First framelock and how it happened... pic heavy!

[Shannon Carter]

Looks like you've made great progress, and one hell of a knife too. I've been considering tumbling some of my blades, if you don't mind my asking, what medium are you using?

Thanks.. I'm using a 45lb Thumler Tumbler with 20lbs of ceramic media from McMaster Carr (10lbs of coarse V-Cylindrical 7/16" x 7x16" and 10lbs of coarse Triangular 5/16" x 7/8") it actually says smooth on the McMaster Carr website, but the media is coarse, and says so on the side of the box it was delivered in. Hope that helps and I'm still planning on providing a link to a Google Sheet with all of the tools and materials I used.

Take care,
Shannon

 

[Shannon Carter]

Time for more pictures.. thanks again for all of the comments!

With the holes drilled and tapped, it's time to shape the frame. I tried using an old 3/16" pivot, but didn't work out. Ended up
scrapping a pivot from Alpha Knife Supply.. I had to grind down the head on both sides and shorten the pivot.

And that allowed me to bolt the two frame halves together. I also shorted some test screws for the backspacer area.

Frame attached and ready for shaping.

Lock side ready for chamfering.

So we don't have a horizontal grinder, yet! But that after doing a few of these, I can see how it is going to be a necessary
setup in the future. In this picture I turned the tool rest 90 degrees and used an 8" wheel. I started with a used 80 grit ceramic belt and finished
the shaping with a 220 grit belt - shown in the photo.

Hard to take pictures while this is happening, so the next few pictures will be different shots of the frame.

Rear of frame, lock side.

Matching the chamfer on both sides.. nice thing about having the two halves bolted together - keep everything symmetrical.

You can see where I flattened the pivot screw here.

Varied the chamfering all around the knife.

Again, matching the the lock side.

The flat portion of the lock side needs to be cleaned up.

Also used a 220 grit belt to clean the flats. And I switched to a 1 1/2" small wheel to work in the finger groove area.

Starting to clean up in this picture.

Carbon fiber show side sanded to 220 grit.

More to come... thanks again!

 

[vilePossum]

wow, i stumbled over this thread by chance, and i am totally amazed. what awesome work and great wip. though will probably never make a knife myself, let alone something like this, but it is very interesting and informative!
thank you.

 

[DukeHarley]

This is an amazing WIP and I want to say thank you for taking the time to do this.

Jay

 

[JPuri]

almost thereee!! excelent wip!!! i can wait to see how it ends
thanks!

 

[Shannon Carter]

Funny, I honestly didn't think it would take this long to finish this WIP until I realized how many pictures I took!

Okay, after the frame is pretty much finished being profiled, it's time to concentrate on the blade again. I want to focus on the the lines of the frame being extended onto the blade.. and making sure the flipper tab works as well as looks like it belongs there.

The blade is a little taller than the frame, so that will need to be ground down a bit. Anytime you grind in one spot - either on the frame or the blade - make sure and look it in the open and closed position.

Same thing here, in the open position.

Trying to imagine what I want the flipper tab to look like.

I used a carbide scribe and roughed in the flipper tab profile to be ground down.

Inspecting the top of the blade.

Blade and frame are starting to match up.

Starting to work on the flipper tab.. again, always checking the appearance and function.

Just checking for clearance and the amount of tab sticking out of the frame.

Another angle.

Making sure the lines flow from the frame onto the flipper tab.. just the little details here and there!

Flipper tab starting to shape up.

After several looks at the blade in the open and closed position, and grinding a little on top and around the flipper tab, I'm starting to get comfortable with the final profile of the blade.

With that part out of the way, it's time to grind the lock face. The best way I know how to do this is like a lot of other makers.. the blade is clamped in the frame in the open position and I use a razor blade to mark a line on the blade just inside the lock face. This becomes my reference for grinding.

I lowered the tool rest on my grinder and took a scrap piece of steel the same thickness and kept grinding and adjusting the rest until I got between a 8 and 9 degree angle. From there, I was ready to grind the lock face on the blade. Best advice I can give here is grind a little, then test... grind a little, then test.

And I'm there. And to do a true test, take the time to put your knife together and test the blade as it will be in the final assembly.

More to come!

 

[NeilJBorja]

Inspiring, informative, and detailed WIP Shannon :thumbup:
I wanted to make a slip joint as my next new thing, but you're really tempting me to try a framelock!

 

[ericluther]

Excellent thread, thank you!

 

[Tombo26]

MoRe!!!

 

[Jrmysell]

Can't wait to see this finished!! Awesome job!

 

[Tombo26]

 

[BluegrassBrian]

So Shannon..is this gona be a keeper or are you going to sell it?

 

[Shannon Carter]

Alright, I'm back! I had to take a break and focus on a few things. Time to wrap this one up! And I should be able
to finish this in another post or two. I will add a link to the spreadsheet on the final post.

Thanks again!
--Shannon

Okay, time to do a little work on the blade.

Here is the swedge prior to cleaning up the grinds.

In this pic I took the blade to the grinder and using the flat platen and a A65 gator belt, I cleaned up the swedge a
bit.

Another view..

I decided I wanted to have satin flats, so I used an A65 gator belt on the surface grinder. Careful to only make a
.001" pass or two until it cleaned up.

I'm pleased with the way it turned out. Left the stonewashed look on the bevels.

Adding a small radius to the edges for comfort.. again with the gator belt.

Same here to the flipper tab.

Okay, time to see where I'm at with the overall look and feel.

Bolted the knife together with temporary screws to inspect everything.

Seeing if I need to modify the frame or blade grinds.

Checking the lock side..

Starting to get an idea of how the lock needs to be modified.

Really pleased with the lines of the knife in the open position.

Overhead view. Using temporary pivot and checking the bearings.

And here you can see where I'm at with the lock. I need to grind a little to pull the lock in. I can either remove a
little from the blade or the frame.. I'll show that in the next update.

More to come!

Thanks,
Shannon

 

[knife&beard]

Nice work! i want one!

 

[bradr302]

Very Nice!

 

[drew1972]

Great thread.