Broach - Tang Hole Saw With Maple Handle

Broach - Tang Hole Saw for Knife Making with Maple Handle

This tool from Nordic Edge is our version of the tang hole saw, or "broach".

A broach is used when fitting a stick tang blade into a handle block,

by rasping drilled holes into a slit or hole that matches the tang of the blade.

This is the full version with blade fitted into maple wood handle, in box.

The blade is made from stainless steel 5Cr15Mov, a tough and highly corrosion-resistant steel tempered to 56-57 HRC.

The blade is 162.8 mm long including the tang, and about 2.6 mm thick at the teeth. 

The sharp section of the blade is about 96 mm x 2.6 mm with the Nordic Edge logo lasered on.

How to use the broach:

• accurately measure the tang cross-section with calipers where the tang will meet the handle block
• scribe these measurements onto the front of the handle block and mark in with a pen
• drill a series of holes smaller than the marked area in a straight line
• use the broach to remove the handle material between the holes to create a slit
• rasp out the rest of the marked area with the broach, stopping often to test fit the blade

Broaches are not a new thing, most of us have some version of this already in our arsenal. Some use a short jigsaw blade fitted in a block of wood, others use a set of small files or wood rasps. This is just our take on the tool, with a blade narrow enough to get into holes 3 mm in diameter for fitting most blades except really thin chef blades, with agressive teeth for fast stock removal in wood and synthetic handle materials. 

The Nordic Edge broach is designed by Nordic Edge in Australia and manufactured in China.

 There is also a version with blade only if wanting to make the handle yourself: LINK

Pro tip: When fitting a stick tang blade, using a carbide faced file guide to cut shoulders in the blade before fitting it makes for an even cleaner looking blade/handle fit. As the blade then has a shoulder to sit on, the tang hole can be made slightly narrower than the blade.

The Nordic Edge file guide is the original one with screw-down carbides, in stainless non-magnetic steel: LINK

This makes sure steel dust will not attach to it, neither will it rust in use from dunking in water.