A balisong for a friend

tryppyr

tryppyr

Joined
Feb 5, 2010
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The guy that got me into knives wants a balisong. We went to a knife specialty store and they had none. I had already ordered a Typhoon Trainer kit (when I was considering making the leaf knife a balisong). The only problem with the trainer kit is that the blade is not sharpened... and, well... it wasn't damascus.

Lucky me, I had a piece of damascus (1075/15N20 sharks tooth pattern) laying around, and nothing much better to do... so... here we go again.

I've cut and ground out the blade blank... still rough, but the right dimensions. The metal was a bit too thick, so I thinned it out some... now it 's about perfect (at the pivot points anyway... I'll do the blade section while grinding).

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Did a little work on the blade today, since I'm "home for the holiday" (except when running to the vet or getting my teeth drilled at the dentist)...

The model blade I'm using has a swedge on the front third of the blade... not sure I'm goung that route. Your thoughts?

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Looks nice! Customized Typhoons are very cool. Are you planning to modify the handles at all?
 
I am going to do something with the handles... but I haven't stopped to consider them very much yet.
 
In the pictures, the top hole looks to be a little bit further towards the point as the bottom hole.
It's always interesting to see your projects, I'll be folowing this one.
 
Hengelo_77 said:
In the pictures, the top hole looks to be a little bit further towards the point as the bottom hole.
Click to expand...

That, I believe, is an optical illusion caused by the angle of the plunge line and the slight uneveness of the "wings" on either side.

In truth, though, I will confess that my drill skills need some work. I have a really hard time getting holes that are just where they need to be. I measure and mark, verify and remark, and then when the drill bit hits the metal it skates to one side or the other... or my piece isn't perfectly flat and it goes through at a slight angle... or the drill bit breaks midway through the drilling. I've come to dread the drilling.

But in this case the two pivot holes seem to me to be where they should.

However, since taking that picture I drilled the holes for the stop studs, and one of those is a bit higher than it should be. I know how to adjust for that, so it isn't a big problem... but it does reinforce my dread of drilling.
 
tryppyr said:
That, I believe, is an optical illusion caused by the angle of the plunge line and the slight uneveness of the "wings" on either side.

In truth, though, I will confess that my drill skills need some work. I have a really hard time getting holes that are just where they need to be. I measure and mark, verify and remark, and then when the drill bit hits the metal it skates to one side or the other... or my piece isn't perfectly flat and it goes through at a slight angle... or the drill bit breaks midway through the drilling. I've come to dread the drilling.

But in this case the two pivot holes seem to me to be where they should.

However, since taking that picture I drilled the holes for the stop studs, and one of those is a bit higher than it should be. I know how to adjust for that, so it isn't a big problem... but it does reinforce my dread of drilling.
Click to expand...

first you need to mark where you want to drill with a transfer punch,,then use a canter drill to start your hole. you can buy a set of transfer punches for about $10, the center drill is designed to not wander around when it starts.
IF your using a piece as a pattern you would use a pair of vicegrips to clamp both pieces together,,then use the right sized transfer punch to mark your two holes,,now seperate the two pieces,then start the holes with the center drill.. then if you want you can use a smaller drill to drill a pilot hole followwed by your final size drill.
that will eleminate your fear of drilling.
 
tryppyr said:
In truth, though, I will confess that my drill skills need some work. I have a really hard time getting holes that are just where they need to be. I measure and mark, verify and remark, and then when the drill bit hits the metal it skates to one side or the other... or my piece isn't perfectly flat and it goes through at a slight angle... or the drill bit breaks midway through the drilling. I've come to dread the drilling.
Click to expand...

Two questions for you. First, are you using a center punch? If you're not, you will NEVER accurately place a hole. Second, are you using a drill press or a hand drill? If you're using a hand drill, angles are a crap shoot, and the drill is probably going way too fast. If you're using a drill press, are you getting the work properly secured in a vise and leveled before you begin drilling?

Looking forward to seeing how this one comes out!

-d
 
So not to be too critical but you didn't leave much room for the tang pins. You should have drilled those holes before you started the blade bevels.

Also your holes are not round, meaning that your pivots will not sit squarely in the holes thus not keeping your blade centered.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll go ahead and assemble this, and if it does have that problem, I'll start over on the blade. I have enough of the billet left to make a second blade.
 
drewfacehotm said:
you should have drilled the holes undersized and reamed them to size
Click to expand...

Actually, that's what I did... if by "reaming" you mean use a needle file to extend it. ;)

I just finished the assembly test, and there doesn't seem to be any play in the pivots. For now I'll press on and reserve the right to start over again if the need arises.
 
Assmbled the parts and showed it to my friend on Tuesday. I basically wanted him to select the handle materials, and not surprisingly, he picked the highly figured stabilized burl (under no duress from me, but perfectly aligning with what I would have chosen).

Yesterday I cut the pieces and installed them into the handle parts. Tonight I'll sand them down to be flush with the handle, and probably post pictures afterwards.

The kit from which these parts came is held together by Torx screws. While I was working with the assembled unit two of the screws worked their way out leaving me VERY concerned about the longevity of the piece if I used the screws. I'm thinking about replacing the screws with rivets (actually, nails pounded in with punches so that the ends are flared like rivets). The only other thought I had was to glue the screws in place, but I worry that the glue would leak out and mess up the pivots.

Any thoughts?
 
If you try to take apart any well made balisong you will most likely have to heat the pivot to help break down our release the red lock-tite that most of them have... Are you getting a good 3 threads seated? If so I would keep going and do your final assembly with red lock-tite and see if that solves your problems...
 
Thanks. I just discovered the red lock-tite at Harbor Freight. I'll give that a try, when the time comes.
 
The blade went out for HT yesterday. Time to turn my attention to the trench knife project.
 
That blade is the third sexiest thing I've ever seen, I've never seen that pattern before....it's beautiful.
 
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