I must be out of my mind...WIP - It's Done!

Thanx for all the nice comments! I have been busy with work the last two days, but I work the late shift tomorrow so I should be able to get back out to the shop tomorrow morning to hopefully get the bolsters soldered on. That's reminds me, I still need to pick up some drill bits today.

I hoping that piece of antler isn't too small for this knife, if it is I just might go with some smooth antler and jig it. I also have some nice woods I can use if all else fails.

Sit tight fellas! More updates soon!


-Xander
 
Ok, got the new drill bits I needed, along with some other shop supplies, so I can pick up where I left off.

Since I now have my bolsters drilled to size, a couple of quick notes about drilling metals. Always use a center punch to keep the bit from walking when you start out. This keeps everything where it needs to be. Automatic center punches are fine, I use straight center punches.

2012-02-24093147.jpg


Once you have it marked, make sure it is square to your bit. With small pieces I use my milling style x-y adjustable vise. Bring the bit down to just touching the surface of the part and travel the piece in both directions. If it digs in you know you have to lower it, if the bit comes off the surface you need to raise that side.

2012-02-24093718.jpg


Now when drilling metals I use as slow as possible rpm. Use a good quality cutting fluid as well. Notice the chips of brass next to the bolsters in the above pic, that's how you want them to look, if they stop coming out like that, back the bit out and let it cool as well as add more fluid.

These holes are undersized by a small amount because I will ream them to size and then use a 2* tapered reamer to give the pins room to expand when I pein them.

Now that all my bolsters are drilled I have to prep them for soldering to the liners. (This pic is a little out of sequence). I am using bar stock brass whic is stamped to shape. It gets the typical convex top from this and may not be apparent at first glance. Here is one that I sanded on a surface plate (on the left) and one I just started to surface (on the right)

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The dark areas on the edges are low spots. It isn't very much, but having true flat pieces is very helpful.

Next I am ready to begin the soldering process. Heating is the last step, because like most things all the work is in the prep. I won't go into great detail on the process I use (thanks to Stan Buzek for showing this method) but it is quite simple. Clean mating surfaces very well, apply flux, and then put smashed flat solder (4% silver 430* melting) on the piece and place the bolster on top. I use an old dull drill bit to line them up and clamp it together. Pencil lead on the drill bit and anywhere else I don't want the solder to go keeps it neat and tidy.

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Take your torch and heat up the bolster first then move to the liner side and the solder will melt, then the clamp will bring the pieces together. If all went well you should have a nicely soldered joint like this...

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I got a little bonus on the above joint, there is a small tear in the liner (I'm pointing to it) that filled in nicely when I soldered the bolster on.

Repeat the above steps three more times and you end up with the mother of all pillbuster patterns...!

2012-02-24105046.jpg


A quick check to make sure I measured everything right and got the alignment of the bolsters right...

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I know things look a little askew in the pic but trust me, it is just the pic.

Everything looks good and I had just a little time left before I had to get ready for work so I took one side down to close to the liner to see how it looks...

2012-02-24110859.jpg


Looks like it is coming together nicely! Well I had to stop there for now. Hope you all are enjoying this journey of the One Trick Pony!

Stay tuned, more to come...


-Xander
 
Nice thread! Looking good, Can't wait
to see the finished product. Thanks for
sharing...

Jason
 
Wow...Xander...this is just awesome to "watch"...thank you for taking the time to educate us out here!
 
Xander... what a great thread! Thanks a million for all the work and the pictures. I am now eyeballing a couple of likely prospects.... not in as bad a shape as that old fella you found, but they might make a good project for me to get my feet wet doing.

I am sure there are many like me waiting for the next installment. Keep up the good work!

Robert
 
Thanks for showing your work in progress. Very interesting. Looking forward to seeing the finished knife.
 
Thanx for the good words everyone! This project sure is all consuming, I find myself planning and thinking about it at work and other times when I should be more productive(like now)! I have some potasium permanganate on the way for the stag I have, I also need to either order or fabricate some pivot washers to alleviate the rough spots on the pivot side of the liners. If I don't get it by the time I need it I will do some clean up on the blade, spring, and inside the liners. This blade is 440C so if any of you have a routine that works well for cleanup and a light polish feel free to put it up here.

Mods, I appreciate you letting me keep this thread here because I hope this shows people how to preserve a traditional knife that might otherwise be thrown away! Along with some basic mods that can be done to healthy knives, i hope someone uses this as an inspiration save an otherwise useless knife.


-Xander
 
Alright folks, got a little teaser for ya...

2012-02-26113854.jpg


I'm considering the pieces that are #5 & 6 from the left for this knife. This lot was scored from my local fleamarket for $35 today, its all nice and flat and got some great features! Any of these pieces should look great on this knife.

Tomorrows schedule is clear for the majority of the day, so expect updates sometime tomorrow evening (west coast time).

Thanx to everyone who is following!


-Xander
 
Great stuff, Xander! And thanks for sharing this for us all to see. So good to watch craftsmanship in action.
 
Hey buddy,
When we talked yesterday I did not know you had attached the bolsters. They look great. The stag you picked out is perfect I think. This is a great little project. My dad collects Puma and I've seen a few but I think this will be nicer than the originals. Definitely a one of a kind. Hold on to this one and pass it along to Zyler.
 
Thanx Duncan and Doug.

Dan, I thought you had seen it with the bolsters already. I think I remember you sayin your dad collected Puma, I don't know if this one will stay around long enough to give to Zyler, but many in my collection will not be going anywhere! Maybe I'll do a hot pink dyed stag folder and send it your way for Zanna...


-Xander
 
Holy marcel this is amazing. And that stag is phenomenal. I am excited to see the final project. WarPony or One Trick Pony are great ideas for the name!
 
I was hoping to see more work, Got all excited cause this had been updated. Oh well back to ever impatient waiting :D.
 
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