lockback contruction question

[clockworkfish]

Just a couple of quick questions about making lockbacks

First off for the lever bar what kinda steel should be used? just any old steel?

Is it possible to make the lever bar and spring from the same piece? if so how?

For the spring of a lockback i have seen premade spings for sale would there be an advantage in terms of durability to making your own over just buying one of these?

How thick is the spring supposed to be?

How thick should the pivot for the lock bar be?

Lastly where is a good place to buy small chicago screws to fit everything together?

 

[Carcara]

When I made a lock blade from high carbon steel bar stock, I just made the lock bar from the same stock as the blade. It was a one piece lock bar and spring. I just cut an one inch long slot into the tail of the lock bar with a hack saw and bent the split tail back to make the spring. It was say 3/32nd inch tapering to 1/16 inch plus thick. The split end then needs to be hardened and tempered to a light blue, for a spring temper. The pivot pin was just what I had kicking around, 1/8th inch pin stock. This was all done with just a hack saw, files and a drill press. Knifekits.com sells a lot of folder parts, if your local hardware store does not have bins of fasteners.