Design help

[Txcwboy]

I am working on my 3rd or 4th folder of which none are 100% done and have a question. The part that the stop pin touches ( doesnt it have a name ?) can it be cut back or rounded to make this handle work ? The arrow is pointing to the area in question. Any comments to help with this design are welcome.

Dave

Sorry pics are so small to upload...grrrr

[Don Robinson]

Yes, it can be moved back some. The notch under it where the lock spring makes contact has to be deep enough to prevent the detent ball riding off the tang of the blade. The notch looks like it can be moved back toward the pivot hole a little, too.

Or simply lengthen the front of the handle enough to cover the heel when closed.

Or a combination of all these things.

Don't forget the front of the handle needs to cover the detent ball hole too.

[Ray Rogers]

I believe it could be cut back if you also made the area at the bottom of the blade smaller so that it will clear the pin. It will take careful work to make sure the back of the blade doesn't slip off the front of the lock bar while the knife is being closed but it should be possible.

I have a section in my liner lock tutorial on how to design the lock work in a very simple way that might help you with this: http://www.rayrogers.com/ftutorial.htm There is also a section towards the end of the tutorial that explains how to fit the lock in a manner that is fairly forgiving and you might find that useful as well...

[Txcwboy]

Ray,
I used your site to design the blade For some reason it just came out long. I cut the notch for lock but it dosent seen perpendicular and I m going to straighten it up. The "bottom of the blade" part you reference is the round part ? I made 2 prototypes based on your site and they came out fine but when I switched to real materials I ran into problems..TI is some TUFF stuff ! I have over come those now and varied from the plans thus making me hit issues.I have to send them out to HT so I thought I would make several before doing so. I came over from another forum that seems to have died and I am very grateful for the help.This seems to be a very active forum for folder help.

Dave

[Ray Rogers]

You say the blade came out 'long - I assume you're talking about that part on the back that is the subject of this post. Following my tutorial that part would be long in the beginning. 'The tutorial isn't just a list of steps, it's a process for assembling a liner lock in such a way as to avoid the issues that most Newbies encounter on the first knives. As you get to the end of the process you'll grind that part back in order to get the lock to fit up correctly. As Don pointed out, there is still room to cut you notch a bit deeper and the deeper the notch goes the further back the tang can be cut if the stop pin gets placed properly. Placement of the stop pin is flexible - the real secret to fitting a lock the way I do it - and that placement determines the shape and size of the choil (round part at the bottom of the blade). It's all a kind of rubbery sliding affair the way the tutorial describes it but if all the steps are followed in sequence it's hard to fail.

Also, you said the notch wasn't perpendicular. That is desirable but it isn't absolutely necessary. As long as the face of the lock bar meets the notch correctly it will work just fine at a wide variety of angles.....

[Txcwboy]

I broke the tap in the blade tapping the thumb wheel hole. Went too deep. Does the radio shack etch trick work on ats 34 too ? How do I fix it ?


Dave

[Ray Rogers]

I think you posted this in the wrong thread. The etchant will dissolve the tap but it will also attach the ATS-34. Since there probably isn't any other way to remove a broken tap that small you might try it and hope that the ATS-34 can be cleaned up afterwards. Perhaps you could coat the ATS-34 with a good layer of wax or something to help protect it.

If the thumb wheel is going to sit on top the blade and not in a recess then maybe you could drill another hole and start over. This disk would cover the first hole so it wouldn't show. If neither of these ideas work for you, it's time to make another blade and maybe increase the size of the hole you're tapping to make it a little easier on the tap....

[Jeremy Krammes]

Did you install the stop pin in the liner yet? If not you could take that whole thing off. Almost flush with your lock cut. I try to keep everything as compact as possible, even with big folders. If that makes any sense. Or you could leave it there and put some traction groovs on it and make it a flipper. Trace your drawing onto some clear plactic, and cut out the blade and frame. Use these patterns to make sure every thing works together. You can refine as you go. Then when you have it the way you like it, just trace what you have.

Jeremy

[JeffreyPrater]

I have used a propane torch to heat a small broken tap to a red color, let cool slowly and then you can drill it out with a small bit. I have done this on liners, not on the blade spine but it should work, anneal it enough to let a drill cut it.

It might be worth a try?

Jeff Prater