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The Folding Knife (& Switchblade) Forum The materials, techniques and the designing of folding knives.

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  #1  
Old 10-18-2017, 01:19 PM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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Third folder well on its way

Like my first 2 this is a lockback folder. At this point I made all the metal parts and the heat treatment. I still need to do:
1) the wooden handle
2) the finish on all metal parts

Done with tempering (colors are still there), I reassembled the knife. Third picture is before heat treat but shows the filework

What I like so far:
The general shape is more pleasant than on the first one, different than on the second but I liked the second knife's shape.
The lockbar is flush with the liners in both open and close position. The mechanism works well (locks solidly and the knife snaps closes)

What I don't like:
the protruding part of the lockbar (the place you push to unlock)should be just a bit longer so that the bottom of it is hidden by the liners.
the spring is not flush with the liners

I welcome any criticism (hopefully constructive though) and will keep you updated with progress.

PS: as my previous knife this is made only with hand tools except for a drill press, no sander, grinder and so on, files, hacksaw and sand paper so be indulgent if updates are far between every thing is time consuming.



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  #2  
Old 10-18-2017, 02:29 PM
damon damon is offline
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I'm liking the shape of this one.

getting all the parts lined up where they need to fit flush is quite fiddly.
other than making a while new lock bar, you could try something a touch risky. clamp it in a vise, and heat up the tail end with a torch, up to about 1/2 way to the pivot pin. then once nice and red, gently tap the end till it is below the liners again. looks like 1/16" should be far enough. youll likely need to file or sand a bit to get back to flat and even on the sides.
others might have other suggestions, or you could just carry on with it as is.

also, before you start final assembly, trace your parts out, and hole placements onto some brass sheet to use as templates. you can make the necessary adjustments to the templates to fix some of the alignment issues you mentioned. plus it makes it worlds faster to make more later.

which wood you using?
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  #3  
Old 10-19-2017, 07:02 AM
LaHo LaHo is offline
 
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this one looks great
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  #4  
Old 10-19-2017, 10:51 AM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damon View Post
I'm liking the shape of this one.

getting all the parts lined up where they need to fit flush is quite fiddly.
other than making a while new lock bar, you could try something a touch risky. clamp it in a vise, and heat up the tail end with a torch, up to about 1/2 way to the pivot pin. then once nice and red, gently tap the end till it is below the liners again. looks like 1/16" should be far enough. youll likely need to file or sand a bit to get back to flat and even on the sides.
others might have other suggestions, or you could just carry on with it as is.

also, before you start final assembly, trace your parts out, and hole placements onto some brass sheet to use as templates. you can make the necessary adjustments to the templates to fix some of the alignment issues you mentioned. plus it makes it worlds faster to make more later.

which wood you using?
Thank you for the advice, I agree with you that this is probably the best way. I am not 100% sure I'll do it or accept the defect. Making the lockbar is time consuming and finicky work (need to be adjusted just right in the notch area and in the place where it pushes on the spring + filework takes time. I'll take a look this evening at the exact geometry of the bar by itself to see if I think I can clamp it well enough that only the correct part will bend. Also my good (read bigger) vise has leather pieces glued to the jaws to protect the metal when I clamp it. Obviously not great if I heat the steel, I have a smaller vice without the leather and it may work.

Good point about the template.

I will use birds eye maple for the wood
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Old 10-20-2017, 08:01 AM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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As promised more pictures
but before you look at them I have a question.
The initial plan was a folder with bolsters. Now that I have started to make the handle I am starting to think that the two part handle (bolster + wood) makes the knife looks unbalanced and gives the impression that the handle is too short. In addition the bolsters which are made from the same steel as the liner seem to thin.
At this point I am weighting three options:
1) continue as planned and shape the handle scales to fit the bolsters, they will be very thin in front thicker in the middle and intermediate toward the but
2) remake the bolster from thicker steel. If I do that I will probably make them sorter too. Then remake the handle
3) remake the handle without bolsters

Can you tell me what you think will be the best final look? The way I am going I will probably go forward with 1) to a certain point then start 3) and compare the two before really fixing the handle. 2) requires more metal work and I was hoping to be dine with that part of the project and it will be attempted only if I am not happy with either 1) or 3)


Internals (after heat treat before finishing):


Handle being fitted to the liner (still needs to be fitted to the bolster)


Handle cut to fit the bolster (still needs to be shaped)
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  #6  
Old 10-20-2017, 12:21 PM
damon damon is offline
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I use 1/8" material for bolsters. as yours sits it looks a bit thinner than that, but then that will make it more comfortable to carry in a pocket. 3/8"-1/2" total thickness will not feel too bulky.
I prefer to fit the bolsters in place before drilling any holes for the handle material. this helps get a better fit between handle material and bolster.
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  #7  
Old 10-20-2017, 03:03 PM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damon View Post
I use 1/8" material for bolsters. as yours sits it looks a bit thinner than that, but then that will make it more comfortable to carry in a pocket. 3/8"-1/2" total thickness will not feel too bulky.
I prefer to fit the bolsters in place before drilling any holes for the handle material. this helps get a better fit between handle material and bolster.
Yes the material used for the bolster is 3/32".
Also I agree with your methodology, it would have made my life much easier to just file the front of the scale flat with the correct angle, then drill the holes, then make the scales match the liner.
If I do end up making the scales again and for the next knife I'll definitely do that.
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  #8  
Old 10-24-2017, 08:46 AM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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as promised, some updates:
Metal parts have been sanded. I will do a little bit more hand sanding on the blade but not much I'll keep it at the current grit (400). Scales are shaped they still need to be glued, riveted and finished (I'll use teak oil).

This is the first time I am making a folder which will be permanently pinned and I am a bit afraid of gluing the scales and to have epoxy go into the mechanism. My experience is with either fix blades (mechanism is much less sensitive to glue ;-) ) or folders where the scales where pinned and glued to the liners but none of the pins would go through the whole knife so I could do the glue with the knife disassembled and I could make sure that none of the glue overrun would go in the mechanism.

Any of you have a nice trick for that? I have thought about just pinning the handles with no glue but I want to avoid water getting stuck in between the liners and the handle scales.



Last edited by terrinecold; 10-24-2017 at 08:50 AM.
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  #9  
Old 10-26-2017, 09:02 AM
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Don Robinson Don Robinson is offline
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Looks great!
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  #10  
Old 10-26-2017, 09:57 AM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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Looks great!
thanks your opinion means a lot.
Current state is that I glued the scales and I need to sand some glue overflow then pin the knife and finish the wood. Hopefully finished this WE.
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  #11  
Old 10-27-2017, 08:06 AM
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terrinecold terrinecold is offline
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There is a point when one has to finish. This is this point for this knife.
Since last pictures, the scales were fixed to the knife (glued and pinned, the pins are peened in place), the scales were oiled and buffed and the blade sharpened.

Here are a couple of pictures with comparison with my first folder.

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  #12  
Old 11-11-2017, 07:35 AM
James_1979 James_1979 is offline
 
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Great knife.Thanks for sharing.

Last edited by James_1979; 11-28-2017 at 10:13 PM.
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