Folder Question

[Matt Lucas]

Hey everyone, I’ve made a couple friction folders in the last few weeks and am really liking the process. I’m using pivot bolts from USA Knife Maker and 1/8 SS rod from the hardware store for the stop pins. I don’t believe this dowel rod is hardened because it cuts easily. I noticed on USA’s website they sell heat treated SS stop pins. I am wondering if using dowel that isn’t heat treated will cause the pins to wear over time and result in alignment issues between the blade and handle. Should these pins be made of hardened steel? Thanks in advance for any info you may have.

 

[Daniel Carraher]

Definitely want a hardened stop pin, especially on a knife that will be flipped

 

[Stang Bladeworks]

Short answer. Yes. Use hardened stop pins. Best of luck. Maybe post up some pics.

 

[Matt Lucas]

Thank you both for the responses. I’ll get some hardened pins ordered up.

Stang - I actually was planning on posting pics with this thread but couldn’t figure out how. When I went to the stickies for info I found out about using imgur. It was too late at the time to create an account but I will get to it hopefully this week sometime.