Hello! I' new to your site and have enjoyed and learned from it as well. Now I have my own question. I'm currently making a 8 1/2" hunting knife from ATS-34. It is 3/16" thick.Instead of tapering the tang to reduce the weight, I chose to drill alot of holes in the handle then mill out the webbing to create somewhat odd looking square shapes. Am I setting myself up for stress fractures at these holes by leaving the mill finish in them? Also should I chamfer the edges of these shapes? Thanx, Pat

I do that too. (I hope none of my handles break and people see the insides!)

I chamfer the edges. I also connect the dots with a dremel cut off wheel. I must say I've only ever had one crack. Forunately it wasn't near the edge.

So, I can't tell you what you're supposed to do (too inexperienced for that), but I can say it hasn't caused me any grief.

Steve

Thanks for the info Steve! I think what I'm going to do is take a dremel tool with a mild stone in it and try to dress up the cutter marks then maybe a cratex abrasive to polish it up a bit.And I will definitly chamfer the edges. Thanx again, Pat

Countersinking the edges of the holes is really all that should be required. I've done several thousand blades like that-never had one crack. You should leave a reasonable amount of "meat" between the holes, perhaps 1 drill diameter and stay about 1 drill diameter from the edge of the tang.

I feel a little more confident now, Thanx, RJ