belt clips

J

jraney

Joined
Aug 6, 2010
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hey folks i broke my clip on my knife trying to shape it. what type of metal do i need to biuld another clip? also what do i need to do to the steel after shaping, do i heat treat it also? any help would be great.
 
Lots of vague info in those questions. What knife? What clip? Got any pics? Help us help you.


-Xander
 
If you're talking about a folder there are tons of good clips out there premade with the various popular hole patterns already in place. Otherwise, there are blanks roughly cut from steel and titanium. I'd go Ti if doing it from scratch, if you do steel you probably DO want to heat treat it and that's a lot of effort just to save $1 on the clip's metal costs.

For premade clips check out knifekits.com and similar places. For blanks, check out usaknifemaker.com
 
jraney said:
hey folks i broke my clip on my knife trying to shape it. what type of metal do i need to biuld another clip? also what do i need to do to the steel after shaping, do i heat treat it also? any help would be great.
Click to expand...

Titanium will work or some 410 stainless steel but you'd have to have the 410 heat treated. Titanium would be your best bet because you don't need to mess with heat treat and its a good spring material great for clips. .040 works fine or even slightly thinner stock .032 to .036 is quite common with many clips. I would suggest sticking with the thickness of the original so you will need to know that. Use a digital caliper and get a reading on it and stay pretty close to that within .005 or less. Go over that or under it and you can end up with problems where the screw lengths fall short now with the new thickness or the worse case the screws go in and catch better than ever only to interfere with the pivot action of the blade because the thinner stock allows too much screw sticking out on the inside. 300 series stainless will work for clips but personally they have zilch for memory once you set them where you want them. I'd seriously suggest a end cut small piece of titanium to fashion you a new clip. Use simple body pliers and an adjustable wrench (small) to make your bends.
 
i do apologize for the lack of info i did not realize that clips were that different. anyhow it is a kershaw vapor. any clip that will fit the screw pattern will do but i would like to customize 1 if possible. thanks for the replies. i will try to get the titanium.
 
You're going to have to go full custom or factory for that clip. Since the clip acts as the overtravel for the frame lock and the blade pivot is through the clip as well. Maybe check with some of the folder makers around here.


-Xander
 
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