Making my own washers.

Calvin Robinson

Calvin Robinson

Moderator Christian Forum
I'm making my slipjoint folders now with washers instead of milling out relief to prevent scratches on the tang. The only problem is that washers the size I need are not available for sale, I need .010" thick x .280" OD x 3/16" ID and I want them to be stainless steel. So I had to figure out how to make my own washers on my lathe. First I made this jig to hold the shim stock so I can drill and ream the 3/16" hole without leaving any burrs. I stack 10,3/8"x3/8" pieces of shim stock on there and clamp them down tight then dril undersized then ream to 3/16". The I put them on this arbor I built and clamp them down tight,put it in my lathe and turn them down to .280". I do have some deburring and flattening to do but I usually don't lose more than two washers out of a batch of ten.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
 
I was going to recommend a disc punching jig, something like jewelers use but you have a odd size for the outside diameter. I don't know what kind of power tool you have but you could probably make one with a good lathe an/or milling maching.

Doug
 
That may work Doug if they would end up flat and precisely the proper thickness,these are going in a slipjoint knife,there is no wiggle room here. My method is working fine since I built these tools.
 
You should be able to make your own punching jig for doing both the inside AND outside diameters. With a lathe, it should be even easier to make the punches, then it's just a matter of drilling the holes to close enough tolerances that you get a clean cut.

That said, if you're doing 10 or so at a time on the lathe, it may not be a time saver, depending on how long it takes to set up.

I am curious about the process of using washers on a slip joint though.

How do you avoid a gap from the washer spacing where the blade meets at the lock spring? Or is this gap negligible?
 
Excellent. That's a good passing rate for such a precise, hand made part. I'll have to remember this when my time comes, Calvin - thank you for sharing!
 
Good to go is what you have, Calvin. I made up a punch set. It works well on phosphor bronze but not very well on stainless. The stainless shim stock I had was for setting up pumps and motors. I don't know the grade. Frank
 
ARCustomKnives said:
You should be able to make your own punching jig for doing both the inside AND outside diameters. With a lathe, it should be even easier to make the punches, then it's just a matter of drilling the holes to close enough tolerances that you get a clean cut.

That said, if you're doing 10 or so at a time on the lathe, it may not be a time saver, depending on how long it takes to set up.

I am curious about the process of using washers on a slip joint though.

How do you avoid a gap from the washer spacing where the blade meets at the lock spring? Or is this gap negligible?
Click to expand...

I make the spring .020" thicker than the blade,then with one .010" washer on each side of the blade tang when it is piened together that gives me the clearance that I usually mill out of the inside of the liners for anti scratch relief to prevent thse radial scratches on the tang of the knife caused by opening and closing. I also use a 3/16" bushing for the blade to pivot on,I make it .001" thicker than the blade and washers,that gives me plenty of room to pien the pivot pin and make sure it disappears without locking up the blade. Is that clear as mud?
There is a gap that you can see on either side of the blade on the spine of the knife where it meets the spring,providing this anti scratch relief with washers instead of milling assures that he gap is perfectly simetrical,which is very tedious to do by milling even when milled on a pantograph like I have been doing.
 
Google up one of the punch jigs on a jewelry site if you don't have a clear idea of how they're made. Findings King has always been my favorite. The metal sheet sits in a slot. Make two jigs, one to punch the small hole and another to punch the outer circumference. On the one to punch the large diameter make raised part that will sit inside the inner hole and orient the sheet to the large punch. To use just mark off the sheet to line things up, punch the small hole, then switch to the larger jig to punch out the washer.

Doug
 
Calvin Robinson said:
There is a gap that you can see on either side of the blade on the spine of the knife where it meets the spring,providing this anti scratch relief with washers instead of milling assures that he gap is perfectly simetrical,which is very tedious to do by milling even when milled on a pantograph like I have been doing.
Click to expand...

That's what I was curious about. Makes perfect sense. Thanks!
 
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