Hi
T
ten-six
here's my solution... I chuck the uncut pinstock up in the drill press for the full length needed for the whole knife (4" for example) and hold sand paper up to resize to fit for a smooth insertion. Then cut the lengths as needed. I think it also creates epoxy channels as an added benefit. I also grind semi points on the ends to aid in the initial alignment. I'm sure those ideas came from the folks around here somewhere. I hope you can save it. But yeah first of all mic 'em like ashwinearl said.
I chuck my pin stock in a cordless drill & run it on a slack belt on the belt grinder. Same end result. After the pins are cut, I chamfer the ends (so there's no burr), and I grind a small groove in the center of the pin - so the epoxy has a good mechanical "lock" on the pin stock.
Also, when you drill wood, it compresses around the drill bit as the bit cuts. Immediately after you drill it, your pins may fit. Later when you try to fit the pins, the wood has relaxed a bit and they won’t fit.
Run your drill through it a second time and your pins just might fit!
This is absolutely true.
Also, drill bits are a funny animal. They rarely drill a hole that's the actual stated size, and this is largely dependent on the material you're drilling. Since there are only 2 flutes (on most), they also wobble a bit in the hole. If you want a perfectly round and true to size hole, a reamer is the only way to do this.
As for the size of drill bits, they almost always measure slightly under their stated size. Nearly all hole making tools (drills, reamers, annular cutters, etc...) have what's called back taper from the cutting edge. It isn't much, usually around 0.0005'' of taper per inch, but it's just enough so the outside diameter of the tool doesn't gall the hole it's making. If you measure the shank of a 3/16'' jobber drill bit, a measurement of 0.185''/0.186'' is totally acceptable. Lastly, if you use "cheap" drill bits from the big box & discount stores, they are usually toleranced along the lines of +0''/-0.005'' so they can manufacture them quickly and cheaply. This means your 3/16'' jobber drill from Home Depot may actually measure 0.1825'' and still be "within spec".
If you want an accurate drill bit, get a precision "screw machine length" drill bit from an industrial distributor (which is what I use). If you want perfect holes, get a reamer.
