Moving the clip on a titanium framelock.

[elkins45]

Once I figured out how to tap the clip mounting holes without snapping off the tap it wasn't that bad.

You can see where the remnant of a tap remains in my original choice for clip placement. I suspect it will always remain there. After I snapped the tap I decided to move it to a new location. I told myself this was an opportunity to make the clip serve double duty as a lock bar stabilizer.

I snapped the same tap off again in the new location!:thumbdn: Asking in the makers forum gave me good info on how to remove the tap after it snapped off flush (ferric chloride etching solution) and also clued me in on what I was doing wrong. It turns out that you can't use the recommended drill size (#50) for taping 2-56 in titanium. Once I got the broken tap fragment out and drilled the holes with a #48 bit they tapped as smoothly as any hole I've ever done.

It's ugly I know, but at least now my favorite working knife is tip-up like all my others.

 

[Supmonkeyface]

Wow what knife is that? Looks like youve put some use on it! Nice mod, Ti is a really wierd metal to work with huh.

 

[elkins45]

It's a Benchmade 750 Pinnacle. I bought it in the mid-to-late 90's and it was my all the time EDC until sometime in 2003. After that it became my 'around the farm' EDC and has consistently been my go-to knife for serious chores.

I own a bunch of knives, but this is the one that has been 'the knife' when I've needed one. Other than family heirlooms and (maybe) my only custom it probably has the most meaning to me.

This is the only work I've ever done with Ti: I can tell you that it will really grab a tap!

 

[Supmonkeyface]

Yeah I work in the bicycle business and some frames are made of Ti and I have to cut threads for the bottom bracket and face the head tube. I have a special tap and facer set I keep just for Ti. It is pretty much indestructable though