Help!! What kind of drill bit does it take to drill some holes through an old - Old Hickory butcher knife.I've tried 4 so far and have only been able to make shallow impressions in it. I'm trying to make something from nothing with an old butcher knife that a friend of mine was about to throw away more than 20 years ago. Thanks in advance.

IIRC those blades are made of 1095. You'll have to try a carbide bit to go through it.

Thanks mete!

Cobalt bit, works good on stainless, as well.

Grizz

Grizz, I tried 2 brand new Cobalt bits Saturday with no effect whatsoever. That Old Hickory steel is some hard stuff!

Have you tried milk as the coolant/lubricant. It makes a huge difference with the harder steels.
getting the hole to full 'bit' diameter is the hard part , once there it all happens pretty quick.

I head for the fridge every time I run into a recalcitrant hole.
Full cream please............not the other mamby-pamby stuff........its largely the cream component & what goes with it that helps the drill edge to bite as the cutting heat builds up at the point of contact in the cut. Just a small pool of milk on the drill site to start , until you raise swarf then lubricate well with more milk till the hole is complete.
Sadly another cobalt drill bit is in order when you try it with milk.

DenisB,
that's the first time in my 50 years on earth that I ever heard of using milk in that application. I'll have to try it and let you know what happens.

Thanks.

use a drill bit made for concrete, those are carbide and work really well on hard steel.

Additionally, you can spot anneal with a torch. Clamp the blade lengthwise in a vise next to the spot you want to anneal though or they want to warp. Wrap a wet rag around the blade base to keep the heat away from the blade.

But a concrete bit is faster and simpler.

I can't vouch for the milk with 'old hickory' , but there's an awful lot of hard stainless & carbon steel that has surrendered to it.

I was shown that 'milk' trick nearly 40 yrs ago by a cagy old machinist when I was having trouble with a "foreign order" personal job in the company workshop.
Since then I think I have used more milk drilling holes in hard steels than I have "Dormer Cutting Oil' .......

BTW you need to scrub your drill bit under hot water & re-oil it after using milk.

Look forward to hearing if it beats 'old hickory' into submission.

Thanks again guys. Mark, I actually have thought about spot heating, but was afraid I might screw the whole thing up. If the milk and concrete bit combo doesnt work, I might try it.

Gentlemen, I am happy to report the carbide concrete drill bit and milk combo worked like a charm on the Old Hickory. It now wears red oak handle scales.

Thanks again for all your help.

good to hear.
Pics ????

DenisB,
I've got to buy another camera before i can post any pics....mine has died.