BingaLor

The blade has been heat treated and tempered.

Bing didn't take pictures of the heat treating process as there have been many threads about that already.
Bing uses a digital oven for accurate temperatures, and quenches at 1475 degrees, in Parks 50 quenching oil. The temper is set using 3 cycles at 425 degrees.

From Bing;

I measure up the back spacer and am getting .160" thickness
Now we calculate the bearing thickness .0625" in the counter bored pockets of the liners, minus .050" depth of counter bore.
Leaves us with .0125" of bearing on each side above the counter bore pocket.
I allow .0025" for the bearing track in the bottom of the counter bore pocket
I want to have a blade thickness on .140" when finished




The digital vernier caliper indicates a blade thickness of .156" before final surface grinding




After final surface grinding and flat sanding to 800 grit, the caliper indicates a finished blade thickness of .140"




More to come later today.
 
Love the attention to the finite detail....exactly why Mr. Bingenheimer's folders are virtually flawless and flip/handle so well plus are without doubt some of the sharpest knives I've had the pleasure of handling.

I know that this will be a cutting instrument of the highest order first and foremost and not a pseudo pry-bar or bottle-opener. ;)
 
Dudley, word on the street has it that even though this knife is in formative stages, (read; no bearings yet!), it flips effortlessly.
Take note as well, that the initial edge bevel's been set. I don't know specifically, but I assume that was done prior to heat treatment.


To make this go from 'flip' to 'fire', read on.

All parts are laid out, ready for the initial trial fit;




Non driveside bearing installed into liner counterbore, pivot bushing and stop pin installed;




The bearings utilize hardened, carbon steel balls, with brass retainers. The retainer fits into the milled counterbore, which is what holds the bearings in place, as opposed to retainerless bearings, which tend to ride directly up against the pivot. The other bearing option here would be roller or thrust bearings which use cylindrical bearings. Thrust bearings tend to provide resistance to lateral loads, as there is greater surface area radiating out from the pivot. This greater surface area, however, introduces more friction and is also more prone to damage from contaminants, not to mention a substantial increase in rolling resistance if a substance, such as pocket lint, is introduced. Personally, I have zero problems with a bushing based pivot, but the tech junkie in me loves bearings and stuff like that, so I'm really glad to see how they're installed into a folding knife.




Blade mounted to pivot, driveside bearing installed;




The knife is now assembled, and ready for its bearing races to be cold rolled. Bing does this by tightening the pivot fastener, pressing the bearings into the relatively softer titanium. The blade is then opened and closed 40 or 50 times. During the procedure, as the race is gradually cold rolled and wears in, the pivot is retightened until the final tolerance is achieved.




Next procedure, cutting the lockbar.
 
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bbingenheimer said:
I'm good with it

Bing
Click to expand...

I'm glad you're good with it, but...
I've been studying this pattern over and over, thinking about what this thread is, and the type and range of concepts and actions involved in the creation of this knife, and the underlying framework for the genesis of all this; Bing and me and Bladeforums and all of you...and I have a new name, (hope it hasn't been spoken for);

String Theory damascus. hey? Got a nice ring to it?
 
Today, we'll show how Bing cuts his lockbars.

This picture shows the tang's lockramp ground at 8 degrees;




Bing uses a 6" disk attached to set the 8 degree lockramp. The duct tape is attached to the work rest in order to keep the pivot area and tang from getting scratched up.




With a carbide scribe, he marks the liner at its furthermost length in order to cut in the lockbar engagement point. Once the lockbar is cut out, he'll start working down the lockbar until the engagement point is perfect.




Very important to cut the lockbar face on the correct side of his scribed line. A mistake here will cost him his liner and force him to make another. You'll notice the hole drilled at the convergence of the lockbar face and liner cut. Adding this hole keeps the EZ Cut disk from overlapping at that area, and also serves as a visual guide, in addition to the lines he's drawn, to ensure that the cuts are in the right place.




