If you stop by any welding shop, they have brazing rods that are made of a soft metal, that is about 1/8" in diameter. I bought a couple of rods from a welder friend, as he used them with his electric Arc welder unit, and bought them by the dozens. They were soft enough to cut with ordinary wire cutters, but hard enough to take a good bit of hammering on the ends to form the pins.
I am not a fan of Oak slabs for knife handles, simply because the wood is often " Brittle " and will not take much abuse. People tend to throw knives in drawers, and even into the sink, and the oak wood handle ends just don't stand up to the impacts very often before they begin to splinter.
However, use what you have, and learn. you can always replace them later, and do a better job the next time around. Its how almost everyone I know who has made knives learns. Why should you be an exception? :thumbsup:
As for peening, practice on a pice held in a vise. Tap on the end of the wire until it flattens out like the head on a brad, or finishing nail- about twice the diameter of the rod. If you cut this practice pin over length, it can become the first pin you use on your slabs. By peening the first end over in a vise, you will learn how soft, or hard the taps have to be, and how many you have to make to for the head the way you want it. I use a 3/16" drill bit to " countersink " the entry holes on both sides of the slab, so that the pins can be filed flush with the wood.
A machinist hammer has a flat head on one end, and a Ball "Peen " on the opposite end. They come in various weights. When you go to the hardware store buy only the heaviest one that you feel you need. Don't be afraid to ask. I prefer people start with the lighter weight hammer- no more than a 4 oz. head for this kind of work. The larger heads are for really heavy work, and most hobbyists just don't have any need or use for such a hammer. If you work on cars, THEN you need the heavy-weight headed hammers. When you are peening the second end of the wire, after the rod is run through the two slabs and the tang, you can also use a " Nailset " , a carpenter's device to help hold the heads of finishing nails while they are hammered down below the surface of the wood they are holding. The nailset has a small cup to the face of it, and that can be used to help round, or " Peen " over the metal. Always put the side with the first end of the rod against a steel surface, to keep the pin from movinb back out of the tang with your blows to the second end. A helper to hold the knife steady while you do this is nice to have.
Do expect that the rod, to some extent, may swell in the wood and tang so its locked in place in the hole. After drilling the holes in the tang, and then in both slabs, I like to use epoxy glues to hold the slabs to the metal tang. I insert the pins while the epoxy is wet, and finish peening the second end of the pins after the epoxy dries. The epoxy serves as that " helper " sometimes when no one is around.
Using both pins and epoxy, the slabs will stay on the tang, even if you file the slabs and heads of the pins down quite a bit.
Don't leave any rough end of the peened head sticking above the surface of the slab, for it will surely dig into and abrade the surface of your hand and fingers while using the knife. A few strokes with a fine toothed draw file, followed with some emery cloth, or even sand paper, will smooth the ends and level them with the slab's surface. Then the slabs are ready to be finished with stain, and/ or wood finish.
