Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

Getting the all allusive perfect domed pin is my goal... without looking like a two year old put the smackdown on it!:grumpy:
 
I hear ya, Nick Wheeler had a good video on it with a nice jig he made to do them. If you haven't seen it, I'll try to find a link.
 
Nothing spectacular here, just a boring rundown of how I peen pins.

We're using 1/16” Nickel Silver pins on this. I use the same method with any soft metals, Aluminum, Brass, Bronze, etc.

With the holes drilled to 1/16” and the scales epoxied and cured, I make sure the holes line up by sliding a drill bit through them. Before I go further, I shape the handle down to its final shape and finish it to 90% I say 90 because when we’re done with the pins, we'll need to file them down a bit and sand everything out.

I take a tapered drill bit shown in the below picture and very gently taper the hole by hand. I don’t measure it or know what the angle is, I just do it until I can feel it barely start to cut. All we want to do is make room for the end of the pin to be a bit wider than 1/16” when it’s peened. It doesn’t take much to secure the scale. If I had to guess, I would say the taper goes maybe .03” deep. No need to overthink it.

I mark and cut the pin stock about 1/16” proud of the scales on each side. If you leave too much, when you peen it, you can mushroom the top and never even swell the portion that’s in the hole. If you’re sanding them smooth afterwards, the space will rear its ugly head.

A picture of a 1/16” pin in a 1/16” hole slightly tapered with a tapered drill bit that I think I picked up at Ace hardware. The taper should be just a tad bigger than the pin, or in this case, corresponding drill bit. The pin on the left has been peened, I'll file and sand them all at once when I'm done.



A really high speed technical way of measuring the pins and cutting them, I warned you that this would be boring.


Here's a picture that shows about how much wider the pins are than the handle, a little less than the pin width in this case.

More riveting pin peening posts to follow.
 
It might not be the best way or the right way, but it's a way. I'll get the next part up either later tonight or in the morning.

If it's not clear let me know. I'd like to do some good tutorials in the future.
 
The pin is sized and ready to go, mixed up a small amount of epoxy, it's mostly to seal moisture out, the peening will secure the pin tight enough.


Epoxy is mixed, tiny hammer is ready, some alcohol for clean up, tablet and Tigger mug full of coffee. Should be set.


Epoxied the pin and coated the hole from both sides. This is where the alcohol and Qtips come in.
 
Instead of using the anvil, a smoothed out punch that's a bit convex mounted in the vice helps to keep from beating up the handle and let's you position the pin where you want it.


The hammer doesn't get any higher than this while tapping, to start with, maybe 15-20 light taps before flipping it over and repeating. We want to slowly spread the pin by tapping, patience is the key here. If you tap too hard, the end will just mushroom instead of the whole pin spreading out and filling the taper.


After a billion or so light taps (realistically about 500 or so), you should have noticed the pin spreading. At some point you should notice the pin spreading out by eye. With your fingernail, push on each side and see how much play is left. The closer you get, use less taps each side. You'll reach a point where there's less and less play when you push it. When you get to the point that there's very little play, that's when you risk cracking the handle if you don't slow down. I'll go with a couple of light taps at a time and check it. There will be a point where you can't feel the pin move and that's when it's time to stop. These last steps when the pin is close to being snug, I'll angle the handle more,putting the outer edge of the pin on the punch instead of the center and kind of roll it around the edge. Another important thing is to hold the pin lightly against the punch, you want it to float instead of push down. The pin needs to stay centered so it doesn't spread too much on one end.


I'm sure I left something out of this picture, but that's what I use.


Not the most thrilling tutorial, but maybe it will help someone out or give them an idea. Comments and questions welcome as always.
 
John, most excellent!:thumbup:

Rupe, can't rush all that knifey goodness!! I can't imagine the anxiety of waiting, like it was waiting for the Forum knife, but a much more personalized knife to watch getting built!!
 
This is so traditional, I think the knife may need a Bail... ;)
 
lessismore said:
Hey, it was two yesterday!:p.
I never claimed to be efficient, just consistent!:D
Click to expand...

Consistency wins races. :thumbup:

mitch4ging said:
John, most excellent!:thumbup:

Rupe, can't rush all that knifey goodness!! I can't imagine the anxiety of waiting, like it was waiting for the Forum knife, but a much more personalized knife to watch getting built!!
Click to expand...

It's all good. I just keep telling myself that this is nothing compared to the wait time that comes with a Randall order :p.
 
Pins are in, I'll have the handle finished tonight. I think the double row of pins is going to look nice.

For some reason, a cat will always get curious when I take a picture. Burl had to jump in.

I think this handle is going to have some serious cowbell when it's done:thumbup::D
 
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