Alternative to titanium. frame lock material

J

Jacob4

Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
3
Hey guys,
This is my first post. I am new to knife making and am working on a frame lock flipper. I have made a couple from mild steel for fit feel and function. I don't know that I am at a point where I want to cut into a $100 dollar piece of titanium just yet. But I want to make a knife that will lock, have a working detent, and a blade I can heat treat and sharpen.

Is there a recommended material I can use other than titanium for a frame lock that will have some spring properties on the lock bar and do what it needs to do.

1075 spring steel for both frame and blade? That was my first thought..

There must be guys making frame locks without titanium.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
JB
 
301 stainless steel , FULL HARD temper .
If you have no interest in stainless then HT 1 1075 t0 1080 to about 50HRc
 
Lots of framelocks are made of steel. Some use a different steel, and some use the same steel as the blade. Practically anything will work since it's steel. You can drill it out to relieve it if it's too heavy overall.
 
Thanks for the input guys! Yes the US has all the good stuff but buying from and shipping to Canada is painful.

I couldn't find much at all about steel frame lock builds. But I think I am going to make everything from 1075 for a complete first frame lock build.

Off topic, but what kind of finishes are suggested on a steel frame?

I like stone washed, also heat colouring or heat anodizing. But is there a way to lock it in? My last tries looked great until it easily wore off.

Thanks for the tips. I read on this forum all the time and you guys are some knowledgable folks!
 
I don't know what heat anodizing is. Anodizing is an electro chemical process that is usually applied to materials that aren't steel. "Heat coloring" is tempering, and you're going to want to control temper for reasons that aren't aesthetic if you want the pieces to act as springs or blades.

Actual hot salt bluing (rather than cold blue) which gunsmiths do, is pretty tough if you want something that is "in" the metal. Otherwise, the better you polish the steel the less likely it is to rust. Or coat it with a bake-on enamel. Professional plating or parkerizing are other options.
 
RX-79G said:
I don't know what heat anodizing is. Anodizing is an electro chemical process that is usually applied to materials that aren't steel. "Heat coloring" is tempering, and you're going to want to control temper for reasons that aren't aesthetic if you want the pieces to act as springs or blades.

Actual hot salt bluing (rather than cold blue) which gunsmiths do, is pretty tough if you want something that is "in" the metal. Otherwise, the better you polish the steel the less likely it is to rust. Or coat it with a bake-on enamel. Professional plating or parkerizing are other options.
Click to expand...

A lot of guys refer to "heat coloring" titanium as heat anodizing, although it's not technically correct. I'm guilty of it as well, for the sake of common use of the term.

To the OP, you can get tempering colors on steel, but you're really not going to see the same effect like you would on titanium. Also, even electro anodized (as well as heat colored) titanium is going to wear quite easily as far as finish is concerned. Hard coat anodizing wears much slower, but it's a completely different process and usually used with aluminum. I'm not sure that you can hard coat other metals with the same process. I believe there are a few guys that have experimented with a clear coat, on titanium specifically, to slow wear, but I couldn't begin to tell you any more about it.

A parkerized finish, hot blue, or forced patina are all options if you go with a carbon steel for the frame. Stone washing or bead blasting carbon steel is just going to promote rusting more quickly, IMO. If you go with a 301, or maybe a 410 Stainless for the frame, then stonewash or bead blast is on option (though it CAN still rust if not cared for). You'll want to keep the lock face relatively polished in any case, to keep it from sticking.
 
Awesome that's a great bit of info to work with. I'm going to give it a go. I'll let Yall know how it works out!

Thanks
 
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