1st folder design - suggestions?

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sedergraphics

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Aug 25, 2004
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I’m working on my first lock-liner,… um and my 4th total knife. I know I’m kind of jumping into advanced stuff pretty quick but I’m having fun.

I’ve read Bob Terzuola’s book 2 times so I'm not going in totally blind. My design is a mix between the knife designed in the book and the opening action of my CRKT M16.

I’ve created the knife in Rhino 3D which is a type of CAD program. In the program I’ve thought out the parts, tested the pivot and the blade stop in open and closed position. But with all this testing on the computer I know that the real world can be a bit different.

Looking at the graphic from my CAD program is there anything that I have wrong or should modify? I am wondering if the angle of the top opening finger flippin thing is OK. Wasn’t sure if that will give enough leverage to flip the blade open.

My next step is to make a Kydex pattern of the liner and blade.

Any tips to my design greatly appreciated!


The liner will be Ti 6AL4V .060
LockLiner_flick2.jpg


Kraig
www.sedergraphics.com
 
It sure looks good to me although not very original. I think the flipper is too long, it could open the blade in your pocket if bumped while you are break dancing. It doesnt take much of a flipper to open the blade. Just make one and use it for awhile, You will know soon what to change. I envy people who can design a knife in CAD.
 
Not very original for this first one I'll admit. Just taking different designs I like and mixing them up for this first design. On the 2nd folder I'll be going for the originality ribbon.

I might take a bit off the flipper. Don't want to end my break dancing career early.


Kraig
www.sedergraphics.com
 
Depending on how the knife is made, the flipper probably doesn't need to be that long. If your going to have washers or a bushing on the pivot to make it realy slick, the flipper probably doesn't have to be much longer than it takes to get past the detent.

Personally I would want a stop pin, especially in a knife that is meant to be flipped open. I know alot of guys use the thumbstuds as a stop anymore, but I think they are making their own especially for this task. The premade ones from the knife supply houses generally just have a small screw going through the blade which could be sheared off fairly easily with the kind of stress a stop pin is under during heavy cutting or flipping. If you modify the choil on your blade a little bit I think you have plenty of room for a nice heavy stop pin any way. You could also extend the backspacer forward to act as a stop.
Just some ideas to think about, I think its a pretty good design overall.
 
Like Bruce said, not very original, but that's ok. You gotta start somewhere.

From a guy that has built a few flippers, move the flipper as far back on the blade as you can, so that in the closed position, it's as far forward as possible. You get more leverage before your finger hits the top of the knife, as you open it.

The thumb buttons will work fine for the blade stop, both in the open and closed position. Poplin has the pivot bolts, 1/4" head with 3/16" shank. He also has the 1/4" head threaded to fit the pivot bolt. It requires a 3/16" hole thru the blade at the thumb button position. The 6x40 thread size works better, since you can get a couple more threads to tighten.

Not sure of your ability, but the best way to do the stop area is to drill and ream the hole for the open and closed position and then cut and grind the pattern around it, without ever getting into those pockets. Those 2 positions for the pivot will drive you nuts keeping them parrallel with each other.

With all that said, I'd recommend doing a regular liner lock or framelock first.

Good luck either way.
 
you're design looks great, I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, I'm on my 4th and trying to make a butterfly, not as hard as a liner lock but still should be fun :cool:

do you have any tips for rhino? I downloaded the trial and am trying to figure out how to use it for designing knives :rolleyes:
 
Kit Carson said:
...

The thumb buttons will work fine for the blade stop, both in the open and closed position. Poplin has the pivot bolts, 1/4" head with 3/16" shank. He also has the 1/4" head threaded to fit the pivot bolt. It requires a 3/16" hole thru the blade at the thumb button position. The 6x40 thread size works better, since you can get a couple more threads to tighten.
...

Good luck either way.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, your not talking about using the normal thumbstuds like TKS or Koval sell for this style knife are you? When I said it wouldn't work I was talking about the ones that have a #1-72 or #2-56 screw holding them in.
 
Looks cool -- good luck with the blade!

Man, I need to get off my ass and do a folder. :grumpy: :D
 
Matt,
Not sure what those guys sell. Pop has these. 1/4" diameter head, 1/4" long, turned down to 3/16" shank that goes thru the blade. For a pivot you would use a 6x32 screw, but for the thumb button, he makes the male side - 1/4" diameter head, 1/4" long, with 6x32 threads. These aren't precut, you have to cut to length. The head is ground down for a pivot, but leaving them long for a thumb button. I don't use these for normal thumb buttons, just flippers.

That pivot bolt is one of several that I use, depending on the knife.
 
paintfool said:
do you have any tips for rhino? I downloaded the trial and am trying to figure out how to use it for designing knives :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Once you get used to using Rhino you will love it. I usually scetch out my initial design by hand or in Photoshop. I save the scetch and then import it (from the menu view\Background Bitmap). I then trace the scetch. There are thousands of really good tutorials online for Rhino. I'd do a search on Google for 'Rhino 3D tutorials'.

Thanks for all the great info! I think I may go back to my initial design and use the blade stop on this first one. I think worrying about the flipper and two stop points on my first on my first folder is stretching it, when I should be concentrating on the liner-lock and getting everything parallel and straight. I think I'll modify my design and put the blade stop back in.


Kraig
www.sedergraphics.com
 
Thanks Kit
I'll have to look into those. The ones I've seen are either 2 peice that screw together with a very small shank (for ambi) or have a small screw coming through the blade from the off side. Sounds like what your using is much more substantial.
 
Nice job on your first design. I agree that it needs a stop pin to keep the blade from striking the back stop when closed. A flipper design using a stop pin is a problem, because the flipper has to pass by the stop pin. One other solution is to add a cutout in the liners or bolsters that acts as a stop when closed, just as the bolster stops the blade when opened.

You've certainly got a great start. Congrats. :D
 
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