410,420,SS ,6/4 Ti..Whats your favorite liner material?

Matt Shade

Matt Shade

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Nov 24, 1999
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I'm trying to get the stuff together to make some liner locks. I've got steel ordered. Have most of the hardware already. Liners seem to be a vital part though ;)
I have a big chunk of .040" 410 stainless. From reading old threads on this subject, it sounds like.040 is a little thin and 410 doesn't retain its shape well enough as a spring even when its been heat treated.
I thought of buying some Ti, but everyone says its hell to work with. None of my tools are variable speed. So I'd probably burn my shop AKA my parents garage to the ground.
Seems like 420SS is used for liners pretty frequently. But I can't find any to buy.
What do you use and where did you get it from? I'd like to go with steel. And what thickness would you recomend?. I don't mind weight, these knives will be users.
Thanks for any help.

Oh yeah, Ti isn't completely out of the question. I can always cut it by hand. And hook a wet dry vac to my grinder thats almost full of water. It just seems like to much of a hassle.
 
Matt, I like 17-4 stainless also Ti, 1084, and 15n20 . Ti isnt as bad as you have heard, Ive never had any trouble. I use a band saw to blank it and a rough stone to profile and belts to finish it. It has a great memory for the liner lock spring. You can make the liners out of anything and just use ti for the lock spring also. There are alot of ways to make a knife, thats what keeps us interested I think.
 
Matt,

Go with the Ti. It's not bad to work at all. You can cut it with a hacksaw to rough shape, then grind it the rest of the way with coarse belts or a disc grinder. Just go slow and dip very frequently. Yes, you may get a few flying chunks burning up if you hog it too hard, but if you go easy it won't be a problem. I would be more concerned about adequate ventilation than burning the house down. Just keep an eye on the dust and sparks and WEAR A RESPIRATOR.

Drilling and tapping are a piece of cake for thicknesses of .050 or less. Take Kit's advice and get a Skil Twist screwdriver with a keyless chuck that they sell separately. It goes nice and slow with plenty of torque and works great for tapping. I just use regular high speed drill bits and the appropriate reamer for the pivot holes and they have been coming out fine, much to my amazement.

Good luck!:)
 
I forgot about making a lockspring that was screwed onto the liner. That was a pretty cool idea. I think I'll order a sheet of Ti and then depending on how it works I'll decide on what type of liner to make.
Did you just use a bi-metal blade in the hacksaw?
 
17-4 is great but the price is not.
I have 410 And use it alot.
Ti is great but under certain thickness's it is NOT my favorite.
410 is what I use most often. The lock stregth and wear of this material work great for me. I also skelotonize the liner most often to reduce weight.
 
Darrel
You don't use the .040" 410 that Koval carries do you? I've got a big chunk of that but I didn't think it would work.
What would be a minimum thickness for Ti ?
 
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