Finally Got My Folder Done

Greg Covington

Greg Covington

Joined
Oct 28, 1999
Messages
1,563
I have been wanting to make a repro of my favorite folder, the Gerber FH, which was made around 1971-73 (I think)....the originals were made from M2 steel and had checkered walnut grips. My original is now a safe queen.

I made mine based to pretty much the same dimensions as the original. The blade is forged from birdseye pattern (1095 and mild steel) that I got from the user "ancient arms". The grips are desert ironwood.

The grips are held in place by hidden pins. The pivot pin is hardened 1045 steel rod and the brass frame is pinned together with roll pins. The lock mechanism, which I beefed up from the original, is also made from the same Damascus.

As far as the heat treat on this steel...I brought it up to slightly over nonmagentic, quenched in 140F oil, and tempered three times at 325F....a little lower than usual because of the mix.....and this temperature resulted in an edge which flexes nicely over a brass rod.

folder.jpg


Greg Covington
 
WOW! Man that's beautiful! I'm not familiar with the knife that inspired this, but your work is incredible.

How did you do the hidden pins? Are they just drilled shallow from the inside and press fit? Somehow that doesn't seem workable but I don't see any plugs or anything... I'd sure like to hear how you did that. :)

And I like the milled nail nick, that is a sweet touch. Looks like it's flush with the flat grind, another fine detail.

Wow...

Dave
 
Dave,

I drilled holes partially into the wood scales to match several pins that I strategically place on the brass frame. The pins were 1/8" drill rod that placed into holes that I drilled into the frame and silver soldered in place. I used a saw to notch the pins as well as the pivot pin which extends thru the frame on both sides by about 3/16" inch....the notches act as anchors for the epoxy.

The scales were then clamped and epoxied into place. I added a small nylon washer between the blade and frame for spacing.

I milled the nail nick with a 1/8 end mill...mainly because I couldnt think of any way else to do it in my shop.

It all locks up nice and is pretty smooth. I surface grinder would have made life alot easier....but it was pretty fun to do it this way. For this one, I made a template for positioning on a scrap of G10 and then hand fit the lock.

The Gerber FH (folding hunter) was made from about 71'-74' in a few different variants....mostly with M2 blades and walnut grips, later with plastic grips and 440 blades. I believe that the handle was designed by a guy named Thomas Lamb....and you see ones like it on some Loveless hunters. The FH will sell on Ebay for about $125 all the way to $800 depending on its shape.
 
Cool knife Greg! I vaguely remember seeing that model in the sporting good sections of various stores when I was around 10 or so. Your rendition looks great!
 
Wow! Beautiful knife Greg! I love the wood and damascus and the nail nick is a sweet little detail. Very very nice. :)
 
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