pinning steel bolsters

69*camaro

Well-Known Member
I am ready to try my first SS bolster. How much pin length do I need to fill the bevel in the hole? I think I read somewhere that 1/2 of the diameter.

Also, do you guys glue it as well? It seems like I should glue it to insure no moisture creeps between the blade and bolster.

Thanks!!
 
1/2 the diameter extra is about right. I use a tapered pin reamer for the holes. This gives a slightly angled hole for the pin material to spread out into as you form it into the hole. This helps blend it a little better. Make sure every thing is very clean. Dirt/grease/marker will show up as a round ring.
I use JBweld between the bolster and blade tang. Clean off the excess with alcholol or acetone before it completely dries.
 
I don't bevel the hole. I use a tapered reamer and ream about half to 3/4 the length of the hole. I usually leave no more than 1/8" of pinstock protruding out each side but I just eyeball it. Then, I smash the pins with a 3lb hammer. You don't just want to peen the top of the pin. You want to smash the pin so it expands in the hole. This means you have to hit it hard. That way when you grind and shape your bolsters they will hold. Otherwise as you are grinding, you will see little circles appear in the bolsters where your pins are. That means they are not gonna hold. I dont use glue or epoxy. If you do then the bolsters will have a space between them and the blade. You want the blade and the bolsters to look continuous. Hope that helps.
-John
 
I got a Tapered Reamer from Tracy after my last(actually first) bolster attempt. Lookin' froward to trying it.

But I also had a problem with the JB Weld coming out around the pins when I attached the bolsters with it, before smashing the pins.
 
Bossdog,
I like the pin press.

Why not use the Loktite 325 glue instead of JB Weld?

JBweld takes the heat better when you are shaping the grind. 325 fails at a much lower temp.

John: Good question. You probably don't need it. I've done several with out and can't tell the difference other than it's less messy! I think it's an old practice that won't die from days when bolsters were fitted with quite a bit less precision. When I do one on the pin press, there is zero space left that I can see. I think you just changed my build process a little with that question.
 
Tracy,
I hope that is a good thing:D
I wasn't trying to be a smarty pants ( keeping it G rated here). I just don't see how it could help. I always drill at least 3 holes for my bolsters and everything is usually pretty tight and it just kind of stays together. I use Kant Clamps to hold the peices while drilling and as soon as I drill one hole, I put a pin in the hole and the the next and so on. One note, if you taper the tang on your knife, drill all the holes in the tang and bolsters before you taper the tang.
-John
 
I know you weren't being confrontational. When you ask it that way, you made perfect sense.

I use two pins. 1/8" but I'm going to drop to 3/32's in the future. I super glue the bolster onto the tang, drill one side through the already hardened tang that has holes already in it from before heat treat. Tap it off with a light hammer tap on the back, glue on the other one and repeat. I had too many slip with I clamped and drilled. I guess I just like glue?
 
Hey, whatever works. You bolsters look second to none, so you must be doing something right.2thumbs
-John
 
Gotta agree there! 2thumbs

Any pics of said "Pin Press"?


Hey, I need all the help I can get! :D
 
Saw in a tutorial by Rob Brown that he mills the backside of the bolster 1/2 a mm down and leaving only a little edge around the bolsters where it meets the blade.
Works quite dandy I´d say.
 
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