Flaring Handle Tubing

[J. Hoover]

How are you guys flaring the tubing if you use to pin scales. I'm planning on doing some blades using tubing for the scales. I'm guessing two ball bearings and a press will do the trick.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

You don't need a press. Just lightly tap with a small hammer until the tubing flares sufficiently.

 

[J. Hoover]

Thanks Bill I'll give that a try.

 

[argel55]

Tony Bose shows using his vice and equipment to flare them.

 

[Josh Dabney]

I don't remember where I read this tip but it was in a tutorial somewhere I believe. I've done it several times and it works like a charm.

I used 2 wood screws. Grind the screw part down to near the head and grind any remaining threads off so you end up with a head that has a smooth, stubby shank left on it.

Pre cut the tubing and square the ends up on the grinder. I left about 3/32" stick out on each side of the handle.

I installed each tube individually (if there's more than one) Epoxy (or super glue) the tube up and center it in the handle. put a screw head on each side and squeeze in the bench vise.

I noticed that the imobile side of the vise seems to do the majority of the flaring so I'll squeeze a little, flip, then squeeze a little more to even the flare up on both sides. It's really pretty easy to do.

Good luck, Josh

 

[thompsonblades]

I've used a hammer and a drill punch to flare the tubes. Just use the beveled point and lightly tap it in with a small hammer. What tubing where you using? Steel, brass, copper, aluminum?

 

[J. Hoover]

Thanks for the input, I have not tried flaring any yet. I'm doing some tactical style blades that I want to do flared tubing on. I was planning on using stainless tubing.
I want a pretty wide flare below the handle surface. I'm thinking the vise along with a couple sizes of ball bearings will do the trick. What I don't want to do is split the tubing.

 

[Pinoy Knife]

guy's
ive played a little with this flaring for thong,lanyard holes for a little while and will never claim to be great at it but i found if you flare 1 side first and countersink your holes where the tube is going it is much easier to flare the other side in properly.

 

[psycho78]

there used to be a Busse rivet tutorial floating around, but now the pictures seem to be missing from the hosting site. It was here, and on britishblades.

Basically, You countersink your handle material and inside of the tubes, cut the tubing to where it sticks out of the sides of the handles a bit, cut two screwheads off, grease the screwheads and the insides of the tubes to prevent tearing, insert the screwheads into each end of the tube, and stick the whole thing in a vice and tighten down. the screw heads push against the tubes and flare them.

the tutorial exists, just without pics. Do a search for "busse rivet tutorial".

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I know we all have different ways of doing things, but tubing flaring should not be that complicated. Using a vise removes all "feel" of when the metal moves, and is a great way to crack your handle.