Been there and done that in drilling holes in a hardened tang. I have read of makers doing it with carbide and slow speed. I must be doing something wrong because it’s never worked for me. Might be better to protect the blade and anneal the tang if initial drilling doesn’t work.
Maybe a different scale color would help. My initial thought was maybe add a bolster and move the pin back a little but then I think the lanyard hole will be problematic. Its not bad to my eye like it is I am just used to a certain pin placement and everything else takes some getting used to. I would choose a different handle wood though.
Thanks everybody for all the feedback. I might go with most suggestion and lose the lanyard and move the pin back to the back. Of course my piece is already hardened and I will have to somehow drill a bigger hole on the back without ruining too many bits. Will a propane torch soften that area? I am making a video (set to music) of the WIP and will post it when I finish it. It might PG there is a little blood involved.
I agree... looks good. Plus if the Wolf pin was smaller it would be hard to see the wolf.Not at all too big imo...plenty of room to the edges. Nice detail in the emblem. Stay with it...
That is not his knife, he is just making one like it and was asking opinions about the placement on that knife.Mark,I would leave everything the way it is. the only thing I would suggest is bringing your grind up higher being it's Damascus, to show the pattern more. as for the shape and handle pin location I must be missing something because it looks ok to me.
I'd finish it, call it a day and move on to the next one.
replacing the scales, moving the pins, heating the blade to drill it...you may be opening a can of worms here.
I'd think long and hard before making any of these changes.