Loveless soldering method

JBS TOOLMAKER

JBS TOOLMAKER

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May 4, 2009
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I just recently saw the Loveless Legend video. I have been making knives for a few years now , and I use mostly slotted single guards. I have always used a torch, staybrite solder and stay clean flux. I noticed on the video he was using a soldering iron attached to a clamp where the tang just slips in and the guard will rest on the clamp. I don't know if there was some editing, but this process took about 3 minutes. Do any of you guys use this method, and if so How do you build this rig? I understand the idea. Can you use just any soldering iron? Whats the best material to make the clamp from?
 
JBS TOOLMAKER said:
I just recently saw the Loveless Legend video... Can you use just any soldering iron? Whats the best material to make the clamp from?...
Click to expand...

In his book he uses a torch. I haven't seen the video, but have seen a photo of it.

It is a very large - high wattage soldering iron.
The little ones that are used in electronics are in the 25 to 30 watt range and are far too small to use for this.

This is the largest wattage that I can find used in coppersmithing.
I would tend towards the largest iron to heat up the joint as quickly as possible to keep the heat local to the joint.

I would give these people a call and see what they recommend, perhaps a smaller iron would do.

http://josephjenkins.com/store/product.php?productid=16317&cat=323&page=1

They have a utube demo link also

(for 300$ I'm sure you could cobble something else together from a generic heating element- let us know what you do)

Copper conducts heat well.
 
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I seem to remember seeing a spot welder being used. It was applied to both sides of the guard to heat it quickly. Please understand though that this was something I saw over two decades ago and my memory being what it is, I could be incorrect on the spot welder's application in the photo I am thinking of.
 
"You can't spot weld NS to stainless."
10,000 Leverlettos say you can. I prefer a better bond, though.
 
Chuck Gedraitis Knives said:
It was not a spot welder. You can't spot weld NS to stainless. It was a large soldering iron as previously stated.
Click to expand...
Nope. In the picture I saw it was a spot welder. A re-read my original post will show I did not suggest it was used to spot weld the guard in place, but rather to heat the guard quickly. Since it was bugging me I dug out some of my old books and found the photo. Anyone interested can find it on page 160 (at least in my copy...I dont know about newer printings) of the Barney and Loveless book "How To Make Knives"
 
Thanks, I am definately going to build something for this,always looking for a faster way as long as the quality is as good or better. The great thing about this rig was having both hands free. If you have not seen this video I highly recomend it, but then again I'm a Loveless fanatic.
 
i have a twenty amp iron set up that was made by Tom Buchanan. He milled a 3/16 slot in the end to slide your knife blade into. It was slow until you got it up to temp then they went very fast. You were actually heating the guard material more than the blade so did not hurt that part of it. Mike
 
Mike, That's good info, in the video it did'nt show how long it was in the clamp before he started. I was wondering how long it would take to reach temp. I like the idea of most of the heat being on the guard. That's another reason I like this method. Pardon my ignorance but , What is a leverletto?!!
 
Leverletto-the most sucessful automatic knife out of Italy since the Italian stiletto.
The nickel silver bolsters are spot welded to the nickel silver liners.
There are Leverletto pictures on my web site, or you can just Google "Leverletto."
Bill
www.billdeshivs.com
 
I saw a very easy solution to this on the Steve Johnson Subhilt video.

He uses low temp solder and a heat gun.

Try that out. if it's good for SRJ, it's good for any knifemaker.
 
What kind of heat gun? Regular hi-low job site or different? Big, open, nozzle or funneled to a small area?

Mike
 
techna said:
Nope. In the picture I saw it was a spot welder... page 160 Barney and Loveless book "How To Make Knives"
Click to expand...

Yep

"We are using it to rapidly heat the stainless steel guard soldering job, to provide a completely clean source of heat...This is still an experimental technique...

and on page 159 the soldering iron.

It looks like I have to read that book again...
 
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Plain lead solder works very well if you are not soldering stainless steel.
If using stainless the low temp "silver solder" is necessary. A propane torch is all you need. I see no reason to use Irons, guns, and spot welders.
 
Mike Krall said:
What kind of heat gun? Regular hi-low job site or different? Big, open, nozzle or funneled to a small area?

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi-lo works. I don't use the funnel, but just aim at the bottom of the guard on all sides. It heats up fast. It makes it a little harder to over heat.
BB
 
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