Higonokami, internal stop pin or what?

S

smartanimal

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May 7, 2015
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I'm thinking of making a higonokami- style friction folder.

I plan on using 1/8" brass for the scales and the spacer, going to do it that way instead of bending a thinner piece of metal to make the handle, but it will be the same shape.

The part I'm stuck at is this- I know that the lever on the blade acts as the stop pin when the blade is open but what keeps the blade from hitting the top part of the handle when it is closed? The best I can think of is to extend the metal down a couple mm behind the ricasso so it bumps the metal before the sharpened part but I can't seem to draw it out without it looking awkward.

Any advice on the inner workings of these knives?
 
It is just a "U" of metal covering the blade when closed. There is no stop pin. The traditional metal is copper, which is softer than the hard steel and does not damage the blade. Brass is used, too.


1/8" brass with a spacer will make a very heavy folder. It might be the same shape, but would be very different from a higonokami. The whole purpose of one is a very simple and low cost friction folder. They serve the same niche as the "penny knife" or "peasant knife", of which the Opinel is the classic Western standard. In your build, just relieve the spine spacer a bit leaving the last 1/2" or so proud at the pivot. That will create its own stop. The blade heel will sit here as on any normal slippie or friction folder.

That said, people do a few things to modernize the classic "U" scales. I have seen one where the place the tang seats was hammered in a bit to recess the seat. It makes the tang more flush when open. It also acted like a stop when closed. In other cases, the tab of copper that is usually removed to make the blade rotation possible is folded inside to make a seat.

The simplest method is to take some thin sheet copper( 18-20 gauge) anneal it, and fold it in half on a piece of steel the thickness of the blade stock. A few hammer taps and it is shaped. You can use a polished round nose hammer to peen and texture the surface. This also gives it considerable rigidity. Make a simple blade and pin it in with thin bronze washer spacers. Done.

Other embellishments are using gravers to cut simple decorations, like bamboo, or go whole hog and engrave a small scene on the side.
 
Stacy,
Thanks as always for your advice. I'm definitely straying from the purpose of a higonokami a little by over engineering the handles. It is pretty heavy as of now but after I make a bunch of friction folders, I want to try my hand at framelock and this design is to prepare me for that.

In other words, eventually this design will have a titanium scale on the lock side which will lighten it up a little.

I chose brass because it has that "grandpas old cigar lighter" vibe. I plan on doing some very simple file work by scribing some lines in the area around The pivot and filing them in. Also thinking of drilling a few aesthetically pleasing holes to lighten it more.
 
Here's the progress on the scale assembly. i messed up the grid with those little holes which pisses me off, need to be more patient next time.

Blade is in oven right now tempering but theres pictures of it on instagram @nopalitoblades if you're really curious.

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On the next one i want to refine what i do to the scales and get a little deeper into it, with more jewler's files to choose from.
 
As Yoda would say, "Higonokami it isn't....nice it is."

Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.
 
Haha yea I ended up kind of ditching that idea of keeping it pure higo. I'll post another pic of it rough assembled soon.
 
fbequo.jpg

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I call it the Rick Deckard

I need some phosphor bronze washers, i have teflon ones but i had to cut them to fit by the stop pin and they got kind of crumpled. otherwise im proud of myself, this is my first legit friction folder that i finished and didn't ruin.
 
Thanks Coldsteel, that is exactly how I do mine. I peen all copper Koshirae the same way. The look is very nice, and wears well.


Smartanimal,
The higo came out fine. but sit back and look at it in a critical eye. What grabs your attention?
Here are the three main ones that caught my eye first:
1) The two sides are very different and have no similarity or continuity?
2) The pivot sticks out and looks unfinished.
3) The curves on the blade does not seem to fit the stiff/straight handle shape.

None of these harm the knife's ability to cut, but they greatly affect its look and appeal.
 
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Stacy,
I agree. The main thing that sticks out to me is the blade shape. I think the curves are kind of "obtuse" if that makes sense. That handle definitely needs the right shape blade.
I have this habit of trying to "take it a step further " design-wise and end up kind of regretting it.

In this case that was with the blade shape and scale design. The blade was originally just a straight spine like a long cleaver blade, should have kept it that way in retrospect.

Also sort of freestyled the handles and it definitely looks that way.

Thanks for the feedback, already incorporating the ideas into the next design.
 
Out of curiosity, which side / handle looks better to you design-wise as something to explore and expand on?
 
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The mesh of holes looks the most finished. The other side has attractive carving, but the three holes make no sense.

If you could recess the pivot a tad, or file work the screws to have some sort of finished look, I think that would also help a lot.

If you ant an "out of the box" suggestion, try this.
Make basically the same project....but....shape the frame to resemble a piece of bamboo. It can have only two knuckles ( one each end) or three with one in the center.
A little scalloping and rounding of the edges can magnify the look.
Carve the frame scales with a few lines and tiny dimples so that there is a little more bamboo look to it. This will take only gentle use of a small ball burr and some lines cut in with a small knife edge wheel burr. Work the joint of the knuckle the most, and the open area the least (or not at all). Look at some line drawings or B/W sketches of bamboo.
Shape the blade so the spine follows the knuckles when closed if needed.
 
Sounds like a super cool idea.

also was working on more scale ideas for another project similar to this one (someone asked me to make them one like it). Trying to get each side to "talk" to the other one a little more, thinking of just embellishing one side and then keeping the other side blank as i might want to put a lockbar there in the future.

2unu8gl.jpg
 
The one with your thumb on it is the best, IMHO. The only part I question is the three holes...my brain asks, "why are they there?"
 
I like that one too. I guess the idea behind the holes is to reduce weight in a decorative way but I gather that sense of purpose behind them isn't coming through. Also the weight saved on the last one was negligible anyway.

Maybe if they were closer together? I just feel like the rest of the handle would have a lot of negative space without something there, no? Maybe inlay a mosaic pin instead of the three holes?

I'm going to move forward with that scale design and further refine it, as that's my favorite one too.
 
Perhaps a rough sanded finish running horizontally will take the "plain" away from the non-textured part.
 
I like your creativity. If you want to make it lighter then you could drill some hidden holes on the backside of your scales. They will be invisible that way and you can make more of them.
 
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