Bing uses the super thin EZ Cut disks by Dremel. They do a great job, so long as you don't force them to cut too quick. They are expensive, but worth the price if you don't wreck them.




The lockbar is now cut out. The next step will be to tune the engagement point of the lockbar's face, and then to set the detente ball bearing




That's it for this week. I'll post more progress on Monday :)
 
Oh, man....I gotta wait until Monday...? This is gonna be a long weekend. Loving this thread, Lorien.

Jeremy
 
Thanks Jeremy :)
There will be updates all next week, and they'll be good ones!
Have a great weekend, folks.
 
I've been exchanging emails with a fella who wants to make a folder, and I thought maybe some of you might be interested in this.


Here is a scan of a pattern sent to me by John W. Smith when I asked him a few years ago about how to design a folder. I own a knife built from this pattern, and it's one of my favourite knives. Really, the knife itself is what got me interested in designing folders because it works so damn well.



The top drawing was my very first crack at designing a folder. I think I've come a long way, lol :)

Here's my response to buddy's email and his drawing;


attached is the first folder pattern I developed. It's the one on top.

take a close look at the lower drawing. Copy it's mechanism as closely as you can. Go to US Knifemakers.com and use the dimensions of the pivots, bushings etc as a basis for your drawing.

You need to develop a folder based on its mechanism first. Once you learn what the physics behind the mechanism mean, then you know how wide your blade and handle will be etc.

for me to be able to help, I need to see your mechanism as well as the rest of the knife. Your mechanism is what will set your design limitations, which is one of the things that make designing folders so interesting and challenging.
 
Lorien said:
I've been exchanging emails with a fella who wants to make a folder, and I thought maybe some of you might be interested in this.


Here is a scan of a pattern sent to me by John W. Smith when I asked him a few years ago about how to design a folder. I own a knife built from this pattern, and it's one of my favourite knives. Really, the knife itself is what got me interested in designing folders because it works so damn well.



The top drawing was my very first crack at designing a folder. I think I've come a long way, lol :)

Here's my response to buddy's email and his drawing;


attached is the first folder pattern I developed. It's the one on top.

take a close look at the lower drawing. Copy it's mechanism as closely as you can. Go to US Knifemakers.com and use the dimensions of the pivots, bushings etc as a basis for your drawing.

You need to develop a folder based on its mechanism first. Once you learn what the physics behind the mechanism mean, then you know how wide your blade and handle will be etc.

for me to be able to help, I need to see your mechanism as well as the rest of the knife. Your mechanism is what will set your design limitations, which is one of the things that make designing folders so interesting and challenging.
Click to expand...

Lorien, thanks for adding this. Very good advice.


Bing
 
I really like that second drawing you have. A few details remind me of a Terzuola. Which is a good thing ;).


Jeremy
 
When Bing puts a flipper folder together, his goal is not only to make an effective and attractive knife, but to make one that is as smooth opening as possible.

A Bingenheimer flipper needs no wrist action whatsoever to go from the closed to opened position, and he's been questioned in the past about whether his flippers are assisted with a spring or not.

They are not. They are just extremely well made.


Using a carbide burr, Bing removes just enough material from the lockbar so that the spring tension will be neither too stiff, nor too soft. Other makers may use an end mill for this procedure, but this method works for Bing, and he likes the resulting aesthetic.

Take note here, that the lockbar cutout doesn't fully meet the lockface cutout. This is so that the lockbar doesn't deflect while Bing is maching the relief scallops into the lockbar.




You can see how smooth and attractive the scallops are, and as a signature embellishment, Bing machines 3 of them in. Sure, one would be enough, but this is a place where a guy can get a little creative without compromising the mechanics of the knife.




Now that the lockbar relief scallops are cut, Bing will tension the lockbar. The lockbar face is ground at 120 grit, and needs to be perfect.




Once the detente ball is installed, the lockbar face will be refined to completion, but for now this is the final refinement before that procedure.

