Friction folder, code name DAG.

[Self Made Knives]

I made a liner lock early on, but I really made it a little too big, put some pretty big copper bolsters on it (heavy), and didn't put a pocket clip on it. That last one was the kicker, I'm pretty much hooked on having a pocket clip. So, that first folder has been relegated to a spot in the Self Made Museum.

I've been intrigued by friction folders ever since I saw Tim from Sugar Creek Forge put out some how to videos a couple years ago, heck maybe longer. Justin had made one last year that looked great, but I think he wasn't too crazy about carrying it in his pocket. Seems like he said it would want to come open.

So, mine will be right hand carry with a pocket clip and tip up. It should not be able to come open in your pocket. Alabama Damascus, copper liners, and some wood scales. I challenged my Facebook friends to guess what the wood is, see if you can guess. If you already know from FB, don't spill the beans.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Cut out the scales and blade on the bandsaw, profiled on the grinder. Nothing too interesting there, so no pics of that. Over at the mill, started drilling the pivot, stop, and screw holes.


I've got a little aluminum plate that I used on my first folder that I use like a little fixture. I drilled the pivot and stop pin holes into the plate, but not all the way through. SS pin stock act as dowel pins. This keeps my parts put and locked together in subsequent tasks. There scales were kept glued together until all the holes were drilled.



I'm not sure you even need to use a reamer on the pivot of a friction folder, but I did. I reamed the liners too, I like things to fit nicely, so it made me feel better.



With a round file, started tweaking the stops. Not hard, but takes a while. File, test, file, test, file, test......



Starting to feel like a knife when you get it to fold up the first time! That's as far as I got tonight, I'm posting this real time, so hope I don't screw up!

 

[Justin Presson]

Looks like a good design. I did not like carrying mine in my pocket the tang was awkward and would poke you so you did the smart thing putting the pocket clip on. I don't carry a knife without a clip.

 

[BrandantR]

Looking good, Anthony! Those copper liners are going to compliment the wood scales real nicely. I got curious and had to look up what the wood was on Facebook. I admit that I guessed wrong. It will be fun to watch this knife come together.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Here's the results of my "me" time tonight.



Held it all together with a "custom" nut and the spacer loosely inside. I don't draw out a design with a specific radius to the curves, just what looks good. Then, I grind it to the radius of my wheels. Lazy? Maybe a little.



Back to my little fixture, pin it in again and position the back spacer. I spot the hole with the clearance bit, then remove it. Drill and tap for 2-56, put a screw in, then repeat, one hole at a time. Everything stayed where it was supposed to. Wasn't in the plan, but I was tempted to leave that tab sticking out as an external lanyard hole.



Nice smooth backside.

 

[Justin Presson]

Looking good Anthony.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Moving along. Worked on scales and blade a little.



I like using a pattern cutout to move around on my scale material to find the best grain. Or, in this case, to avoid defects.



Since I don't have a Bruce Bump file guide yet, I use my fancy parallel line duplicator. And, since I don't have a digital carbide height scribe and surface plate, I used my fancy twisted titanium nitride coated centerline finder.



Rough grinds on the blade. Kind of nerve wracking grinding on Damascus, cost a little more than the carbon steels I've been using. That's as far as I got today, need to do a bunch of sanding on the interior surfaces of the backspacer and blade before heat treat.

 

[wall e]

Is moving right along brother, looking good man. Glad its a good day for you atleast.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Thanks Justin and Walt for comments. I do have a question that I'd like some opinions on. Would there be any problem with epoxying the scales onto the liners? I can't really see an advantage to leaving them loose, but sure would be easier to shape and drill if they were just glued on. Any of you guys ever glue the scales onto the liners of your folders?

 

[BrandantR]

It's looking awesome, Anthony. I don't think using epoxy between the scales and liner would be a problem. I wouldn't, however, rely on the epoxy alone to keep things together. I'd add a couple pins or screws to be sure that they stay in place indefinitely. I'm having fun following along with your build. Keep up the good work.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Yeah Brandant, it'll all be screwed together, I was just thinking it would be easier to transfer the holes and shape if it was glued together.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Got a little shop time today, not much, but moving forward.



I usually grind up to 120 grit pre-treat, then hand sand with 150 grit to highlight how crappy my grinding was, fun times! The first folder I made, I didn't really think about the way it looked on the inside. The back spacer was rough, the radius on the blade tang was rough, etc.



I've added a swedge to a couple knives lately, and I like the way it looks, so I added a little one, kind of hard to see.



