I need some Lockback help, please.

Chris Crawford

Chris Crawford

Joined
Apr 14, 2001
Messages
380
Hey everybody. Can someone offer up their method for making the lockbar tooth fit the notch in the blade?

I've made several knives based off the lockback design, but I've lately hit a slump, and I just cannot seem to get a good lockup. Last night I made five lockbars before I had one that didn't have slop, and I'm still not really that happy with it.

I'm figuring that someone here probably has a good method that gives good consistent results. If you have one, please share it.

Thanks -Chris
 
I haven't done a lockback in a long time, but I used to cut the lock notch in the tang with a file, then taper the back edge to give a slight wedge shape.

I would then lay that on the lock bar and scribe that shape on it. Then carefully grind & file the lock bar to fit, but not all the way to the bottom of the notch.

Then with the lockbar in the tang notch, drill the center pin though the liners, using the lockbar as a guide.

The slight wedge shape makes for a tight fit & doesn't stick, it also allows a bit for wear over time.
 
What Don said.
One side of the lock mechanism perpendicular to the assembly.
The other side a slight angle - 8* is the norm - to create a wedge.
Small space at the bottom to create a "lint pocket".
You can not go wrong by getting the book, "The Lockback Folding Knife - from design to completion" by Fronteddu/Steigerwald. In the book they build the same basic lock back folder platform 10 different ways.
 
Chris- we had a mutual friend in Don Hall. I'll be happy to help you with anything I can. Contact me through www.billdeshivs.com and I'll give you my phone number.
 
Thanks Bill. I checked out your website, and you are not that far from me. I'm about an hour and a half away, down in Tupelo. Maybe we can get together sometime.

Yea, Don was a genius when it came to knife mechanisms. He's the one who taught me how to make leaf spring autos.
 
And, I taught Don quite a bit of what he knew. Give me a call sometime, or stop by the Latama table at the Blade Show and say "Hi!."
 
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