Dennis Morland
KNIFE MAKER
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.
John Wilson's KITH WIP - folder COMPLETE
- Thread starter John Wilson
- Start date
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
What I really like about folders is that I get to switch gears. Everything is small and there are a lot of steps, but there really isn’t a lot of grunt work. It’s very relaxing in its own way. To me it is more like tinkering. It’s a thought driven process and you get to problem solve more than you do on a big knife.
I’m used to big chef’s knives and the hours of tedious grinding and sanding. I suppose folders offer a welcome break. Admittedly, I still have a lot of do-overs. For example, I ruined the original spring for this knife because I zipped off .002 too much from the end. But it’s still a good spring. I’ll set it aside and make the next blade a hair shorter at the pivot.
I’m used to big chef’s knives and the hours of tedious grinding and sanding. I suppose folders offer a welcome break. Admittedly, I still have a lot of do-overs. For example, I ruined the original spring for this knife because I zipped off .002 too much from the end. But it’s still a good spring. I’ll set it aside and make the next blade a hair shorter at the pivot.
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
Thank you very much, guys. I am enjoying this, too. I appreciate the feedback because I was afraid that I was being too tedious in my presentation.
Dennis Morland
KNIFE MAKER
Nope. Not at all. This is truly awesome to follow along.
This post made me chuckle. I think Forged in Fire should do a slip joint edition. You get 6 hours to make a slip joint. Think about all the new swear words you could learn. I really did chuckle, a bit.
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
It would be... interesting ha!
C Craft
Well-Known Member
John, you make this look like child's play and I know it is not. Because I made a run at one of these a while back and decided to back off for a while!! I am learning a lot of the small details watching you.
That is something I have come to realize lately watching a Chuck Burrows DVD on sheath making. Chuck said, "it is attention to the little details that make ones work custom, otherwise it is just run of the mill like everyone else's work"!! OK, so that may not be an exact quote but you get the idea of what I am trying toddd does
If you have never seen the process done, you don't know those little details and you are left trying to figure out why yours does not work as it should!!
That is something I have come to realize lately watching a Chuck Burrows DVD on sheath making. Chuck said, "it is attention to the little details that make ones work custom, otherwise it is just run of the mill like everyone else's work"!! OK, so that may not be an exact quote but you get the idea of what I am trying toddd does
If you have never seen the process done, you don't know those little details and you are left trying to figure out why yours does not work as it should!!
Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
This is great John!
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
Well- first I want to apologize for taking so long to get back to this WIP.
Last we left off, we had used the Rise and Fall indicator to get the blade tang the same thickness on all three sides as measured from the pivot hole.
Now we turn our attention to the handle liners. On this style of slip joint the handle liners, for all intents and purposes, *are the handle. We’ll put bolsters and scales on them, but the liners are the skeletal support of the knife and what provides the precise location of the pins. In a slipjoint the pins and their locations are the key to the successful operation of the knife.
Here you see that I affix the print to one liner. That liner will be glued to its mate and the print used to locate and drill the pin holes.
Last we left off, we had used the Rise and Fall indicator to get the blade tang the same thickness on all three sides as measured from the pivot hole.
Now we turn our attention to the handle liners. On this style of slip joint the handle liners, for all intents and purposes, *are the handle. We’ll put bolsters and scales on them, but the liners are the skeletal support of the knife and what provides the precise location of the pins. In a slipjoint the pins and their locations are the key to the successful operation of the knife.
Here you see that I affix the print to one liner. That liner will be glued to its mate and the print used to locate and drill the pin holes.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
Once the pair have been glued we can drill two of the three holes.
The pivot pin and the center hole for the back spring are drilled according to the print. BUT we don’t go anywhere near the last hole yet.
These two holes are in fixed locations by design. Since the liners are glued together we can drill them both at once to ensure the holes are aligned.
The pivot pin and the center hole for the back spring are drilled according to the print. BUT we don’t go anywhere near the last hole yet.
These two holes are in fixed locations by design. Since the liners are glued together we can drill them both at once to ensure the holes are aligned.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
Now for that last hole, and the reason we waited.
The backspring being under constant tension in all positions is what makes a slipjoint work.
SETTING THE TENSION
This seemed like a black art to me before I learned how to do it.
