Holding Tiny Parts for Folders

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
I'm curious how all you folder makers hold the tiny screws and spacers when you have the need to grind them down. I keep running into the problem that all screws are too long and all spacers are just a hair too thick. How do you hold onto these small things without having them flying around the shop? Also, how do you keep them flat and square? Any hints would be much appreciated.

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
Peter, for tiny screws you can drill and tap holes in a piece of scrap, insert screws to desired depth, and grind away.

To hold liner material that is non-magnetic use a piece of masking tape and fold it so you have a handle or ear in the middle and stick it onto the backside of what you want to flatten.

For round parts drill and ream a hole in a piece of scrap the diameter of the part. Insert the part with the excess protruding and grind away.

With all of these start with a coarse belt and finish with a fine belt.
 
REAL knifemakers use their bare hands!!!!
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Thanks guys, all good tips. I've been using the Tom Mayo method and after many burnt fingertips I decided that there must be a better way. The screws through a piece of scrap idea was an obvious one that I should have thought of myself.

Super Glue!
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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
to be quite honest thats the way I do it.. Best to get a piece thats a bit thicker than you need.....drill a bunch of holes in it and tap them all and then counter sink the ones you want shorter....I have a plate which i use to do 50 at a time for my folders.....I run them thru a cuttoff wheel on a benchgrinder first to get them fairly short and then grind them all to the same height on my flat disk grinder. A VERY good tool to have are those little pin vise chucks that they sell in the big machine shop catalogs...I have about 8....very handy. Also the small battery drills that they sell at the hardware stores are GREAT tapping machines (thank you MR CARSON!) Getting one of those revolutionized my folder making......

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http://www.mayoknives.com
John 1:14
Love is Stronger than Death!
 
I picked up a Skil Twist driver and have tried it a bunch of times. Mine wobbles a little however and usually threads a little crooked. Anybody else have this problem?

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
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