Hi folks! Well, after making knives for thirty yrs now I have a knife order for a full tang knife with requested Wyoming Jade slabs for handle material and it's something I've never attempted. I have a friend who is in the lapidary business that is willing to cut and shape the fore and aft of the slabs and contour the handle once it's affixed but I'm left in charge of the drilling of the pin holes, which are going to be 1/4 mosaic pins. I'm very familiar with the steps for drilling any other handle materials, but I'm not sure about the drill needed for this job, such as, if I get a 1/4 diamond core drill(rather inexpensive thank goodness), will this drill a tight tolerance 1/4 hole for good appearances, or will it be a sloppy fit. Is there anyone out there with experience with this.
Wes;
I haven't drilled jade but I did do a handle in quartz and in granite. I used a 3.5 mm non core drill. I ran at very high speed, low pressure, in a water bath. Chip outs on the exit side can be a problem.
Holes were very clean.
Hope this helps.
M
Mike Williams
Master Smith
