Slipjoint questions

Patrickknives said:
I usually have trouble with the spring so I have an extra spring and hopefully do not have to make another once I get started.
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I try to make mine a bit bigger on the slip end to give me some room to adjust, and make the smallest adjustments I can until it works.
 
Ok lets talk about what you will need, you can adapt to about anything. I am going to discuss kind of a higher level for those who have tools and heat treat ovens and a lower level for those who do not.

Steel, you need to decide what steel to use. The primary decision is based on if you are an expert in heat treat or will send you blade and spring out for heat treat, or, are you going to do it your self. Any of the air hardening and stainless steels are great but heat treat is more complicated. If you can handle CPM or 440c then great or if you are going to send these out for heat treat then fine.

For the low road I suggest 1095 or 1084. I have not used 1084 myself but it seems to be easier to heat treat then 1095, although I do not find 1095 difficult. The nice thing about 1095 is you can get flat bar stock in 3/32 or 1/8. I will be making mine from 1095 since the knife I lost was 1095 and I can pick it up locally.

So pick your steel for the blade and spring. 3/32 will make a lightweight folder but you must be carefull not to grind too much off, 1/8 is great since if you need to your have a 32 to remove and not really loose anything, I think it stays a little straighter in HT.
 
Lets talk liners, this is what holds the knife together. I use 22 guage 304 stainless. I would not go thinner because you will want to file some relief for the blade, and it will bend easier and may not hold the pins well during assembly. You dont need stainless and good steel will do. I would not go too thick since it will get heavy.

Bolsters, I am using 304 stainless about 1/8 thick. Nickle silver is easier to work with but really expensive right now. What ever to pick for the boslters you need to get the same pin stock in 3/32. Using the same steel for the pins will help make the pins dissapear when sanded. You can really use anything you want. There is someone saying that the dont want to use a bolster, sod buster, that should be fine as well. You can just skip the bolster soldering and glue on the slabs for your handle and pin the whole thing together. There are also people using micarta. Its tough enough and can be glued in place until final assemble\y.
 
Last thing tonight, handle material. Choose wisely there is alot to go wrong and I would hate to see you mess up your knife and hande. Wood is cheap and easy to work with but may crack unless dried properly or stabilized. Jigged bone is pretty cheap 10-12$ and easy to work with. micarta can be used. Make sure you get pieced that are a little wider and a little longer than you need. For a small knife this will be about 3" x 1 1/8. To figure the length you need to decide if you are going to have a lower bolster (or non, sod buster) and plan. The nice thing about a lower bolster is you get to pound the hell out of the pin and not really damage anything. If you do not have a bolster you will need to be more carefull. Same with the upper bolster, we will be peening over the pins and its nice to hammer against some steel rather than handle material. The center pin (pivot) we dont smash quit as much so we can be carefull and try not to crack anything.

If you have any questions please pm or email, let me know if you want the drawing of the coke bottle I have a drawing I can email.

Let get this done
 
I have decided to go the bolster route tackle my fear of screwing up a solder job. I just ordered my stuff from tks and stole a set of ironwood scales on ebay
 
I can walk you through the soldering, its kind of a pain but the process I use works really well and I have not had any real problems. Basically everything has to be tinned ahead of time and then assembled and soldered. Set the ironwood out to let it dry a bit and get used to your climate. If it is a large piece cut it to just a little bigger than the scales so it will dry all the way through. Its tough wood and should do well.

What are you thinking of as far as style and other materials??
 
1095 blade and spring, stainless everything else 303, I haven't thought much about stlye I am a big fan of the trapper but am open to anything
 
Great thread!!!!
The part of slip joint making that always screwed me up the most was the back spring!
I never could get one right!
I couldn't figure out if the spring should be cut straight and then bent/loaded, or if it should be cut with the bend in it.
How do you guys do this and end up with a good fit between the blade, spring, and frame of the knife?
 
I cut my spring to shape with about a 2 mm offset so when the spring is loaded (pushed 2mm into blade) it is straight and even with the back of the knife. I have heard you can bend prior to HT but I worry about the spring coming out crooked in there are uneven forces. If you look at the spring in the coke bottle post you will see it also has a slight bent.

The trick to a good fit is flat, flat, flat. If it is all flat it fits, if not there are gaps.
 
Hey Guys,

I'd be into joining in on making one of these, but first I have to finish reading through the thread where folks did it before. I've been wanting to make a folder for my daughter, but have never done one before. She has green eyes, and I'd love to make the scales out of malachite. The coke bottle pattern seems a bit large for her, but if it's the only one with patterns available, I'll go with it. I'll need a lot of hand holding though! I've got a some 1084 I can use, but will have to thin it down a bit. Don't have any stainless or nickle for liners and bolsters. Would have to source that somewhere. Thanks you guys.

All the best, Phil
 
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I'm confused, I'm referring to the one you posted.

Patrickknives said:
...here is a link to the orginal post showing the pattern, I used the pattern to make a plastic model and then the plastic to mark my steel. I would like to make another, i lost the one I made if you want to work together.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=463675&highlight=coke+bottle

CokeFinal021.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Ok, Now I get it.. Did not see alot of instruction on that post. It was mostly a challange. Kerry Hampton had some good posts over time of projects he worked on with Tony Bose and also links to some of Tony's techniques. All great stuff.

All these materials are great and have helped me a great deal but there are still gaps and questions. I am glad to see some other makers involves so I can learn more through this as well.
 
heres what I have decided on does anyone have a doctor pattern handy

you can see basically what I am wanting to do a doctor style knife with a little twist on the bolsters and ironwood with a little file work on top
 
Hi Friends,

I down loaded the coke bottle pattern and printed it out. I'm not going for the full size. Will do it at about 3.75" closed with a 2.5" blade.

http://boseknives.com/tbosecokebottl...e-drawing1.jpg
http://boseknives.com/tbosecokebottl...e-drawing2.jpg

Are you saying I should cut it out in plastic (plexiglass?) first? Do you mean just the blade and spring? Or, the liners and bolsters too?

Should I pin/mock it up on a wooden board like on page three of Chris Crawford's slip joint tutorial?

http://www.chriscrawfordknives.com

I have some 1/8" 1084. So I should be able to manage the blade and spring. I have some brass I can use for the liners. I'd like to go with copper (or brass) for the bolsters, but I can't figure out how to do the blade's pivot pin. Would the steel pin just look too funky against the copper (or brass)? I'd like to do copper (or brass) as I'm hoping to do the scales in malachite. (Malachite and copper come from the same ore sources and go together very well.)

Ok, mentors, fire your help back as you are able.

Thanks so much, Phil
 
Brass has been used for pins for slipjoints since there have been slipjoints. I'd recommend it over copper unless you can find a copper alloy that you are sure is as hard as brass.
 
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