First folder

[TILLER]

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My first folder. I think it turned out pretty good. Blade is CPM-M4, satin black gun kote, sand blasted/stone washed titanium handle.

I learned a lot scouring these forums and used Ray Rogers' tutorial to design the pivot/lock portion. However I did run into some issues. One being that the blade does not sit totally centered in the handle and two that the lock bar is way stiff when trying to unlock the knife. I wouldn't be surprised if these two issues were related, as the lock bar puts a lot of pressure on the blade when closed.

Is there a rule of thumb for the lockbar thickness to length ratio to get a good tension on it? And what is the primary factor in determining where the blade is going to sit when closed?

My lockbar ended up about 2 1/4" long with a 3/8" relief ground to a minimum thickness of .046". I didn't want to thin it out any more, though the more I thinned it the easier it got to open.

 

[Jason Magruder]

Lock bar thickness and length look good. How far did you bend the lockbar to tension it? If the blade tang wasn't in the way, the lockbar should only just touch the other scale on its own. If it's just sticky but easy to move after the initial little bit then it just needs to break in and should smooth out after a few dozen openings.



Off-center blades can be caused by a number of things: loose pivot, warped blade, too much lock tension, uneven grinds, holes not drilled straight, scales out of alignment when assembled. First thing I'd do is get the lock tension sorted out then make sure the pivot is tight. Then check that the blade itself isn't warped or crooked. If ll that looks good and it still isn't centered try loosening up all the handle screws and lining everything up again by pushing the lock side scale forward and the other back and carefully retightening. If that doesn't fix it then you could have a problem with holes being misaligned or surfaces not being flat and parallel.


Nice first folder by the way! It looks like you put a lot of thought into getting the design just right. :thumbup:
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[Will52100]

Awesome first folder! Or even 20th folder. I'm really liking your design there, should make for a great user.

 

[Maddogg774]

Nice job.

 

[TILLER]

I bent the lock bar pretty far at first and then bent it back a little bit. I'd say it doesn't quite get over to the other scale now.

Well the blade itself is pretty straight, I'm wondering if its pivot tension. I shortened the pivot a little by eye but its still pretty close to being the same width as the outside of the scale, which might limit the amount i can tighten it. The blade sure isn't loose though.

I'll try messing with it some more, Thanks for the help!