Copper Knife Hardware

D

Doubletrouble

Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Messages
32
Bought some great looking copper handle hardware. I've been looking for Copper as it looks perfect with Ivory or Mammoth and some woods. Finally found both corby and loveless in copper at reasonable prices. Why is some of this hardware either hard to come by or so expensive?
 
Likely because most folks here make the hardware to fit the knife, rather than make the knife to fit the hardware.

-Peter
 
And because it is very soft... It makes OK pins and lanyard tubes, but for screws/bolts where tension is involved it isn't the strongest stuff in the world. Decorative more than functional...

If you are into making your own, which isn't that hard to do, look at red brass. Similar color to copper due to the higher content, and a bit stronger. A good set of taps and dies can allow you to make your own hardware. You can thread any round stock externally, and tube stock internally for example...
 
Copper is more expensive per/pound than steel or brass. As for availability, Peter is right, copper is easy to work, even for hobbyists.
 
Is there any issue with this as far as corrosion? I know for a fact electrolysis is a disaster when steel and copper come into contact. At least with plumbing. Or would epoxy be enough of an insulator between pins or liners made of copper?
 
I used copper tubing as a housing for mosaic pins once. It looked beautiful, but the softness caused it to fold over very easily during sanding. I will definitely use it again one day, but it takes a lot of patience.
 
Copper is certainly not as strong as other metals, but consider the types of stress
a Corby or Loveless bolt is subject to in a properly glued up knife with good epoxy
and your use cases. I don't see that the weakness of copper is an issue in the sort
of kitchen and everyday use knives I make.

Maybe things would be different if I made knives intended for battoning through frozen
stumps (Hi Rick :-)), so I won't use it if I ever make one of those.
 
Copper bolts are expensive because copper is both pricy and a pain to machine.

I agree with Dan; I suspect you would have to try pretty dang hard to shear off a copper Corby or Loveless bolt in a well-built handle. You'll likely destroy the handle material and the edge long before the bolt fails.
 
I am very fond of the look of copper pins, liners and hardware.
This is a kitchen knife made for me by Butch Harner a little over a year ago.
The knife has seen hard use and the copper has held up very well.
I really like the look after the copper develops a patina.
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The issue isn't really strength per se. I should have said malleability actually. Threads gall easily, pins don't like to be straight. I just used a lot of copper (pins, lanyard tube, rivets, etc) in a knife designed to be an EDC go to blade. I have no concerns of things shearing. Just having threaded rod before, extra care has to be given to keep everything nice and shapely... I was imagining also that torqued down it would stretch. Not that I guess we need to torque down that hard...

Dont get me wrong, I love and use quite a bit of copper for pins, tubes, etc. I can just see a bigger company not wanting to dump piles of threaded copper bolts in a bin and have the threads wrecked. The op asked about threaded things... corbies and loveless bolts. Hence...

It may be just a cost issue alone though... I dunno. I don't use corbies or loveless bolts so haven't shopped for them at all. I assume they are more decorative than functional tension wise, no? The last removable handles I did I used steel, and that was a tactical blade, so strength was an obvious concern...
 
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LucyCustomKnives said:
I don't use corbies or loveless bolts so haven't shopped for them at all. I assume they are more decorative than functional tension wise, no? The last removable handles I did I used steel, and that was a tactical blade, so strength was an obvious concern...
Click to expand...

I do not understand your concerns. It seems that folks are worried about copper being too "weak" or "soft" to make a good fastener in a knife handle... that's hogwash.

Corby or Loveless or chain-ring bolts are about as strong as it gets for our purposes, whether they're made of stainless steel, mild steel, brass or copper. They all thread together very nicely, and have more than enough shear-strength. If you don't believe me, thread examples of each together, clamp them in a vise and go to work on them with a hammer and chisel. ;)

I warranty my knives made with copper fasteners (threaded or peened) the same as I do the ones made with SS fasteners. Whether or not the handle is removable has very little impact on strength, it only raises questions of moisture getting under the scales.

I say again... a well-built handle made with any of those types of fasteners/metals and good sealant/epoxy is basically the strongest and most trouble-free part of the knife, and it's nearly impossible to make it fail in anything resembling normal use.
 
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In a tactical knife with removable scales and an honest glass breaker that gets serious use including strikes to the scaled sections of the knife.... I'd prefer to use steel. I did the below knife and it wad out through months of testing. I use these things for a living. And teach others how to use them. Not to mention the reactions between copper and chemicals in a meth lab, where this knife is used a lot... It was constructed as a take down for decon purposes. Even with good epoxy, stress cracks were still letting crap in eventually after a little rigorous use.

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I'm not trying to start an argument. I like your work James, and if you say it will hold, it will hold. I will continue to use it when desired for looks, but when looks are second I'm still voting for the stronger material.

Wow, didn't mean to be inflammatory... mainly observing the obvious, that copper isn't as strong as the alternatives.. I know I can cut copper threadrod with snips. Steel, brass and aluminum I can't...

Cheers.
 
You clearly have a very different use case. For one thing, the scales being removable allow a lot
more stress on the fasteners. I'd use steel there too.
 
Seems a lot more willing to corrode, judging from a quick look at some of my early attempts at knifemaking that have been sitting in a drawer for a few years. The brass and stainless bolsters still look pretty good, but the copper has varying degrees of greenishness, or much more patina than the other materials. Part of why it's mixed with other metals is to make it a little less reactive.
 
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