The final, final refinement might only call for .001" to be removed, but for this aspect of the mechanism it has to be dead on. If the lockbar engages too early, it will stick, if it engages too late, the lockup won't be solid. In either event, a mistake here costs him his driveside liner. Best to go slow at this stage; it's one of the most challenging aspects of the mechanism, and also the most nerve wracking to get right.




Clamping the knife firmly in the closed position, Bing drills the detente hole through the lockbar, and the detente divot into the tang. Because the blade has been hardened, a carbide bit is used. For a 1/16" bearing, Bing uses a #53 bit.




The 1/16" hardened 440c stainless ball bearing is tapped into place;




The detente is set at a height of .0235". Bing aims for between .021" and .024".

The detente is extemely important for flippers, as this is where the energy for releasing the blade is stored. Overcoming the detente is where the 'firing' of a flipper comes from. The more detente, the more energy is released when the detente is overcome. There is a ceiling to this, as too strong a detente will make a knife too hard to open, and possibly too hard to control while opening.

The legalese 'bias toward closure' aspect is also something to consider, as 'gravity blades' are a deal breaker, legally, for those who live in places where those laws are in effect. Additionally, the detente definitely needs to be stiff enough so as not to allow easy opening, say, in your pocket!

Some of you might have noticed me refer to the lock side liner as the 'driveside' liner. This is bicycle lingo, which refers to the side of the bike where the 'drive' comes from, (the drivetrain). I see the detente as the 'drive' for a folder, as this is where the energy for opening the knife is built. You heard it here first! lol :)




If I have time, I'll post another update later this afternoon. If not, see ya tomorrow!
 
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Thank you for posting this; very interesting stuff.

But, I've been wondering about this for awhile; won't bearings eventually wear into the titanium, even at normal tightness? And, if you overtighten it, wear faster, especially on titanium? I've yet to see anyone mention this about any bearing folders, though.

Also, there are apparently some bearing folders with titanium on one side, and G10 on the other; won't bearings straight on G10 wear extremely fast? Mikkel Willumsen, for example, makes a folder like this.
 
Lorien explained in an earlier post that Bing 'cold rolls' the bearings into the ti, making it much smoother and 'refined' to resist wear and any propensity to gall.

A folder would have to be manipulated MANY, MANY times to actually 'wear' considering the minute load exerted on them....

From Post #63:

"The knife is now assembled, and ready for its bearing races to be cold rolled. Bing does this by tightening the pivot fastener, pressing the bearings into the relatively softer titanium. The blade is then opened and closed 40 or 50 times. During the procedure, as the race is gradually cold rolled and wears in, the pivot is retightened until the final tolerance is achieved."
 
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I'll start posting the exciting stuff in a couple hours. Kind of a 'reverse strip tease', where this knife will put clothes on :)


As for bearing races, yes bearings and races do wear over time. On Ti that's been work hardened it takes a great many cycles.
On G10, you'd insert a steel race.
Bushings and the surfaces they rub against also wear over time.

Wear is a fact of life wrt mechanical things. How well they're made determines their relative longevity.
Being in the bicycle business, I am exposed to people that think all things should last forever. They don't, get over it :)
 
Yeah, I saw the post, but he didn't go into specifics about wear. And there's no steel race on the G10 in Mikkel Willumsen's CWC folder; the bearing rolls straight on the G10.

It's good to hear that it lasts many cycles, but if you overtighten it, it'll obviously wear much faster. I hadn't heard anyone mention this until you said that he did this to wear it in.
 
jac_solar said:
It's good to hear that it lasts many cycles, but if you overtighten it, it'll obviously wear much faster. I hadn't heard anyone mention this until you said that he did this to wear it in.
Click to expand...

you need to get out more :)
 
I first heard about the construction methods around bearing driven folders in Blade Magazine, where Todd Begg was talking about working with Ikoma and Korth.
It's surprising that someone would use steel bearings against G10, although I'm sure that material would wear fairly well. Personally, I'd use steel inserts.
 
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