Is this fixable?

tedinatl

tedinatl

Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
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I'm about to wrap up this knife for a customer, but when I got to my final thickness on the guard, these two rings showed up. I obviously didn't peen the pins enough :mad:, even though they looked perfect when I had completed the peening process.

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Apart from drilling out the pins in the guard, is there anything else I can do to fix this? I don't want to loose much more thickness around the guard, and the other side is absolutely perfect. All the steel fittings and pins are 410 SS (sanded to 320 grit at the moment), and the grey ring is JB weld. The guard will get a mirror finish when I'm done.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Only way I can think of is to re-peen and re-finish, but I've never tried it with the pin flush, so I'm not sure what advice to offer. Drilling the pins is not a task I would envy, in my experience it is all too likely that the hole in the bolster will get botched in the process.
 
Maybe is all i can say !! you might want to drill as close to the center as you can with a small drill bit,if/when you are pretty confident that you are real close to the center step the drill size up a little at a time, when you are real close to the pin size use a scrap of micarta from the handle cut out for a backing block and see if you cant drive the pin out with a small punch. if it works out great , ream the hole lightly countersink both sides and re pin/peen..
kinda a "loaded question" yes it can be done /fixed easy it depends on you !! good luck i hope it works out well
 
Using a small ball peen hammer (as small as you can get), lightly peen them again but try and keep it uniform around the edges and you should be able to close the gaps a little more. You should be able to keep the marks to a minimum and make it easier to polish.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Tattooedfreak, I'm going to try and peen them a bit more - hopefully it'll work.

I was otherwise thinking I would center punch as close to the center of the existing pins, drill a bit bigger (the holes in the tang are bigger than the pins), and use a bigger pin (1/4" vs 3/16"). But I'm going to try to peen a bit more first - the gap isn't all that big.
 
tattooedfreak said:
Using a small ball peen hammer (as small as you can get), lightly peen them again but try and keep it uniform around the edges and you should be able to close the gaps a little more. You should be able to keep the marks to a minimum and make it easier to polish.
Click to expand...

I agree, I'd try that prior to drilling out. It may skinny up the bolsters a bit, but may be worth it in the long run.

PLEASE let us know what you do and what works, I'm sure others will need this information at some point.

Good luck,
Charlie
 
if there is jb weld in there you will probably never be able to get them to disapeer properly. save yourself some time bite the bullet and drill them out.
 
I agree with Bill. When I see the gray rings of death, I stop in my tracks and drill them out.
 
Bill Burke said:
if there is jb weld in there you will probably never be able to get them to disapeer properly. save yourself some time bite the bullet and drill them out.
Click to expand...

Could be, but I have re-flared stainless tube fasteners after the epoxy set up, and had a bit of hardened epoxy squeeze out of the countersunk chamfer as the flared end of the tube displaced it. Might work, might not, in this situation, but I think it's worth a try.
 
Round off a punch and "precision peen" the pins to close the gap, then sand the guard flush. You may lose .010-.015" on your OA guard thickness but the rings will be gone. Next time, peen those pins before you grind them!

Rick
 
Rick Marchand said:
Round off a punch and "precision peen" the pins to close the gap, then sand the guard flush. You may lose .010-.015" on your OA guard thickness but the rings will be gone. Next time, peen those pins before you grind them!

Rick
Click to expand...

This may work IF and that is a big red if, you can get all the JB weld out from around the pins.
 
There should be no adhesive on the pins. The holes should be chamfered or tapered, and the pins peened into the chamfer.
 
if you have access to a mill you can mill out the pins with a smaller end mill and do a much cleaner job. all you have to do is watch for jb weld to show when you get close. then go to the opposite side and do the same. the pin should come out in 2 pieces then.
 
Bill Burke said:


This may work IF and that is a big red if, you can get all the JB weld out from around the pins.
Click to expand...

True... if that JB weld doesn't get pushed out, it's permanent. I actually didn't read that it was JB Weld in the OP:o Is it standard practice to use adhesive for bolster pins? I would think that if you wanted the pins to "disappear" you should have nothing coating the holes.
 
You are ight, Rick. You shouldn't have anything in the holes. Live and learn, i guess.

I also don't have access to a mill, so I think I'm stuck with either letting it go (after polishing the guard it actually doesn't look too bad), or driling out the pins and replacig them (I'm still working up the courage to do this).
 
You can do a peened finish to hide the gaps. Just use a very small ball peen hammer or a rounded punch and texture the entire guard.
 
Justin King said:
Could be, but I have re-flared stainless tube fasteners after the epoxy set up, and had a bit of hardened epoxy squeeze out of the countersunk chamfer as the flared end of the tube displaced it. Might work, might not, in this situation, but I think it's worth a try.
Click to expand...

Epoxy tends to be a little bit brittle right? It might crack but i doubt the important part between the blade and bolsters will be affected. I have no experience in peening but repeeing the pins sounds like agood idea to me!

I found this thread by trying to find a tutorial on peening.
 
I had this happen with 1/8 inch brass pins in a brass guard. I drove the pins out with a 1/8 inch drift and opened the holes wider with a 15 degree tapered reamer. I tapped in two new pins and when I peened them they flowed into the oversized holes and came out fine when I sanded and polished. Don't know about SS but if it peens as well as brass this should work.
 
I have a set of punches with rounded noses. They are different diameters. They work quite well in this situation. Use a small hammer so you can watch the punch head as it strikes.
Its still going to be iffy at best.

Are you using an undersized drill bit followed by a ream to drill your holes?

Good luck, Fred
 
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