Framelock lockbar questions

T

Triple Stripe Knives

Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
81
Hi,
I'm working on my first locking folder, an 1/8" ti framelock. I'm basing it mostly on the How To series by Ekim Knives (who seems to have disappeared, anyone seen him?). That is a huge help, and I've watched it at least three times, some episodes more like five times. But I still have some questions:
I can't remember if he drills the detent before or after HT. I'd think it's pre HT, but I want to make sure.
Does length matter (he, he), how long should the lockbar be, and how much material should be left over at the end? I'm making a pretty short, knife, it's got like a 2.5" blade, so I'm a bit cramped on space.
Do I need to release (cut the top slot) the lockbar before drilling the detent?
Can I make the detent hole in the blade too deep (what happens if I go all the way through?)?

Thanks,
Johnathan
Also eventually I'm going to post a WIP thread of doing the folder, but I haven't gotten around to getting all the photos onto my laptop yet. But I will start to contribute, instead of just take, take, take.
 
Drill before heat treat. The blade will be too hard after. My folder frames are 4 3/8" I cut my lock bar 2 1/4". I drill the detent before cutting the lock bar. I drill about half way through the blade. No issues if drilled clear through. One of the best things I've bought for making folders is a .032 carbide slitting saw! I wasted a lot of time and money on HHS slitting saws.
 
Jesse Latham said:
Drill before heat treat. The blade will be too hard after. My folder frames are 4 3/8" I cut my lock bar 2 1/4". I drill the detent before cutting the lock bar. I drill about half way through the blade. No issues if drilled clear through. One of the best things I've bought for making folders is a .032 carbide slitting saw! I wasted a lot of time and money on HHS slitting saws.
Click to expand...
Thanks! That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. I'm planning to use a thin dremel disk to cut the lock bar. A bunch of people on previous threads say they've used them with no problems, so I'm trying that, at least for my first one.
 
I drill my detent after HT with a carbide drill

I like to get everything working as it should before I drill the detent. The detent ball and pocket are small and need to be precise.

I don't want any small changes when I'm lapping the pivot hole or sometimes tweaking the stop pin or during heat treat.

It doesn't take much to offset the detent ball and pocket.

Once I have everything just how I want it I drill the detent
 
So I just took calipers to my knife, the distance from the lockface (which is still unground) to the end of the handle is 2.3" How long should my lockbar be? Just from holding the calipers up to the handle, 1.8-1.9" seems to be the longest I can do, while still having about a half an inch of ti left over on the end of the handle. Is that going to be long enough?
 
MotorCityMike said:
I drill my detent after HT with a carbide drill

I like to get everything working as it should before I drill the detent. The detent ball and pocket are small and need to be precise.

I don't want any small changes when I'm lapping the pivot hole or sometimes tweaking the stop pin or during heat treat.

It doesn't take much to offset the detent ball and pocket.

Once I have everything just how I want it I drill the detent
Click to expand...
Ok, that makes sense, I didn't think about it shifting during ht. I'll see if I can track down a carbide drill bit and do it post HT.
 
The shorter your lockbar the steeper of an angle you will need on your blade tangs lock face. Don't mess it up or you will have to start over. I modeled mine up in cad first to be sure.
 
razor-edge-knives said:
The shorter your lockbar the steeper of an angle you will need on your blade tangs lock face. Don't mess it up or you will have to start over. I modeled mine up in cad first to be sure.
Click to expand...
What angle would you suggest for a 2" lockbar? How would you recommend not messing up? I sadly don't know how to do 3d CAD stuff, so I'm kinda going blind. Also how long is the lock bar on the custom front flipper you posted 34 weeks ago?
 
From Josh's thread - Angles that give issues are less than 5 degrees would result in stick, more than 10 degrees would result in slipping.

Not frame locks but I made a couple liner locks so far, one had a nice solid lock up but was sticky , I carbidized it and it turned into a slipjoint ,the lockup disappeared :eek: I had just cut the angle on the blade by hand/eye , I measured it after messing it up and the angle was 14 degrees. I made a new blade for it at 7 degrees and lock was solid. Dont go to far on the angle
 
Spalted said:
From Josh's thread - Angles that give issues are less than 5 degrees would result in stick, more than 10 degrees would result in slipping.

Not frame locks but I made a couple liner locks so far, one had a nice solid lock up but was sticky , I carbidized it and it turned into a slipjoint ,the lockup disappeared :eek: I had just cut the angle on the blade by hand/eye , I measured it after messing it up and the angle was 14 degrees. I made a new blade for it at 7 degrees and lock was solid. Don't go to far on the angle
Click to expand...
Cool! Good to know. I think I'd rather have a sticky lock than a slip joint. I think I'm going to go with 8.5 degrees.
 
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