Folder makers - how do you bore/ream/hone pivot holes?

[F. Allin Kahrl]

How do you size holes in your blades and handles to minimize play in your folders? I've had some good luck, and some bad just using HSS reamers in my drill press. (It's a big drag when you try to ream a hole undersize and if comes out over. )

Thanks.

-Allin

 

[Bruce Bump]

I always drill a test hole in a piece of scrap steel. Ive found the drill bits are not all created equal, some drill oversize even though if you mic them they measure the correct size but may have been ground off center causing an oversized hole. Ive found that reamers are very close to perfect. Dial calipers are a must in any case.

 

[Kit Carson]

Allin,
First rule..never believe that the size marked on a reamer will leave a hole that size

I use mostly .187 pivots. They often vary a half thousandth up or down. I keep reamers on hand from .1855 to .1885. Sometimes you just have to do a hit and miss. Try to keep a piece of scrap blade steel on hand to test fit.

Which brings me to rule #2...never believe that the aadvertised diameter of the pivot is that diameter