Pocket Folder Knife Clips.

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blatantevil7

Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
17
Hey all,
To start off, I'm not by any means a knife maker, I dearly hope that soon that will change, but for know all I have is what I've learned from reading stuff on this forum. One project I have been yearning to attempt though, is to make some custom pocket clips for the knives I currently own. I don't want to make them out of titanium because it's a harder material than I'd like to deal with at this point, and I'm perfectly satisfied with how the common steel pocket clips on Spydercos and Benchmades perform, I just want to create some different designs.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anything about making pocket clips out of steel (either on this forum or on the web) never mind much info on making pocket clips out of any material.

So, my first question would be what kind of steel is best suited for making a decent pocket clip, and second are there certain processes necessary to creating a clip with the proper amount of strength and springiness?

I basically have zero knowledge on the subject so any advise or other resources you have would be great.

Thanks,
Blatant
 
Well, I don't want to be nasty but the titanium is the best suited in my opinion. You can heat it where you want bends to help get the curves you want. .040-.050 does work well. Frank
 
blatantevil7 said:
Hey all,

One project I have been yearning to attempt though, is to make some custom pocket clips for the knives I currently own.

I don't want to make them out of titanium because it's a harder material than I'd like to deal with at this point,

and I'm perfectly satisfied with how the common steel pocket clips on Spyderco's and Benchmade's perform,

So, my first question would be what kind of steel is best suited for making a decent pocket clip,
and second are there certain processes necessary to creating a clip with the proper amount of strength and springiness?
Click to expand...

I agree with the fellows above.
Here's why

Titanium isn't as hard to work as you may think.
It gets a reputation for difficult, and it is by industrial standards, but it will work with handtools.

The steel pocket clips are not made of "common" steel


The Ti can be hacksawed, filed, ground, drilled, then heated and bent.
Done, no heat treating required.


The steel pocket clips are spring steel, which must be
shaped, then heat treated. -
You can buy pre heat treated spring steel shim stock,
but then you can't shape it.



Like Frank said
.040" thick 6Al-4V Grade 5 Titanium
 
Thanks fellas, I guess that's what I'll do then. Do any of you know of the best place to get Ti, or should I just shop around online?

-Blatant
 
On a side note, I have a friend/neighbor that worked as an airplane painter all his life. Do you guys think that if he can get me in touch with a company near here that it would be a good source for titanium?
 
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