in the handle so the bolts have something to hold on to. Do you know what this special bit is called and what size I will need for these 1/4" stainless acorn bolts? The threaded shank is a hair over 1/8" I think and the acorn bolt heads are 1/4" across.
Any place sell these special bits locally? Many thanks for the help!
 
Jantz supply has them too. Several of us around here just make our own though, just grind a pilot onto the end of a drill bit. Use a dremel etc. to finish shaping the step on the bit. Try it on a bit that already has blown-out corners, nothing to lose!
 
Appreciate the input gentleman!

Could I just use a regular 1/4" drill bit and drill down just enough for the head of the bolt and then drill the 1/8" hole for the bolt shank? Just have to make sure it is centered properly. How well would that work? Thanks!
 
SkagSig40 said:
Appreciate the input gentleman!

Could I just use a regular 1/4" drill bit and drill down just enough for the head of the bolt and then drill the 1/8" hole for the bolt shank? Just have to make sure it is centered properly. How well would that work? Thanks!
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This will work, but... obviously the step shoulder of the counterbore is not going to be squared to the boreholes.
In the grand scheme of things,, its minor imperfection what nobody will see.
 
Lieblad said:
This will work, but... obviously the step shoulder of the counterbore is not going to be squared to the boreholes.
In the grand scheme of things,, its minor imperfection what nobody will see.
Click to expand...

How would I get it perfectly flat? Thanks!
 
Just buy one and be done with it. Simple and INVALUABLE!! No guessing or messing.
 
I still use 2 bits for these (another newbie) & it works very well. I have a drill press I can set for depth. A hand drill will be a little more difficult to work with & will increase the chance of a mis-drilled hole. A stepped bit is the best way to go, but a depth stop is still necessary to get things right.
 
jll346 said:
Just buy one and be done with it. Simple and INVALUABLE!! No guessing or messing.
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^^^This. I got one from Jantz, cost $9 or something. Even tho I don't use it a lot, I'm glad to have it every time. The one stepped bit saves about 4 steps for every hole if you try to use 2 normal bits for the same task. More importantly, it avoids the risk of boogering up your scales.
 
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