Hello dear friend, Steve Johnson.
I would like to give my contribution with that pictures. I hope it helps.
Best regards, Romano
First, if you are going to go "pinless" you need to drill and tap the hole(s) in the tang:
Then, fit the handle, mark the hole locations and drill about 1/8"....or less....into the handle material. (depending on how thick the handle piece is. For the front piece of a sub-hilt, be careful, as sometimes they are no thicker than 1/8"!) You would be wise to pretty much shape the handle pieces close to final thickness & dimensions. You don't want to grind into the blind hole while shaping the handle.
Then "rout out" the bottom of the hole, so that the corners/bottoms of the hole are larger/wider, slightly, than the original sides, giving the glue a place to flow into and basically creating a "head" of glue on the end of the threaded rod, or screw when it solidifies. Use a small, 1/8" - or smaller - burr in your moto-tool, or dental drill-type hand machine.
Put the screw, or threaded rod through the tang. Test how it fits into the blind-hole in the handle material. Make it shorter in length than the blind hole is in depth.
Glue the handle piece in place, clamping it in place, so it doesn't migrate out of perfect fit, using slow-set, thick super glue, epoxy, or whatever glue you use. It ought to be fairly thick, so you can fill the blind hole and keep it there while assembling. Same reason for the screw stud that fits into the hole. Cover it with glue, too.
Thank you, Romano, my friend. The pictures are perfect!
