bending a Ti liner lock?

[Knifemaker87]

hey everybody!
i am finishing up my first liner lock.. and was wondering.. how the heck do i bend the lock on this sucker?
thanks!
~Chris

 

[mykulmorris]

How thick is the material??

 

[butcher_block]

make a bending stick and use a toarch to heat up the ti in the lock section and then bend alittle
it really doesnt take much to bed hot Ti
depending on the Ti thickness or if you have cut outs to thin the Ti you will ether go for a nice smooth full length bend or just a bend at the cut outs

remember that you dont need the lock bar to go more then the width of the blade lock and any more then that will just add pressure and not be helpful

not sure if any or all of this makes any cents

 

[AcridSaint]

The way I learned it was just to bend it with your thumb in a vice. You can bend even room temp ti with just your hand, provided it's not too thick. If it's thick ti you might have to relieve it, as was already mentioned.

 

[gpwknives]

let you do some pictures of bending liner lock. Could you?

 

[Knifemaker87]

hey guys!
it is .63 Ti, and i have tried bending it with my hands (though not in a vice) i was worried that heating the ti up would ruin the temper or something.

i will try heating it up.
and i will try and post pictures of me doing it
thanks!
~Chris

 

[Lycosa]

FWIW---Contact Mission Knives and Tools. They might help you out.

 

[butcher_block]

heat will not hurt it less you all but melt it
.063 is not all that thick and will bend super easy heated

might not be too bad to bend cold in a vice too. i just heat all of mine cause its a snap to work then

 

[Knifemaker87]

sweet..
i will give it a try warm..*grins*
thanks yall!
~Chris

 

[butcher_block]

sweet..
i will give it a try warm..*grins*
thanks yall!
~Chris

BTW you got your detent ball hole drilled right? it becomes "fun" when you have to drill it on a sprung bit of Ti with that all so little bendy bit

 

[seamus]

I made up a set of micarta sticks with different width cut-outs according to which Ti liner thickness I'm bending the lock on.. Putting the liner in a vise with the lock bar to be bent on top also keeps you from bending the whole liner. That will cause problems with the blade centering in the closed position.

 

[Knifemaker87]

butch,
yes i have the hole drilled, and was actually planning on putting in the detent ball first.. then i would bend the spring.. but right now i am finishing getting the lock fit up just right.

Seamus, i am gonna try the micarta as well.. and i was rather worried about bending the whole thing when i was doing it by hand.
thanks for the tips!
~Chris