Considering making a Balisong

R

RobertHankins

Joined
Jun 10, 2001
Messages
1,385
I am considering making a Balisong. I make mostly Fighters and Bowies now.
Thing is I like to overbuild my stuff a little.
Visions of a 4.5 to 5" blade 3/16" thick, full flat grind, In D2 or ?, with a set of Ti or stabilized burl handle.
Fairly good size guard.

Without knowing the first thing about Bali's (Except I like to play with them) Do you guys have some ideas for me?
 
Sounds good so far..
I am one of many here who would love to see a big burly 5" (or larger) bali hit the market.
I'd love to see what you can come up with.
 
We like "overbuilt" Robert :)...I've seen some of your other work around the Forums. Glad to see you get involved. Please keep us posted.., and D2 sounds awesome to me!

Think stout pins!! :cool:

We swing 'em.., so the physics and balance of the piece is crucial. We'd be happy to supply any feedback to help a maker in anyway possible.., and we have a knowledgeable crowd here.

Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!



"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Glad to have you decide to tackle a balisong. I'm sure whatever comes out of your shop is gonna be stout, especially the way your blades are tempered.

As Pete stated, ask away, and you'll get a myriad of responses. Just go with whatever you are comfortable with.

On a personal note, for the sake of this forum's sanity, please don't ask me about Tang pins. :D
 
1.
Originally posted by blade_420
I am one of many here who would love to see a big burly 5" (or larger) bali hit the market.
Click to expand...
have you seen the bali sword at knifezilla? maybe that's big enuff for you ;)

2. what's d2?
 
D2 steel is actually a step above ATS34 (Some opinions vary) and is a very good knife steel.

Maybe I sould redirect my thoughts:
Tell me what I should avoid when making a Stout Bali;) What have you had problems with?

Ideas on how to keep the weight down will help also.
 
Originally posted by RobertHankins
Maybe I sould redirect my thoughts:
Tell me what I should avoid when making a Stout Bali;) What have you had problems with?
Click to expand...
I like a nice solid bali, but my only suggestion would to be to avoid to making the handles too thick in the direction parallel to the plane of the blade. I suppose that could happen if the blade was too wide. Had a Gypsy like that before, and it didn't feel comfortable.
 
I thought I would point out a few things that seem to be consistant shortcommings on new/proto bali's.

1) Blade hits the inside of the handle
2) Latch hits handle or worse, blade
3) Geometry of handle in relation to pin means bali doesn't lock either open or closed.

Just a few points to keep an eye on.

Troy
 
I'm all about a beefy bali. :D

I remember Gollnick saying once, and I'm sorry if I misquote, but a Balisong's complexity is in its simplicity. There are very few "parts" to a balisong, but they all have to be damn near perfect. Already mentioned was to avoid the blade edge from hitting the inside of the handle and a tight open and closed lock-up. I see the lock-up as being the most difficult thing to accomplish. I can't tell you how to do this, but I can tell you its hard. Some help I am huh? :rolleyes: Good luck Robert! Keep up posted!!
 
The lockup can give you fits. Cut the slot .010 too deep or the tang pin cups .005 to deep and you're sunk. What really hurts is they are some of the last steps you do and there's no way around it. One misreading and hours of work is shot. Measure twice, cut once.

It gets easier.

Mer
 
Originally posted by tonyccw
On a personal note, for the sake of this forum's sanity, please don't ask me about Tang pins. :D
Click to expand...

?????...Ohhhhh Nooooooo...., hard to conceive of you giving up the "Tang Pin" craze Tony :rolleyes: ..., we just took a collection to send you a six-pack of Liquid Nitrogen for X-Mas :(




"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
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