its a different approach to fitting a stick tang, but it should work. Normally you would drill a hole up the length of the wood and then burn/rasp/saw/chisel a slot for the tang to fit in (you don't need to use the full length of tang). I've seen some people saw the block down the centre and carve a channel for the tang before gluing (and sometimes pinning) it back together, this leaves a seam down the middle of the block that can either be left barely visible or made a feature of with a liner of some sort (this is a bit like a mortice construction).
As for drilling the tang, you should have no trouble but if you do then try heating that area with a blowtorch for a while to normalize it further (I draw the temper from the tangs, but sometimes you need to heat a bit higher to a dull red). Make sure you protect the blade from the heat with a wet rang or couple of bits of metal clamped on to keep it cool.