Domed Pins?

bobbywett

bobbywett

Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
1,231
Hello Folks,

I'm having a bear of a time trying to figure out how to "dome" pins on my handles. Is there a way to do this without damaging the surrounding handle material? Does anyone know of a procedure that does not require using a ball peen hammer? Also, is doming done the same way as simply peeing the pins to the handle?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob,

Hershey, PA:confused:
 
Pins can be effectively domed by carefully peening with a very small hammer-use the flat face, not the peening end. I recommend a 1-2 OZ. hammer. Then buff the peened heads in all directions.
You can make a cupped punch to clean your heads up, but it's more trouble that it's worth IMO.
"Peeing" on the pins will not get the result you want, and it will rust the blade.:)
 
You can also use a "spinner" or "head spinner" -- a special bit with a small cup on the end. You use a drill press and press down as it spins, doming the pin heads. You need to use good malleable metal for your pins though -- brass, nickel silver, 304 stainless, and such (416 SS is not such a good choice for this).

You can also use a special little gadget that Engnath talked about: http://www.iol.ie/~knives/pins.html
 
zerogee, Bill,

Thanks for the information, I'm headed out to the shop right now to give it a try....got a little hunter ready for a pin.

Appreciated Much,

Bob
 
Peen some pins into scraps, and get a feel for buffing them down.
Spinning pins can put some heavy lines in the head that may be difficult to remove.
 
Bill,

learned the "hard way", as usual for me. Put some lines in the handle just as I was about to call my first "doming" operation a success. Ended up grinding the pin flush...looks good, but definitely not domed. Think I'll have to practice on some scrap before I try doming again.:o
 
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