Folders : washers, relief milling, and bearing)s ... oh, my!

B

BradleySmall

Joined
Mar 6, 2022
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Once again, I am getting myself confused by inputting too much information from divers sources.

In some circumstances I am seeing people milling some relief on folders around where the tang would be. In others I see a bigger hole put in the pivot and a bushing put in it. And in yet some others, I am seeing 0.005 washers put in on either side of the blade. Yet others may even suggest combining these things. And even others suggesting that these things make no difference.

Is it just adding specific specific value to the final product? I saw something that suggested it prevented scratches from appearing on the ricasso or some such thing.

So the question is, is this necessary? If so, which is the best bang for the buck?

Any clarification or suggestions.
 
Mill relief so it does not scratch tang.

If washers are used you must have the blade thinner so when washers are added it is the same thickness as tang.

If bushing is used it should be .001-.0015" thicker the tang.

If you do not care if tang is scratched you do not have to mill liners or use washers.

To keep it simple use no washers, no bushing, no mill relief.
 
AVigil said:
Mill relief so it does not scratch tang.

If washers are used you must have the blade thinner so when washers are added it is the same thickness as tang.

If bushing is used it should be .001-.0015" thicker the tang.

If you do not care if tang is scratched you do not have to mill liners or use washers.

To keep it simple use no washers, no bushing, no mill relief.
Click to expand...
I had be under the impression that the whole point of using brass for liners was supposed to handle the situation on its own. I like to keep things simple. And I don't own a milling machine. :)
 
Ok the bushing is what the blade rides around the pivot with.
It gives a smooth ride and lets you peen harder.
Milled liners do the same as washers, it makes sure that no visable part of the tang touches the liner and thus can't be scratched.
You can do without a bushing, washers or milled liners, it is choice.
Tony Bose used bushings, Reese, his son doesn't.
I don't have a mill but improvised with a rotery motor. It doesn't look as pretty but does the same job.
I'll try washers on one of my next builds.
 
Keep it simple then and use brass liners. You do not need bushings, washers or mill liners.

But in the slipjoint world buyers typically are looking for such refinements in custom slipjoints.
 
If you have a surface grinder, or a way to get your blade 10 thou less than the spring, then I think the 5 thou washers are the easiest and best bang for the buck. Before you put it all together measure your tang and then measure your washer thickness and you can polish the parts on a surface plate to get them right on. You are aiming to have your spring just a bit less (like less than a half thou) than the sum of your tang and washers to allow the spring to move freely. This may sound a bit complicated but it’s fairly easy to do and I think washers are much faster.
 
bjansen said:
If you have a surface grinder, or a way to get your blade 10 thou less than the spring, then I think the 5 thou washers are the easiest and best bang for the buck. Before you put it all together measure your tang and then measure your washer thickness and you can polish the parts on a surface plate to get them right on. You are aiming to have your spring just a bit less (like less than a half thou) than the sum of your tang and washers to allow the spring to move freely. This may sound a bit complicated but it’s fairly easy to do and I think washers are much faster.
Click to expand...
IDK, I have some flat surfaces (table saw, jointer table, marble slab) and some sand paper, think I can do 10 thou by hand?
 
Sounds like a little but ten though is a lot. I would not mess with that.

I would try to do some like Avigil said with brass liners. That really would be the absolute easiest way. Slipjoints can be very equipment intensive depending on the process and sometimes the process is selected based on what equipment you have. They are fun to make any way you do it.
 
I'm trying a shadow pattern with micarta (or maybe G10) scales for my first one, seems even easier than brass liners.

Speaking of selecting the process based on available equipment, here is an old thread showing how to relieve liners with an etcher instead of a mill:

relieving slip joint liners

One of the reasons I've put off messing with slip joints for so long is I could not relieve the liners and still have them decent looking. I tried dremel, stones, drill press, and scrapers and they all looked like I hacked at it with a chain saw. Tonight I laid out my liner then place electrical...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
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