We put the blade and spring on temporary pins and apply lifting force to the butt end of the spring to remove any play between the blade and spring. Then we scribe the liner along the spring.
We remove the blade and lift the spring .060 (about 2/3 the thickness of the 3/32 drill bit we will use for the pin hole.)
Clamp the spring and drill both the spring and liner together.
The backspring being under constant tension in all positions is what makes a slipjoint work.
SETTING THE TENSION
This seemed like a black art to me before I learned how to do it.
We put the blade and spring on temporary pins and apply lifting force to the butt end of the spring to remove any play between the blade and spring. Then we scribe the liner along the spring.
We remove the blade and lift the spring .060 (about 2/3 the thickness of the 3/32 drill bit we will use for the pin hole.)
Clamp the spring and drill both the spring and liner together.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
A test fit. Nice and tight.
Are you scratching your head a bit right now?
“John, I clearly remember you pushing the butt end of the spring upwards and out of alignment by .060 so how in the world do you get that third pin in there?” Great question. There’s a trick here.
The third pin is sharpened to a point. A very long taper.
With the pivot pin and center pin in place, the third pin hole in the handle is .060 out of alignment with the third hole in the spring. The tapered pin allows you to pick up the hole. As you drive it in with a hammer it will flex the spring. That flex is your spring tension.
DO NOT rotate the blade. The spring is still in the annealed state. It will flex enough to get that third pin in but rotating the blade would flex the spring beyond its ability to rebound.
Remove the third pin. Rotate the blade to the closed position and reinsert the third pin. Now you can see where the tip of the blade rests within the handle under tension.
Are you scratching your head a bit right now?
“John, I clearly remember you pushing the butt end of the spring upwards and out of alignment by .060 so how in the world do you get that third pin in there?” Great question. There’s a trick here.
The third pin is sharpened to a point. A very long taper.
With the pivot pin and center pin in place, the third pin hole in the handle is .060 out of alignment with the third hole in the spring. The tapered pin allows you to pick up the hole. As you drive it in with a hammer it will flex the spring. That flex is your spring tension.
DO NOT rotate the blade. The spring is still in the annealed state. It will flex enough to get that third pin in but rotating the blade would flex the spring beyond its ability to rebound.
Remove the third pin. Rotate the blade to the closed position and reinsert the third pin. Now you can see where the tip of the blade rests within the handle under tension.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
John Wilson
Well-Known Member
We don’t want to get carried away when trimming down the liners. A little extra meat on the bone is a giod thing. Grinding to final dimensions is about the last step, and too much OCD grinding along the way is a surefire recipe to take away something you will only discover later that you need.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
We’ve trimmed the liners to some approximation of the final shape.
Time to clean them up. You’ll do this several times so no need to get crazy. Remove the burrs from grinding. Remove any deep scratches on the sides that you determine will be the inside faces. This is a permanent choice, so mark them. LI means Left Inside.
Time to clean them up. You’ll do this several times so no need to get crazy. Remove the burrs from grinding. Remove any deep scratches on the sides that you determine will be the inside faces. This is a permanent choice, so mark them. LI means Left Inside.
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John Wilson
Well-Known Member
RELIEVING THE LINERS
We have come to the part where a milling machine is very handy. In the absence of a mill one could use a dremel, or even washers and forego this step entirely.
The purpose of relieving the liners is to create a contact pad at the pivot. The size of the area you relieve should be as big as the ricasso of the blade. Creating a pocket ensures the liners can’t scratch the ricasso as the blade rotates.
I make the large diameter of the pocket by scribing the rotation of the blade at the sharpening choil.
I determine the inside diameter of the pocket (the size of the pad) very scientifically: I put a flare nut on the pin and trace the nut.
We have come to the part where a milling machine is very handy. In the absence of a mill one could use a dremel, or even washers and forego this step entirely.
The purpose of relieving the liners is to create a contact pad at the pivot. The size of the area you relieve should be as big as the ricasso of the blade. Creating a pocket ensures the liners can’t scratch the ricasso as the blade rotates.
I make the large diameter of the pocket by scribing the rotation of the blade at the sharpening choil.
I determine the inside diameter of the pocket (the size of the pad) very scientifically: I put a flare nut on the pin and trace the nut.
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