install a dent ball in a liner lock

Installing the detent ball is not a problem. It needs to be located as high and as far forward as you can get it on the lock bar. Don't want the ball falling off the blade tang until it locks.

Once the lock is cut I scribe an arc following the bottom of the tang on the lock bar and install the ball toward the pivot from the arc.

I drill an undersized hole and put the ball on with tweezers and tap it in.
 
I usually set the same thickness washer I'm planning to use in the pivot over the ball and then tap it. I keep a few phosphorus bronze ones in various thicknesses just for that purpose. This way the ball only sticks up as high as the washer is thick once you tap it and since most of my washers are .010 for the 1/16" ball it seems to work just fine on that one for any time I'm using that ball. On some of the ones where I use a 2mm ball I can still many times get away with using a thinner washer to set the ball than the one in the folder but really the final test for me is how much sticking it does in the spot hole you drilled in the blade for the ball to catch on when the blade is closed. Most all the time that single .010 thickness PB washer works as a good way to keep me from over tapping the ball and sinking it too deep. Best I can tell it seems most factory balls are set about that same height anyway so it works for many of those also in the event that I have to remove a ball for whatever reason during a repair or lock replacment.

STR
 
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