I like a choil or sharpening notch on my knives. Until today, they've always been round. But I keep thinking a friction folder is kind of an old timey knife mechanism, and when I think old timey and choil, I think triangle. Don't know if that's right wrong, but I thought it, so I did it.



edit: I just noticed some of the captions on the pics are goofed! In case your wondering why all the captions, I've been sharing progress on a Facebook group too, but no write up there, just pics.

 

[Self Made Knives]

continued...



Blade is sanded flat, all the missed 36 grit scratches are gone. It amazing how they are still in there, but you can't tell until you hand sand a little. I like using anti-scale on carbon steels, I've had good luck with it.



Trying to decide the best way to make a pocket clip. My stock is only 1/8" thick and I don't want to fold it over. I want it to look like it was made from a 1/4" piece, then shaped down to a clip. I also don't want screws showing on it. I'm planning to have two screws go through the back two holes of the knife, all the way through in to the backside of the clip. I can't exactly tap threads in 1/8" thick and do any rounding on it, too thin.



I'm thinking about silver soldering the threaded riser block underneath. I might dremel out a little pocket between the screws for the solder to fill in. Opinions? Advice? Still not sure what I'm going to do here.

 

[wall e]

Anthony, why not use a welder and tack or small weld the two pieces together? May be the metal fab talking but am thinking silver solder will not penetrate deep enough to bond the two pieces as strongly as needed for the stress a clip will be exposed too. I could be wrong but am givingy two cent opine. You could also braze it with brass brazing rod and give it a vintage look too. It comes down to what you want to do. Just my suggestions. looking good either way.

 

[Tim Peterson]

Nice looking design!

 

[Self Made Knives]

Yeah Walt, last night I made a mock up of the clip out of O1 to test the silver solder idea. I used two different sized dremel balls to make an interior dovetail pocket in both pieces. But, I can't keep the silver solder out of the screw threads. I was afraid if I left the screws in, I would be able to get them out again. I don't trust it either. Sooooo, back to your suggestion of welding. That was my first idea, but all I have is a 200 amp MIG welder and oxy/acet. I could try a plug weld from the back, but it would be a really small hole with a really big welder. Don't want to braze it because I don't the brass color showing. I had thought the silver solder would just appear as another nickel band in the Damascus. My brother in law has a TIG, I might go see him this weekend and try that.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Like Thomas Edison, now I know 2 ways to not make a pocket clip.



So, I made a test clip out of O1. Using 2 different size dremel bits, made a little dovetail pocket in each piece. I went to the welding shop to get some hard silver solder, but it was $60 for a little tube! Grabbed some of the cheap stuff, but after thinking about it for a while, I don't think this will work. On to idea #2.



So, I thought about a little plug weld to attach the threaded riser. Drilled a hole and oblong'd it a little with a needle file.



The hole was too small I guess. The arc started in the bottom of the hole for sec then jumped sideways right into the screw threads. RUINED! I took the ruined piece and just fuse welded it together on one edge. Tomorrow, I'm going to sand it down, etch it, and see how it looks. Thinking maybe if I just fuse weld the two together, around the seam, it'll be easier to weld. Just not sure how it will look when it's etched.

 

[BrandantR]

Sorry things aren't working out so well for you, Anthony. Keep at it and you'll get it.

Here's a thought for you. Have you considered using a couple of blind pins to hold the two pieces together? The wholes through the bottom piece would go all the way through and the ones into the clip would stop short of coming out the front side. With a small round bit on a rotary tool, enlarge the bottom of the whole in the clip slightly to create a dovetail much like you did in your second photo. I would also use a tapered reamer on the bottom piece or even just chamfer the back side a little to help lock in the pin. Then, just take a piece of pin stock and peen away. It's a strong mechanical bond that should hold for you. Just something to think about. Good luck in whatever you try.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Yeah, Brandant, I made another test piece with a blind dovetail pin peened into it. I joined a piece of stainless and a piece of mild steel together that way with brass pin stock. It seemed really solid with two pins in it, but I the clip is so small I would have to use tiny pins to squeeze two screws and two pins together within about a 1/4" square. All this tinkering is more of an experiment to see if I could make a thicker clip out the thinner Damascus and have it mounted from underneath. I don't want to fold it over and I don't want it to be shaped by just bending. Going for a smooth, molded look. The sane thing to do is just have screws showing! I haven't given up yet.

 

[wall e]

Why not weld then drill an tap? Seems a bit out order but is not a normal process. Lol