You Gotta See This!

Great knife Sean! I'm impressed with the pile of rejects also! That shows true craftsmanship and the desire to stick with a project!
 
Sean - that's an excellent auto - and I'm very glad to see it. After seeing Chris's video I sat down and came up with something very similar. Now I know it can be done.

The beauty of it is the simplicity and clean lines. Well done!

How about a nail nick to throw 'em off? (wouldn't detract from its "gents" styling)


Which leads me to this question - single or double action?
 
Thanks again everybody for your replies.

This one is just an auto. It locks in the open and closed position like a lock back folder does, so you have to rotate the bolster to get her closed.

I don't know how D/A's work, but I would like to know. Anybody know and willing to share the info? It would be cool to make this a D/A.

A nail nick is a definite possibilty. I need to start putting them on my non-auto folders, so I could put them on these too. I just need to bust out the $$$ and buy the right dovetail cutter.

Thanks again.
 
"Doing what you believe in is what life is for, anything else is prostitution.".....Ed Fowler
Click to expand...

Does this rule apply to people who are actually prostitutes, too?
 
Sean, you are a fine tuned knife making machine! That knife is really beautiful, fella. Whatch gonna name that knife, anyhow?
 
Yeah...D/A is a big snag. Can be done, though....I was just talking with someone about a D/A scale release....can't remember who or what.....but it's out there. Just takes some planning/thought.
 
I've got a double action in the works, it'll be a few weeks before it see's the light of day though, if it works at all :) That's why I asked about it, I was looking for insight, oh well. :)

If I can get it working properly, I'll write a tutorial on my site, that may be a big if though, I still haven't paid out for a milling machine or surface grinder, so all my precision work is done in the lathe, or with digital calipers and a bunch of elbow grease ;)

Tony
 
A name? Funny you ask, we were just talking about that over dinner at a local place. The waitress, thought I should name it after her since she told me to "make something good". I said all my stuff is good. ;) She said yeah, but that is cool, you ahould call it "The Ashley." :rolleyes:

I don't usually name my knives so any suggestions would be appreciated. I was thinking just plain old Gent's Auto would work, but I am open to suggestions.

Thaks again for the great response to "The Ashley" ;)
 
Laredo7mm said:
Thanks again everybody for your replies.

This one is just an auto. It locks in the open and closed position like a lock back folder does, so you have to rotate the bolster to get her closed.

I don't know how D/A's work, but I would like to know. Anybody know and willing to share the info? It would be cool to make this a D/A.

A nail nick is a definite possibilty. I need to start putting them on my non-auto folders, so I could put them on these too. I just need to bust out the $$$ and buy the right dovetail cutter.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
the last D/A I saw, worked from the back spring as a reg slip joint and the auto part was just locked out with a scale release mechanism.

nice going on that Baby :D
 
Ashley is a good name for a beauty. And for your knife, too. The Laredo Special would be good. Hey, about that waitress,............................ ! IG would have given your knife her phone number as a knife serial number so he would not forget it. Sean Special would be neat. Your knife deserves a really good name. Help us out here, folks.
 
Just an update on the prototype. I have been durability testing her and have completed 2500 opening and closing cycles with no problems. She still fires just as strong.

Now I am going to close it for 48 hours, cycle a few times, close for 48 hours, cycle a few times, etc. to check and see if any problems arise from spring fatige or loss of strength (thanks to Chuck for that suggestion).

As far as names go, if I am going to name it after the beauties at the local restaurant, Ashley is definitely a hottie, but Megan is smokin', and Shelly is just drop dead gorgeous. Maybe I should name it the "No MAS" No mas in Spanish means no more, and there is no MAS (Megan Ashley Shelly) in Sean's near future.

For some reason the little 20 to 22 year old hotties don't seem to have much interest in 34 year old balding knife makers. :( :rolleyes: :D
 
Laredo7mm said:
Maybe I should name it the "No MAS" No mas in Spanish means no more, and there is no MAS (Megan Ashley Shelly) in Sean's near future.

For some reason the little 20 to 22 year old hotties don't seem to have much interest in 34 year old balding knife makers. :( :rolleyes: :D
Click to expand...
:D :D You think it's bad now, wait till you're 50 and have a beer gut. :D :D

"No MAS" is great!
 
:D tell Rod stuart <spelling That of couse the money helps some too :)
33 years old I think his girl is that age.. :rolleyes: ;)
 
Sean - would you be willing to try a few tests on your prototype and post the results?


This is what I have in mind:

How strong is the lock at holding the blade in place when open - forward/back as well as twisting motion?

How much effort does it take to "accidentally deploy" the bolster?
(when open and when closed)
 
Dan -

To open or close the knife it takes about 3.5 pounds of force to be applied to the the bolster at the rear most point. The closer to the pivot of the blade/bolster you apply the force, the more force will be required to rotate the bolster (moment/lever law).

As far as testing the force required to close/open the blade without releasing the lock, I don't have any way to test that, plus it would proably ruin the lock bar. But I did do some calculations based on lock depth, lock width, yield strength of the heat treated lock, and assuming a load applied at the very tip of the blade (worst case senario).

From my calculations, it would take 952.5 pounds of force applied to the blade tip to break the lock bar.

Because of the moment law, the force required to break the lock is a linear relationship to where the force is applied. For example, if you place the load half way between the tip and the pivot it will take 1905 pounds to break free. Because of that relationship, if the blade were closed and where you would have to grab it, it would take about 2473 pounds to open it with out unlocking it. All assuming the pivot pin can handle the stress/shear force.

As for the "twisting" of the blade, I did not try to calculate that because of the bevels in the knife reducing the cross section, the blade would probably break before the pivot would.

I hope that answers what you were looking for, let me know.

Edited to correct my math and add some assumptions.
 
Sounds good, Sean. A gripe with some autos I've handled is that the back springs are easy to defeat. I have had this experience with a few - I was using the knife to cut something thick/hard and while pushing down on the handle, the blade bent backwards (hyperextended).

While I do like scale release for cleanliness/simplicity, I'm concerned about lock strength. Plus, seeing so many in the small gent size adds to the concern. Granted, I haven't tested any to failure - just shooting in the dark here. But thinking about how to improve the strength of the scale release led me to a bolster release. Because (as you numerically demonstrated) the forces required are higher - simple leverage.

Your folder is longer/larger than the scale-release-autos I've seen/handled - very promising as a user, IMHO.
 
remember when you have down force or up,, you can warp liners and pop screws.
so at 900 + pounds I think you'd have other failures first.

leverage of pressure apply in those parts too..and would concern me
more than going over 900 pounds at the tip.. just some other thoughts.. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top