Sorry for the anxiety I have caused some of you...but I got some work done and promptly had issues with the computer and couldn't update. So hopefully this works out doing this from my phone.
So after taking the bolsters down to the liners, I reamed the pin holes to size. This is the best way to produce round holes, drilling never seems to make perfectly round holes. I also had to turn down some oversize pinstock to fit, as I didn't have any in the right size. I just chucked a short piece in the drill press and laid a file against it.
After I get the holes and pins to match the holes in the blade and spring I start to shape the bolsters with a fresh 80 grit belt using the slack portion. I like to do this with both together so they match as close as possible. Here is just after starting the shaping...
The basic shaping is rounded from spring side to blade side, then I put a chamfer on the end for the pivot bolster and then just a basic freehand radius around the bottom end. You can see the chamfer in this pic.
After the bolsters are roughed in its time to fit th stag! I ended up going with a couple different pieces from the selection I posted earlier, less wasted from such nice pieces.
First measure out your length and cut, the try to match up for the best figure. I cut it with a wood blade in a coping saw.
When fitting the stag you can always sand and cut it down, but if you go too far it is very difficult to put it back. The fine fitting is done entirely by hand sanding. Almost done fitting this piece, you can see the small gap just near the bolster against the liner here...
Now that the stag is fitted to the liners the next step would be to pin them on to the liners. I started the process but didn't get it finished so I will wait til the next installment to show that.
What I did do is a test assembly. I forgot to get pics of that, but the end result was that this knife was almost a nail breaker! So I lightened the pull. In this pic you can see where to grind the spring to lighten it up. One thing to make sure is not to grind into where the kick rests, or you will bury the blade too far and possibly seat it against the end of the spring which is no good!
I hope everyone is enjoying this coming together as much as I am! I can't wait to get back into the shop and finish it up! The next steps are pinning the scales, then assembly and final touches. I may do some extra details here and there just to show it off a bit, but I do like the idea of leaving it slightly rough so only someone who knows Puma knives realizes that the One Trick Pony is just a one off!
All comments good or bad are welcome, also any advice from experianced makers is welcome!
-Xander
.
).
