Completed my third and fourth knives.

B

Black cat

Well-Known Member
The smaller one is a knife I made for my mother.
1084, buffalo handle.

It was completed about three weeks ago.

The larger one I just completed today for my fathers birthday.
1084, G10 scales, stainless bolster.

The bolster was glued and pinned, it was my first attempt at doing a steel bolster or peening pins and i'm not thrilled with the result.

I ended up with the rather ugly black circles.

My process was...

3/16 SS 416 pin stock
3/16 drilled holes

Clean holes with acetone

Didnt have a reem so I tapered a drill bit shank and used that to reem the bolster holes then cleaned those with acetone

Pins were cut so they stick out by the thickness of "one pin" on either side

Sanded and tapered pins

Glued and set them into bolster (glue everywhere!)

The holes were loose... I dont know why my 3/16 holes are always so much bigger than my 3/16 pin stock but I think that causes some issues.

Hammered the pins till they mushroomed... Not what I expected...
They did mushroom but it didnt look anything like what I had imagined.

Once they had a nice expanded mushroom top and the edges of the top were touching the bolster I smashed the crap out of it with the hammer.

Ground the surface of the bolster... And huge black circles! But it's solid anyway.

Just thought id add... The knife is otherwise decent. Could use a better polish.
Hair splitting sharp, it was already used before I took the picture. My father couldnt wait two minutes after I finnished the blade to throw cucumbers in the air and split them (sharp)

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Looks great man. I have never tried to make the pins disappear on bolsters but the little I know is the glue in the holes and not getting the pins to fill the taper will cause the circles or lines around the pins. Is only 3 an 4 so not being flawless cosmeticly isnt a bad thing so keep going.
Dads an fruit ninja with new knives happens. Lol
 
Those look nice.
You mentioned SS bolster and 416 pin stock. Is the bolster 416 also? Using the same bolster material as pin stock is a must. I also have never put glue in my bolster holes.

I built a small but heavy duty press that I use for bolster pins. After I press them I also beat those suckers with a heavy hammer and anvil. Occasionally I will have a pin partially show but not as often as when I first tried them.
If they show, hopefully you notice before finish dimensions. Kind of tough because they usually don't really show until you polish!! If so I beat them more and thin the profile a bit to get the maul marks I just put in the bolster out.
If that doesn't work or I don't like the new profile, it becomes what one maker I heard, calls a kinfolk knife! There's always a family member wanting a knife when you start building and this is where those ones go for me.
I also used to put three pins in the bolster for some silly reason, just increasing my odds of one showing. Two like you used on your bolster is plenty I think.
 
I watched a video on this by Caleb White.He will tap those pins lightly and will run his finger nail under the head of the expanded pin to clean out any dirt.He does a great job but sometimes things just dont workout as we plan.But those knifes do look good.
 
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