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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 06-03-2015, 02:06 PM
RedstickJP RedstickJP is offline
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First bolster attempt

Ok I finally got the bolsters on this knife and the scales epoxy'd on. Ruined 3 scales trying to get them to match up, finally ended up using some black canvas between the scales and bolsters as a spacer. I'll get some pics up soon after the epoxy sets and I get the scales shaped. I now see and understand why Ray hates bolsters...I don't think I'll be doing them again lol.
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  #2  
Old 06-03-2015, 06:48 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Bolsters do take a certain skill set just to get them on the knife but that's only the beginning of why I don't care for them. After you get the knife finished work with it a while. See if they affect your grip, get the knife wet or better yet, oily. Feel the way the balance is changed - obviously, some people like it as bolsters are not scarce but, to me, it makes for a handle heavy knife on small knives.

Where bolsters do excel is in giving an engraver a canvas upon which to work their magic. Of course, such knives as those aren't as likely to be carried, much less actually used very hard ...


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  #3  
Old 06-03-2015, 09:18 PM
damon damon is offline
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how are you attaching the bolsters?

THIS IS MY METHOD.... NOT THE ONLY METHOD.

I use 1/16" pins. 4 or more of them and I peen the hell out of them.

1: true up the bottom of the bolster material, and the back (where bolster and handle material meet) this works the same if youre going to dovetail them too.

2: mark on the knife where the bolster is to be. then lay out a 3/16-1/4" boarder inside that. ill put a pin in each corner and spaced roughly 3/8"-5/8" apart.

3: drill the holes into the tang.

4: using a file guide to line up the bolsters will meet the handle material.... super glue one on... drill holes through bolster.... then glue on the other side of the bolster and drill back through.

5: tap with something to break the glue loose, clean it off then run a couple pins through to align the bolster parts together off of the knife. lock then together with vise grips, and shape up the face. contour sand and polish to finish. just the face not the whole bolster. reason being is this is an impossible area to reach once the knife is assembled.

6: after knife is heat treated and finished up you can permanently pin the bolsters. take each one on a flat anvil and use a slightly tapered punch to expand the opening of the pin holes. run the pins through and trim them down to about equal the diameter of the pin sticking out each side. (1/16" pin= 1/16" of the pin sticking out) file the ends of the pins to remove the irregular pointy burs. those will keep pin from peening evenly, and make it bend out in ways you don't want.

7: with pins in place... lock down with vise grips and start peening the first pin. then another before taking the vise grips off. (I start with the 2 there the bolster and handle meet then work toward the blade.

8: once all are initially peened in place.... I let them have it. I keep working my way around them hammering from each side to THUROUGHLY set the pins and fill that tapered pin hole completely. this overkill on the peening will make the pins completely vanish when you sand and polish the bolsters and handles.

9: ok this is before you start hammering, but still.... keep the pins and pin holes clean. any oil or dirt trapped in there will make the pins show up when finishing the bolster.
ALSO use the same material for both pin and bolster. (I mostly use 416 stainless) 300 series stainless will contrast with the 400 series alloys. same is true with the different brasses.

this peening will leave some work hardened spots that the engraver will be SURE to notice when cutting, (as an engraver I know this) however they will be much more cooperative that bolsters that have been spot welded on. the hard spots left behind from that are "glass hard" and practically unengravable. that is a whole different set of steps and issues there.

hope this is helpful. if I left anything out feel free to ask.

im sure others will chime in with what works for them as well.



if using non metal bolsters...... goes without saying id hope... don't over peen! youll split the material. a way around this would be to use screws or corby rivits.
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  #4  
Old 06-03-2015, 09:33 PM
damon damon is offline
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EXAMPLE..... this one has a total of 15-16 pins holding in both front and rear bolsters. sanded down to 1500-2000 grit then polished. just to show how well they can vanish. just pray you don't have to drill them out for any reason... is near impossible to find them again.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oiseau...7629378096370/
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  #5  
Old 06-04-2015, 12:08 PM
RedstickJP RedstickJP is offline
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ok, got the handle and bolster shaped and encountered a problem. surprisingly the problem was not from the bolsters, they came out great, but with the handle. I ended up taking too much material off of one of the corby rivets and exposed the hole in the middle.



Any thoughts on how I could fix this? I thought about griding it down a bit and cutting another male side of a corby down to screw into this, but the hole and threads are clogged with epoxy. the only other thing i can think of is to try and melt down some brass and carefully pour it into the hole then sand it flush. Any ideas or help would be appreciated. Handle and blade came out great, and I really dont want to have to scrap this knife.
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Old 06-04-2015, 12:59 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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That's why I favor the Loveless bolts. Some people don't like the little crescent moon that you usually see in them but its near impossible to grind your way into a problem with them.

I don't think I'd pour any molten metal in there, almost sure to burn the handle material. Grind up some brass and mix the grindings with epoxy and fill the hole, sand it smooth afterwards. Not likely to be a perfect match but its another lesson learned ...


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Old 06-04-2015, 01:54 PM
PoolQs PoolQs is offline
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I bolster just about every knife I make. I really like the style and looks. It also took me many, many
attempts before learning how to correctly do them.
Damon is right on !!! I pretty much do the same except I use 2 x 1/8" pins.
The only other thing I do differently is that I countersink both sides of my pin holes. I learned this
from another bladesmith. This reasoning on this is the when you are peening the pins, you are putting
more steel into the hole and actually make a "cap" inside the bolster to secure the bolster even more.
This also helps to make sure there are no "halo" effects.
The underside is countersunk just to have a little epoxy for even more strength.

Another way is to hollow out the underside of the bolster by approx. 1/8". This will give you more
clearance for epoxy (not squeezing it out when peening) but also only having to perfectly flatten less area of the bolster.
This way again was told to me by another knife maker. I have done it both ways and have worked well for me.

By NO means am I any authority, these are the techniques that have been taught to me.
Troy
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  #8  
Old 06-04-2015, 04:47 PM
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DanCom DanCom is offline
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Good walk-through Damon.

I have had good luck with bolsters and the hydraulic shop press. Of course you still need to align things just right, but the press and some some carefully placed spacers or washers squeeze the bolster pieces and press the pins at the same time.

I did something of a how to on this here http://dcknives.blogspot.ca/p/bolster-tutorial.html



Seems that bolsters are in, but I still long for the simple. Two hunks of wood and some brass pins.

Dan
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  #9  
Old 06-05-2015, 08:29 PM
PoolQs PoolQs is offline
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Again Dan,
I just re-read your tutorial on your bolsters.
Excellent !!!!!!
You have a very well laid out site and will be able to follow
your step-by-step instructions easily.
I for one, again, Thank you !!
Troy
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  #10  
Old 06-06-2015, 08:53 PM
Brad Johnson Brad Johnson is offline
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You need to get yourself a tapered pin reamer to to taper the hole and give the pin material somewhere to go. Done right, pins will disappear as stated above. My 2 cents
(PS) I get my reamers from MSC.


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  #11  
Old 06-07-2015, 09:26 AM
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DanCom DanCom is offline
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Thanks Troy


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