Knifemaking Journey - Folders

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Bray D

Joined
Jun 28, 2020
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This will be a build thread of sorts. An ongoing compilation of what I'm playing with in the shop. My hope is that it generates some discussions that will benefit myself and others.

I'm a long time tool nerd and have collected a good deal of shop tools. Built my own 2x72 grinder a decade ago, have owned a small lathe / mill for nearly as long, and recently picked up an old CNC knee mill. Knives have been a great way to learn the machine and have some fun in the process.

I really like Cold Steel's Tuff Lite offering. I've been making scales for both the mini and the standard to hone my skills. I had a milestone over the weekend - successfully machining an 'integral' scale to support the leaf spring of the Tuff Lite. It's my first piece fully machined from a piece of billet.

Anyways, I'll kick this off with a handful of photos. I haven't attempted to make a blade yet, but I'm excited to take that next step. Learning to grind bevels will be a fun adventure.

Tools of the trade - the home brew 2x72. 3 speeds with a 2hp motor.

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The machining area with the recently acquired TREE CNC.

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First set of scales

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Adding some style

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I carried the mini for a couple weeks and decided to make scales for it's bigger brother.

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3D printed back scale to make sure the geometry was correct. This would last a couple days before the plastic would fail. It couldn't handle the reaction force from the leaf spring.

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Acid etched the blade just to see how that process works. Turned out really well on this AUS 8.

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Bought another knife, made a new show side scale.

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Then I set out to figure out how to make the integral back scale / back spacer. Steep learning curve with this CAM but it's awesome running the program. CNC is crazy.

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That brings us mostly up to speed. Looking forward to dumping pics in here as I try new things.
 
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Tried my hand at some tumbling last night. 4" PVC, ~18" long, with 5lbs of the HF ceramic media in it. 1 bottle of water and a few drops of Dawn. I didn't check with a tach, but it should be 40rpm. Ran it for just over 1/2 hour and it weathered my etched mini blade pretty well. I think a longer run time would improve consistency and lighten it a bit more. Overall pleased with the results so far.

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Darn you got some nice toys! I really like those lockback knives you've made. The machining is awesome.
 
Thanks guys. The tool collection has been a lifelong endeavor, and there's still more on the list!

Taking these apart and reverse engineering everything has been a fun journey. There's a lot packed behind those scales, and everything needs to be made very accurately for it all to work together nicely.
 
Since the mini is my experimental knife, I tossed the aluminum scales in the tumbler to see what finish I would get. Same conditions as I did the blade. ~1/2hr run time. Looks pretty nice on the larger flat surfaces.

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While that was running I pulled my other knife apart and tuned the washer pocket. One of the pins was loose between the scales - dropping the washer a bit closed the gap between scales and tightened that up. I was ~.004" shallow previously.

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I've played around with aluminum anodizing in the past, but never really had a use for it until now. I decided to add some color to one of my scales. Turned out pretty sharp coupled with the etched blade.

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I'm typically a raw materials kinda guy, but this is neat for a change of pace.
 
Bray D said:
I've played around with aluminum anodizing in the past, but never really had a use for it until now. I decided to add some color to one of my scales. Turned out pretty sharp coupled with the etched blade.

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I'm typically a raw materials kinda guy, but this is neat for a change of pace.
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You can make a mint slinging those in the right place...👌......at the right #..😉....

Fine display of your skills.....👍👍👍.... Great job
 
Found some shop time again and started tinkering with a blade. I had a piece of scrap 1/8" plate that was barely big enough for my fixture plate so I cleaned it up on the 2x72.

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I was targeting .115". It came out a touch undersized and the thickness varies ~.003". Surprisingly accurate considering the method, but I've already added a surface grinder to my wish list.

This is my first time cutting steel on the new CNC. The flipper and pivot holes cut beautifully. I'm pretty sure I broke the end mill upon the first plunge for the perimeter cut though. I let it finish the program, but it clearly wasn't cut all the way through.

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I finished the cut on the bandsaw, then back to the grinder for cleanup. Add some hand file work and we have what you see here.

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It took a bit of fussing to get everything to engage / lock up correctly. I'm finding that these features are extremely size-sensitive. I'm eager to get a proper blade cut on the CNC so I can start dialing things in with a controlled process.

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We're starting to get into the challenging part - making the knife a knife.

My goal was a simple flat grind ending close to the flipper hole. I did the math and made a fixture that would hold it at, what I thought was, the right angle.

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Turns out my thickness-before-sharpening was ~.050". Far too chunky. I decided to take it to a full flat grind, which skinnied up my edge significantly. I also lost the tip somehow in the process.

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For the sake of honing my skills, I attempted to put an edge on it anyways. It's something, but far from what I would call sharp.

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Being disappointed with the tip, straightness, and sharpness of the cutting edge, I pumped the brakes. Haven't even wrapped it in scales as I'm sure the point will be exposed. Back to the drawing board.

Action items:

1. BUY NEW BELTS. My 2x72 is used for general fab primarily. The belts I have on hand are grossly inconsistent from edge to edge. I need a dedicated supply of knifemaking belts so I have some consistency across the belt face.

2. Machine a new blade, ideally without breaking my tool this time.
 
Ok so I know I’m nowhere near ready to make a folder in my journey but….wouldn’t it be more advantageous to do a full tang in that style, grind your primary etc, then use layout fluid, mark and measure your blade an cut out? That way you can hold the “whole” blade and control it, then cut the part out that folds etc
 
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Just asking cause I don’t know. Just seems like it would be easier to hold on to til you need to make it smaller…and no, this is not my design…I just drew it out real quick.
 
Nate’s Knives said:
Ok so I know I’m nowhere near ready to make a folder in my journey but….wouldn’t it be more advantageous to do a full tang in that style, grind your primary etc, then use layout fluid, mark and measure your blade an cut out? That way you can hold the “whole” blade and control it, then cut the part out that folds etc
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Interesting thought! I should be clear that I've never made a knife before (folder nor fixed blade) so I don't really know what I'm doing. Everything was fairly controlled with the fixture holding the blade in place though.
 
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