Thread: Drilling Scales for the Pin

What are the tricks of the trade for drilling the scales for the pin? Am ready to put on my first set of scales but am a bit anxious about making the hole in the wrong place.

Originally Posted by jmsbcknr

What are the tricks of the trade for drilling the scales for the pin? Am ready to put on my first set of scales but am a bit anxious about making the hole in the wrong place.

Noothing special there, I just put some harder piece of paper 3x3 inch between the scales, where the wholes are supposed to be, to keep track of the tilt (like horizon dials on the planes) and drill both of them at once "from hand". Guided drill might help too...

Nenad

There is no trick except experience. The anxiety is well deserved because you can ruin the scales by drilling the hole in the wrong place.

I usually place the blade on top of the scales to estimate the hole position. Make sure it is not too far or too close to the wedge when completely closed.

Then wedge the scales at the pivot hole to simulate the blade thickness with something that won't compress while drilling, make sure both halves are aligned. Then I drill carefully, sometimes by hand. Meaning place the drill bit into a pin vise and turn it by hand. The reason I sometimes avoid the drill press or power assisted drilling is if you slip while starting the hole you will ruin the finish on the scales, also the whole operation flies by so quick it is hard to catch errors in progress.

If you don't have much drilling experience I would recommend starting the hole by hand until you get a nice indentation where the hole should be and then continue with power assist. The indentation will prevent the drill bit from travelling when you start to drill.

Another thing to watch out for is the angle of the hole. The scales with the blade in them are not flat, they may not even be completely flat without the blade. So if you drill with a drill press it will make a hole perpedicular to the bottom face of the scales. That is what drill presses are designed to do.

If the scales are not flat then perpendicular drilling will tend to offset the hole position from top to bottom and it won't be in the same position on both sides. It will still take the blade but the pin position will look asymetrical from one side.

For a drill press you can place a wedge under the scales so that the center line of the scales is parallel to the drill press table when you look from the edge. In these cases find it easier just to drill carefully by hand.

I find it easiest to drill the holes after the scales have the correct shape and dimensions yet are still flat (the edges and sides have not been sanded to anything but the flat surface of the slabs they were cut from). So when I drill I know the holes are 90 degree holes. Just make sure when placing the holes to account for as much material will be removed in the sanding process... if too much is removed then the holes will creep closer to the edge than may be desirable.
I made the mistake of having scales completed and then doing the drilling, aside from scratching my lovely finish, I did not have a flat surface and scales wanted to rock back and forth... had to "eyeball it" and it could've been better.
Making a check list is good and I do it because taking the right steps is crucial. Missing a step can cause me hours of work later on the process. I learned this building boats, and its helps me with straight razors.

I do this different I make a raw shape of the scales. Drill the holes then a toothpick treu the holes so the Come exact on the same place. Gleu them with tape and sand the shape you want. Result the holes and the Both parts of the scales are a exact copy.