Peening?

[The_Dave]

I built a lockback kit knife for my girlfriend recently and I had no idea what to do with the pins. It worked out in the end, but I kept seeing references to "peening" and I have only a vague idea of what it means.

How do you peen pins and such? What tools do I need? Or is it better just to drill the pin holes slightly large and let adhesive do the work?

Thanks all!

 

[Bill DeShivs]

You need a small hammer. A tack hammer will work, but it's really too large.
You need an anvil of sorts-a vise, block of steel, etc.
leave about 1/16" of each end of the pins exposed. Slightly chamfer your pin holes on each side. Place one end of the pin on your anvil, and lightly tap (not pound) the pin heads. Finish flush or buff the heads to a nice dome shape.

 

[The_Dave]

So the point of the hammering and the chamfering is to spread the pin to fill the void in the handle material. With the pin supported on the anvil or vice or whatever, will the hammering spread the pin on the side being hammered, or will it spread the end resting against the anvil? Or both?

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The point is to form a head on the pin by flaring the very end of it. This will fill the slight chamfer on the pin hole.
The hammered side will spread, and you can move the metal around with your hammer taps. The reverse side will spread slightly, but the process should be reversed, and the reverse side hammer peened also.