First Folding Knife Build: pen-style edc

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ohaple

Joined
Nov 29, 2014
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47
Hey guys. Just finished up my fist ever folding knife. The concept was to be inspired somewhat by the Richard Rogers Shorty, though my design has many differences. The concept is to have a knife that is very small and lightweight (about the size of a pen) with a usable blade size and discreet carry. It is about 1/2'' wide, 1/2'' thick, and has a 3'' blade

I went to work designing it. The clever (or not clever if you don't like it) design portion here is that the friction folder tang will double as a pocket clip. Since the knife is pretty square in shape, it wont matter that it is on the spine. I used an off-center pivot position to allow the clip to sit proud of the scales when closed (for clipping) but flush with the scales when open (for retention and comfort).
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I have made several knives by cutting out the steel by hand, but I had access to a waterjet I got some blanks cut. This made it even nicer and made some of the tighter portions easier to work. The blanks turned out well I think.
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Went to work shaping and drilling the scales. I used a hidden stop pin for this design. Using maroon linen micarta, 1/8''.
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I did the rough bevel grind and shaped the scales more.
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Did the heat treat in a 2 brick forge and canola oil. This is using 1084 1/8'' steel. This picture shows the setup but not this blade being heat treated. Tempered at 425 twice, cooling between.
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It is important that the clip is very tough since it is integrated into the blade. I sanded off the scale, wrapped the blade in a wet paper-towel, and heated the tang to blue (about 600 F). Did this three times, careful not to overheat the blade.
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Did the final grind, starting at 220 grit until shaped how I want, then 600 grit all over to polish some. finished up with a hand rubbed 1000 grit and some 1000 steel wool. Installed the blade in the already finished scales, and put an edge on it. Total package is smaller than a sharpie, comfortable in-hand, and weighs 0.8oz. The clip style makes it not look like a knige in pocket. The integrated clip works perfect for slacks and jeans, but is a little large for clipping tightly to shirt pockets.
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Higo, caly 3, and urban trapper for scale
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Let me know what you guys think! I am very happy with how it turned out. I have been working on another somewhat similar design with this one, and will be sure to post that one when it is completed. This is maybe my 3rd or 4th knife, 1st folder.
 
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Very cool design. I do like that the clip looks like a pen clipped onto the pants pocket.
 
Carona said:
Very cool design. I do like that the clip looks like a pen clipped onto the pants pocket.
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Thank you! That is one of the main design considerations. Meant to be one of the ultimate sheeple knives. I can clip it to dress pants pocket and no one would ever think I have a pocket knife.

Welcome to the forums btw!

The other design (not finished) will have somewhat the same effect, but less so. Here it is mocked up, but not finished. Still the clip-tang design, but a more full knife. The main difference in-pocket is that the clip point here is not as "square" so folds over in the pocket a little. I am happy I got three of the pen-knife blanks cut. I plan to make up three different versions with different features. Might do one with magnetic retention and one in a fancy-er scale material (some copper or brass would be sweet IMO).
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Extremely cool! Nice ideas, nice work. I appreciate folks that can think through stuff like that AND pull it off!!
 
I like it! It's different and looks completely functional and on the the plus side it shouldn't offend the sheeple.
 
harlycarly said:
Extremely cool! Nice ideas, nice work. I appreciate folks that can think through stuff like that AND pull it off!!
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Thank you. I will be sure to do a full writeup on the second one this weekend when I finish it. It has several other "features" that are not evident from the photos above. :)

AntCaps said:
I like it! It's different and looks completely functional and on the the plus side it shouldn't offend the sheeple.
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Thank you. Felt good to put a custom handmade knife in my pocket for the first time this morning
 
"Thank you! That is one of the main design considerations. Meant to be one of the ultimate sheeple knives. I can clip it to dress pants pocket and no one would ever think I have a pocket knife.

Welcome to the forums btw!

The other design (not finished) will have somewhat the same effect, but less so. Here it is mocked up, but not finished. Still the clip-tang design, but a more full knife. The main difference in-pocket is that the clip point here is not as "square" so folds over in the pocket a little. I am happy I got three of the pen-knife blanks cut. I plan to make up three different versions with different features. Might do one with magnetic retention and one in a fancy-er scale material (some copper or brass would be sweet IMO)."
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Thanks! I'm just getting into knives.
 
I worry about the very thin section at the highest stress point. The mechanical advantage ( amount of force) applied to the choil is really high if you do the length to width math. Hopefully the blade will not snap off in use.

I do like the basic concept, but feel it would be stronger with a wider section there.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I worry about the very thin section at the highest stress point. The mechanical advantage ( amount of force) applied to the choil is really high if you do the length to width math. Hopefully the blade will not snap off in use.

I do like the basic concept, but feel it would be stronger with a wider section there.
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I understand the concern. The leverage and stress from the long blade (for its size) Definitely makes that the weak point. As far as use, this blade is pretty much only for office carry for me, so the most heavy use it will see is an apple. IF I were to try to sell the design it would need bulked up for sure, since customers don't have the same perspective. I had tried to beef it up some, but in designing, I found that by making that larger, the other side of the pivot became too thin for comfort. I suppose it has a little to do with the geometry needed for the friction folder and trying to make such a small design.

I appreciate the feedback. Do you think it would benefit from drawing the temper more there? I worry it's a bit close to the blade for me to do too much. Or can anyone think of a way to strengthen it in future builds without bulking up the knife too much?
 
Wrap the blade in stainless steel foil, throw in a few pieces of paper and make sure it is nearly airtight. When you heat the blade this will reduce the oxygen in the stainless steel envelope and keep the blade from developing scale. The big trick is folding the envelope so the blade can be quickly released with a snip into the quenching oil. Without the scale, you will have a slightly bigger cross section due to the elimination of the sanding and carborization of the edges. This could help your weakness in that area.
 
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