2nd folder, for my daughter

T

terrinecold

Joined
Oct 3, 2016
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113
Hello,
I recently posted a thread on the first folder knife I made. I learned a lot from it and got good advices from you guys.
I am now starting the second one, this will be for my daughter who is 14.
One of the things I learned was that better preparation was a good idea. I used inkscape to draw the knife and the different part and check that it should work fine when opened and closed.
Here is the design. As previously I am opened to remark.


Regarding materials. I am using O1 tool steel, for all steel parts, the liners will be 1/16" and the blade 3/32". The handle scales will be olive wood. I intend to attach the handles to the liners in a similar way as on my knife (2 mosaic pins and epoxy). The scale + liners will be attached to the spacer using screws with a pivot barrel in between the screws (that is what I did in the other and that worked fine. Same thing for the connection with the lockbar pivot. The blade pivot is larger but the ones I have are not long enough so I still have to think about how I'll make it work. I think the screws will be recessed in the wooden scales.

Finally since the export to png kind or removed the dimentions, the length of that blade is about 8.5cm, the knife is sensibly the same size as a number 8 opinel.

What do you guys think? Am I doing anything wrong? As you can see in the drawing I tried to make sure that the knife closed will be stopped correctly by the lockbar and that it will correctly stay closed.
 
I have very little experience making folders so the advice I can give is limited. That being said, I would like to say that I think the spring contacts the lock bar to close to the pivot point. Stacy pointed this out in the last thread-

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
It is only my opinion, but I would heat the spring to full red and re-shape it right. Then re-do the HT on it with a torch.

I like the spring to curve alongside the lock bar so it is laying flat almost against it, not pushing straight down in only one spot. The end of the spring is usually about half way between the lock bar pivot pin and the end of the lock bar. To adjust the pressure needed to release the lock, you thin the spring as needed to get the proper flex. If the temper is right, the spring can be tweaked by careful bending so it seats just right. I polish the spring bottom and lock bar top to keep friction down. I also round the bottom of the spring so it touches with less surface.
Click to expand...

Other than that, I don't see anything blatantly wrong with the design. If there is, I'm sure others will chime in.

Good luck!
-Tanner
 
A shorter lock spring will supply better tension toward the rear of the lock to hold blade in closed position.
 
I'll modify the drawing and republish it. The reason I made it so close is because to minimize fatigue on the spring I wanted the travel to be small. Also the spring I made for the last folder was pretty stiff and I wasn't 100% confident of my ability to control the stiffness of the spring.
 
I'm currently learning folders also. To me it looks like the square edge and the tapered edge on the blade notch and lock bar are on the wrong sides.
 

updated plans.
I started to take advantage of the new spring shape to change the blade shape a bit but truth is I already rough cutted the blade yesterday so I'd rather keep the same shape. I did change the liners shape too to match the new spring shape.
 
Jesse Latham said:
I'm currently learning folders also. To me it looks like the square edge and the tapered edge on the blade notch and lock bar are on the wrong sides.
Click to expand...
Correct, that will be adjusted manually in any case but I should have tried to make it clearer in the drawing. Updating the drawing is a bit difficult though as I am using inkscape and not a CAD program (shame on me I work for a software editor in the CAD/CAM business, just don't have our software on my personal computer). In CATIA I would have specified the angles precisely as well as the dimentions. Here it turns out to be harder to edit the paths to be precise enough in term of angles.
 
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OK progress report, the knife is basically done but there are a few things I am unhappy with so I'll redo the handles:
First 2 pictures of the inside (before heat treating, finishing the blade and making the handle)


Then one with the handle


I have heat treated the blade and the liner but not done the final finish on the blade so no pictures yet after the heat treat.

My issue with the handle is that once done I think the 5 screws make it too busy. So I will redo the handle so that the second and third will be hidden underneath it. Actually they won't even be screws, rather floating pins. The second screw (the one for the stop pin) is actually causing the knife to be a bit too hard to close when it is tightened (it closes ok but instead of snapping toward the end when the lock bar pushes on the tang as it doesn when the handles are not in place you have to push against the friction which is annoying).


Additional feedback both on the knife itself and my plans for it are welcome.
 
Another question. When I heat treat, after quenching, I degrease the metal parts and remove the scales with a quick sand paper rub then I go to temper.
I kind of like the oxidized colors after tempering (dark with a hint of blue)
IMG_5097_zpsexdexbj1.jpg


I was wondering if there is a problem with keeping that as a finish.
 
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And here is a picture of the file work.
More sanding is necessary to clean it up as well as to cleanup the liners but it gives a good idea of what it will be like when finished:


Got the idea for this filework in another post on this forum
 
looks reallyy cool, I sure would carry that! I dont mind the rough look either but I would work on the flatness between liners and wood for sure.
 
thanks for the comment.
Regarding the gap between handle and liner, you are right. I believe the liners are pretty flat which I'll recheck but I think I mostly need to spend time with the handles and some sandpaper. I have a piece of granite I use specifically for that, hopefully it will fix this issue. I probably won't do it until I remake the handles though.
 
timos- said:
looks reallyy cool, I sure would carry that! I dont mind the rough look either but I would work on the flatness between liners and wood for sure.
Click to expand...
By the way I see you are in MA too. I currently live in Watertown near Boston, I'd be glad to visit your shop and take advise in person if you don't mind.
 
not much to see at my place besides piles of dust around the grinder in a 10x 12 shed ...and a table in the basement, celing is only 5-1/2 ft. good thing I am short. LOL anyway lets of cool work in progress stuff on instagram
 
terrinecold said:
I kind of like the oxidized colors after tempering (dark with a hint of blue)

I was wondering if there is a problem with keeping that as a finish.
Click to expand...

I left my bevel blue with the flats sanded to a clean satin finish on a knife I made for someone. I also liked the look a lot. I haven't used it since, but it was really cool how the blue had specks of silver and greens in it. Looked kind of like I did it on purpose. Which I uh ... DID, yeah that's it.
 
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