A maker friend came into the paltalk room the other day looking for some with machinist experiece to help with a precision issue. I do have some machinist background but that was 100yrs or so ago. But...while
working in the shop that day on my first butterfly I did stumble across a couple things that seemed to help...for me anyway.
I was need to mark, center punch, and drill some holes with a greater degree of accuracy than what I've become accusomed to making all fixed blades until now.
I put one of thos 12lb knifemaker's bar magnets in the vice, then put the blade steel on that. This free'd up both hands for more control. Then discovered that one of the small machinist rules would also hang tight enough to allow total two hand control while marking.
Then came the center punching. I got an sharp, appropriately sized punch with a good bevel for visibility. Then while wearing the opti-visor, set the oustside edge of my left hand down and rolling it comfortably to place the punch on the mark.
In short, using the magnet, and the opti-visor made a significant improvement in accuracy.

Okay, who next with some good shop/bench tips...??


Steve

Thanks for that tip, Steve. Sometimes, even if I get the mark in exactly the right place, when I drill the hole it winds up off center. The holes I drill are usually small enough that using a center drill is not practical, so I scratch my head and wonder why I'm having trouble. As Steve said, it's not a big issue on straight knives, but if a guy wanted to make folders, it becomes a critical issue.

By the way, I have found that scribing intersecting lines on the stock will lead the point of the center punch to exactly the right point to mark the spot.

Don, Try using a 1/8 spotting drill, instead of a center drill and you will be able to spot your mark with greater precision. Make your mark, then spot it with spotting drill, change to drill bit and finish drilling hole. I don,t get any drill wobble this way. Hope it works for you too. MSC , or Rutland tolls stock the spotting drills.
Roland

accurately locating holes (when you really need to :) ) is a big step towards good worl. The old time shop practices for precision tool work before it became all mechanized and computerized called for using TWO punches; a "prick" punch and then a center punch. The prick punch is very sharp and slender, lets you follow the scribed lines to their intersection and make a light punch. THEN you use the stouter center punch to punch a larger dent. It makes a difference. If you can keep track of two punches.

After the prick punch, and center punch, use a very small (maybe 1/16") drill bit to drill at least partially through, then a small center drill, then your finished size. I'm not a maker, but spent many years in the machine shop.
Steve Ferguson

The only difficulty with much of this advice is that, when making folders, the FINISHED holes can be .050". Not the same as drilling holes for a 8-32 tap.