Okie tube rivet flaring setup

RedRockNv

RedRockNv

Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
268
I have to thank Ban for his help he suggested sheetrock screw heads for a die I used deck screws figuaring they would be stronger. Then I needed a press. Ban said something about a Wilton vise but didn't tell me how he used it. I hope I am not giving away any secrets if so I am eternally sorry. The problem how to hold the whole setup in alignment. I pressed regular phillips head bits #2 in to the deck screw head and it seems to hold. Then I was trying to hold my knife and the homemade dies in alignment between the jaws of my vise. A real juggling act and it didn't work at all well. I started to think about drilling holes in the jaw face when I noticed the faces were held on by Allen bolts and sure enough the bit fit perfectly in to the hole for the Allen key. Now all was in decent alignment I put the rivets in the holes and put it between the dies. After several tries feeling for any looseness in the rivets I finally had the feel of it. Here is my setup very homeower style. It did work though.

PA240822.jpg


PA240815.jpg

The result from another post

PA240814.jpg
 
Lets see closeups of the fasteners please. Did they flare out ok? Did they tear any?
 
Nice vise! That is the exact same one that I use. The way you have it setup with the screw head is pretty good. I use to just use finger dexterity to hold everything together then closing the vise. I make final adjustment and alignment by twisting the knife to move the screws. BTW, you may want to consider shortening the screw tabs a bit. They may run into one another if you are pressing thinner scales.
 
Flared fine I wasn't sure of the length so guessed at 15/16" I sanded the ends. Maybe they could have been a bit longer. In the pic there appears to be some lines but they are hardly noticable in person and could easily be polishing out I am thinking. No tearout. This is the best pic I could do sorry.

PA240830.jpg
 
Ban said:
Nice vise! That is the exact same one that I use. The way you have it setup with the screw head is pretty good. I use to just use finger dexterity to hold everything together then closing the vise. I make final adjustment and alignment by twisting the knife to move the screws. BTW, you may want to consider shortening the screw tabs a bit. They may run into one another if you are pressing thinner scales.
Click to expand...

Well my friend you have way better fingers than I do then it was to much work trying to hold it all together by myself. I did think about them hitting and you are right about the thinner scales. Next time I will probably get some brass tubing and polish it. I will have it apart again so not getting to excited about it right yet.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. I've been curious about home shop methods for tube rivets and your post answered a lot of questions.

Awesome vise! Mine sucks and I've been looking around for an upgrade. I'd love to find one of those Wiltons.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Those look great Redrock and the pic shows them well. I would be very pleased if I had done it and they turned out that nice.

Great job. Thanks for sharing your process!!!
 
I have seen different types of stainless at a few different suppliers.

I would like to here more about which stainless is best.

Which tubing is toughest and/or otherwise best to use. Is there another reason to choose a particular tubing other than toughness?

More info on tubing types, preferences and reasons for preferences would be appreciated.

I have been meaning to send Ban an email asking about this for a LONG time now, but haven't gotten around to it..... Looks like a good opportunity to ask publicly for more info.
 
desmobob said:
Thanks for sharing your experience. I've been curious about home shop methods for tube rivets and your post answered a lot of questions.

Awesome vise! Mine sucks and I've been looking around for an upgrade. I'd love to find one of those Wiltons.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
Click to expand...

That vise was a stroke of luck for me. I was doing a job for a guy and noticed his vise laying in the corner. I commented that it was a nice vise. He said he had been lugging it around for 20 years and never used it. He said it was time someone else used it. So I brought it home and mounted it. It has come in handy many times. It flared those rivets no problem.
 
norcalblacktail said:
Good thread. Now I need a good vise.
Click to expand...



+1

I have this and a couple of other Hollow tube / flare pin related threads saved.

But, I don't have a good heavy duty vice.

I would MUCH rather my Busse knives come with a good (industry standard) satin finish without having to pay out the butt $200 0 $330 premiums for a simple satin finish.

But, short of a logical reality - where a satin finish could be EASILY, quickly and reasonably priced from the factory :(, I have had to strip a LOT of Busse and kin knives over the years. And I haven't been able to remove the scales.

Ideally, a satin finish is applied to a blade prior to installing handles.

But, again, short of the logical option, I have to dis-assemble coated blades and rebuild them to get a simple satin finish. :(

A good heavy duty Wilton vice like above can cost $200 - $500. - USED! :eek: :(

So, I don't have a means yet for re-attaching handles and therefore not able to put a proper satin finish on my knives. :(

.
 
I would think a cheap arbor press from harbor freight would work for flaring tubes. They are less than a benjamin.
 
Old secret; you dont have to remove the grip rivets, you can dissolve them quickly. They use aluminum tubing, so soaking it in potassium hydroxide will dissolve the aluminum, and the grips fall off. If you look in the paint stripping section of your hardware store there are strippers that will eat aluminum also, they have a warning about it, those work also.
 
Aluminum? I thought that Busse went from brass to nickel tubes for the handle slabs. Perhaps they are stainless but I seriously doubt that they are aluminum.
Pete
 
Great work.:thumbup:

My knives weep in fear every time I read a thread like this.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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