Slip Joint: Integral or sodder bolsters when you have a mill?

E

EdgeCraft

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Mar 27, 2009
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I see people posting how to sodder bolsters when they also show how to mill the releif areas. Why sodder when you have the capacity to mill? Which is best and why? Thanks.
 
One reason that I can think of right off why a person would solder/weld/pin bolsters instead of making an integral is the amount of waste that goes into an integral. In other words, integrals cost more to make (material wise) than the other methods. For example, the cost of 0.040 410 sheet stainless is alot less than 3/8" 416 bar stainless.
 
I have a mill and I plan to do integral on my next slip with bolsters. I honestly can't think of a reason why soldering is better besides what txwoodchip has said.
 
It takes longer, wastes more...


plus

Milling the liners down to very thin material is risky.

Once you get that thin it can flex, bend, catch, tear up the workpiece and break a cutter.
 
After doing mostly milled frames for 4 years, not just mill relieved-the frame plowed out to accept the scale
material, I believe it to be easier to mill one out than do a soldered frame. Most of the collector world likes
one piece liners and bolsters----- some do not. I believe it a challenge to be able to solder well enough that
you cannot see a solder line esp. on ss., and yes I suppose we could say its cheaper to solder one material wise.
Now I solder about every 5th or 6th frame just because I enjoy doing it and take pride in not being able to see
the joint under magnification. At the same time I believe in full disclosure as to how the frame is made.
Ken.
 
Ken Coats and others make good points, pros and cons.

I started my slipjoint making by soldering bolsters. NS to brass and SS to SS. After 10 knives I switched to integral bolsters/frames and personally would not consider soldering.

As Ken has mentioned , many collectors right or wrong prefer integral frames/bolsters. Is it a better way than soldering, no, as long as the soldering is done with care and skill.Some of the most sought after collector grade slipjoints have soldered bolsters.

One of the reasons that I prefer milled integrals is that I can rest easy at night knowing that a "seam will never be seen" or that a bolster will never come loose.

Is there a time and material waste factor with milled integral construction? Yes , of course. However it may not be as much as you would expect. It takes me on average 45 to 60 minutes to mill a set of frames. I use no flux, no propane, no solder, no cleaning/flux neutralizing agent. I do use end mills and cutting oil. I also purchase sheet .410 in .135 stock that is much cheaper than 416 barstock for the majority of my knives. I do at times, depending on the pattern use 416 3/16 stock.

Bottom line is that whatever YOU feel works best for you and your customers is the way to go.
 
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I solder all mine, never have milled them.
And you can not see the seam lines and they will never fall off. I have tried to break them off.
Most makers milling I think do it because they can NOT hide the seams is why I'm guessing this?
I have been ask by sevral makers who mill or spot weld theirs on how to solder them and hide the seams. So I think they would like to sollder them on?
Bose solders his and that is the traditional way and I will keep doing mine this way.
And milling does not make the knife stronger.

TA
 
It was one of Tony's knives last year and my very close inspection of it that got me
to soldering them again. I'm with Todd that I believe most people can't do it to get
an invisible solder line. I have absolutley no fear of a bolster ever falling off (confidence
in what I'm doing) with all that being said how many people are still soldering guards on
scale or stick Tangs? Here's the kicker-- today I milled a frame from barstock. Nice to
be able to do both.
Ken.
 
kc custom said:
It was one of Tony's knives last year and my very close inspection of it that got me
to soldering them again. I'm with Todd that I believe most people can't do it to get
an invisible solder line. I have absolutley no fear of a bolster ever falling off (confidence
in what I'm doing) with all that being said how many people are still soldering guards on
scale or stick Tangs? Here's the kicker-- today I milled a frame from barstock. Nice to
be able to do both.
Ken.
Click to expand...

Ken,

I lost track on how many knives I solder the guards on? Were you think I learned to solder at?:rolleyes::D
I looked at a lot of knives that had bad solder joints - maybe that's why they don't do them that way? They can't get a perfect solder joint?
Mine were not always perfect - you just have to do a couple thousand knives.....

All this being said - there are some REALLY NICE knives being made - how ever you do it?

Just be honest about it...... :thumbup:

TA
 
Todd not sure where you learned-- self taught I'll bet. My first soldering on a copper plumbing
Joint was 52 years ago, I'm 59 now (it didn't leak) and have always been facinated by clean solder.
When I first started making straight blades in the 70's they were barely accepted without solder on
the bolsters or guards. Yeah an awful lot of them weren't pretty.
Ken.
 
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