Making custom scales for a barlow

Okay, I was able to get a little more done on this...



Once everything is epoxied and dried, you should pin the cover up by the bolster. Mark the liner about 1/4" in from the bolster, then mark the center line to make an x.




Then you should drill your hole. Always use a backer behind what you are drilling through. That can help to reduce blowout of the material whent he drill bit come through. I use a piece of leather most of the time. Whatever pin material you choose, drill your hole slightly larger than the pin. It should have a little wiggle room when inserted. The reason for this is when the pin is peened, it will spread. You don't want to crack the material. Once you have the hole drilled properly, use a larger drill bit to create a countersink inside the liner.





Next, take your pin material and put it in a vise. Use your hammer to slightly spread the pin to make a head like this.





Now, insert the pin from the liner side till it bottoms out . Then take some cutters and trim the pin down. You don't want a lot sticking up, maybe about as much length as the diameter of the pin.




Then carefully peen the pin that you just cut. Try to be precise with your hammer hits, and you don't have to wail on it. Take your time, enjoy the process. You want to mushroom the head. Once the pin is tight, you are good.





Take your file and file down the pin on the liner side flush with the liner. Don't worry about scratches on the liner, you will sand those out.






That's it for now...
 
glennbad said:
I almost forgot one thing. It is really important to mark your work in some way, so in the event that the knife changes hands, people down the line don't think it's original factory work. Nothing fancy for me, I just use some metal punches...
Click to expand...

That's the responsible thing to do and it is appreciated. :thumbup:

glennbad said:
Okay, I was able to get a little more done on this...
Click to expand...

The step-by-step tutorial is coming along nicely!
 
Thanks for this WIP! It is so great to see this kind of thread as it goes about fixing up a knife and not just the "Where-to-get-that-knife" threads. :)

Highly appreciated to bring back the old spirit of this wonderful forum. :)
 
Thanks everyone, I am enjoying it as much as you are. It's nice to show everyone what goes into this type of work. Imagine the work that goes into the beautiful customs that I see posted on this forum!
 
I totally agree Andi:thumbup:

Got engrossed in Glenn's WIP rather like reading a compelling book, you don't want it to stop either. The bolsters are going to look superb offset by that fine new jigged bone. I hope there'll be some more grand projects to look at in this thread in the future, and the would be owner of that knife won't be disappointed either! Just wish I had great skill and good eyesight left to do something myself.:rolleyes:

Thanks, Will
 
Thanks for doing this Glenn, this WIP is going to come in quite handy.
 
Question Glenn. When you drill through the liner and handle covers, you countersink the hole in the liner.
Do you need to do the same in the hole in the covers for the peened pin to sit in? Or would this crack the covers. I assume there is a reason why you don't?
Thanks, loving the WIP, learning a lot!
dave
 
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Okay gang, we are getting close here. I managed to put a few minutes together on this one.


Once you have filed down the pins on the liner side, you will want to sand the liners to get rid of any scratches. Use progressively finer grits. Take this as far as you wish to go. I have a buffer, so I like a fine shine on my liners.





Now you should drill out you holes for the pins in the covers. I start small with the bits and then work my way up. As before, use a backer to reduce blowout. As a general rule, you don't want to drill out your holes any larger than the liner holes.





Try to match the diameter of the existing pins. You don't want to go any smaller though, as that will affect the stiffness of the spring. However, whatever pin size you end up going with, make sure your holes are slightly larger. This is because when you peen you pins, they will spread, and you can crack your material easily if the pins holes are tight.




Now you can start assembly. Start by peening a head onto one end of your pin material. I usually start at the end of the knife. I also use small pin pieces to keep the whole thing in line.






Trim you pin down. Pin height should be no more than the diameter of the pin.




More in next post
 
What do you use to hold the pin stock, to keep it deom sliding and allowing you to hammer on the end to create the peened end?

If there there is a 1 1/2" pin and you hammer one side, the other side would also flare since it is resting against a vise, or other hard flat surface.

I would think pliers or a c-clamp might mar the pin, or make it out of round, causing some binding and friction issues.


As you know I have a build starting and I have been thinking about this.

Thanks again Glenn!
 
Now you can peen things together. Remember, light solid taps, no heavy-handed hammering. If it's not super tight, don't sweat it, you can tighten it a little later.




Once the first one is done, you can do the middle pin.




Once that is complete, you can set the blades. You have to compress the springs to allow the pin to pass through the bolsters and the blade tangs. There is no easy way to do this, and there all tools for this. For our purposes, you can use vise grips or a vise.




Before you peen your bolster pin, you want to insert a slackener into the joint. A slackener is nothing more than a shim that will allow a slight bit of space once everything is peened.




Trim the pin like you did before, and start to peen the pin. I like to use a pony clamp to hold everything together as tight as I can. Start peening the bare end first, forming a head, then alternate to the other side for bit. Keep alternating back and forth until the joint is tight. Remove the slackener, and check the blade play. If there is some, lightly peen until things tighten up.




Now you have an assembled knife...




Take your time now to start to haft down all the excess materials. Files, sanders, sandpaper, whatever works for you. There's really no wrong way to do this. Just remember, you can take it off the knife, but it's kinda hard to put it back on.

 
NJBillK said:
What do you use to hold the pin stock, to keep it deom sliding and allowing you to hammer on the end to create the peened end?

If there there is a 1 1/2" pin and you hammer one side, the other side would also flare since it is resting against a vise, or other hard flat surface.

I would think pliers or a c-clamp might mar the pin, or make it out of round, causing some binding and friction issues.


As you know I have a build starting and I have been thinking about this.

Thanks again Glenn!
Click to expand...

I have seen people that have built jigs for forming pin heads. I just chuck my stock into a vise and form a pin head with my hammer.

Yes, the general idea is for the peening process to flare both sides as you peen the top side. Then you alternate to the other side to even things out.
 
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Fantastic! Just what I was picturing.

Thanks again!
 
So Glenn, just want to be sure. There is no reason to countersink the holes in the handle material then? The same way as you did with the liners?
I was wondering if perhaps that might help with the issue of cracking the cover material? Just very curious.

Thanks again for taking the time to teach, learning a lot!
dave
 
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