John Wilson's KITH WIP - folder COMPLETE

I have decided to do a slipjoint for my KITH.

Here are some updated pics of the knife I referenced earlier. This will be the type of knife I plan to make.

It is a Don Robinson design he calls the Whittler.
 

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John Wilson said:
Thanks Ted, but especially with slipjoints I’m no Craig Brewer or John Doyle or Calvin Robinson or Don Robinson.... although I cannot express my gratitude enough for Don Robinson’s book “Slipjoints My Way”.

Here is my latest, still a work in progress. It is a Don Robinson “Whittler” design. Blade and spring are AEBL. I made the scales from African Kudu horn.

Still has a bit to go.
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John you had me from the first pic! Boy that is gonna be a beauty!!

Love the update!!! Wohoo!!!
 
Thanks Cliff! I’m really excited about making folders. It’s a real challenge for sure. I am still making mistakes and learning how to fix them.
 
John Wilson said:
Thanks Cliff! I’m really excited about making folders. It’s a real challenge for sure. I am still making mistakes and learning how to fix them.
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John I have always heard that ability in knowing how to fix them so others could never tell it was a mistake, that is the mark of true master craftsman!!
 
I am excited about this folder of yours, John. I am watching your KITH closely.
Is it a form of inclusion in the one scale of the knife?
 
Johan Nel said:
Is it a form of inclusion in the one scale of the knife?
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Yes it is. The horn material I received appears to have been cut from the area of the twist (an assumption on my part), and had a bark like texture with deep recesses in it. Almost all of the recesses were gone by the time I'd sanded the scale to final thickness, but in a few spots the root still remains. Both scales were cut from the exact same piece, and were contiguous prior to being cut. To look at the knife you'd think that two scales were from completely different horn sections, when in reality they were one piece cut down the middle to make a right and left scale.
 
Definite learning experience. I will begin work on the actual KITH knife this weekend and document each stage here in pictures. Once again, I am shamelessly stealing from Don Robinson's book "Slipjoints My Way" so if it goes horribly wrong, please address all grievances to Mr. Robinson! HAHA!
 
And here we go: 2018 KITH folder

Did layout and profile today. I start with the drawing. Rather than do one at a time I like to do multiples for the sake of efficiency. I nest the drawing so that I get three blades and three springs on a piece of steel. I don’t nest them too tightly because I need room to maneuver the bandsaw blade. I also want to leave generous amounts of steel in certain areas. As we all know, it’s a lot easier to take more off later than to put it back on.
 

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I use spray adhesive to put the print on the steel. It is a lot easier to drill holes in a plate than in tiny little pieces, so I drill the holes that I can before I cut them. The pivot pin hole in the blade and the hole in the back spring are key to the rise/fall of the spring.

The hole for the bottom bolster (butt end of the spring) is how you set the spring tension. We will talk about that later.
 

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When we profile the blade and spring, there are critical areas where we want to leave some meat. These areas are critical for the knife’s operation and will be sanded down incrementally as we set the fit and action later.

I marked these areas where I want to steer a wide path during profiling.

These areas are:

- The tip of the back spring. The length of the back spring determines where the tip of the blade will point when the knife is open. If I cut it too short the tip will point upwards too much.

- the kick. This little bump at the ricasso rests against the back spring when the knife is closed. It keeps the cutting edge from contacting the spring and also determines where the tip of the blade will be when closed.

- the back of the spring. this will get ground down to match the liners later.

- the butt of the spring. When the knife is closed we want the butt end of the back spring to fill the gap nicely. More on that later.
 

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DanF said:
Folders (the makers of folders), totally amaze me. Such precision is hard for me to imagine.
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Honestly, it's kind of like going back to the beginning when you were just learning to make knives. Then you get the process down and know how to fix mistakes. With folders it's the same, but in these critical areas if you zip off a couple thousandths too much it's junk. That's why you have to leave some meat here and there. Every hole you drill will be a few thousandths off from the theoretical placement. So you need to account for that by leaving some meat on the part that depends upon that hole placement. It's like any other thing, you get burned a few times and it becomes painfully obvious where you need to leave yourself some cushion.

I'm very far away from being what I would consider proficient, but I'm getting there.
 
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John Wilson said:
Honestly, it's kind of like going back to the beginning when you were just learning to make knives. Then you get the process down and know how to fix mistakes. With folders it's the same, but in these critical areas if you zip off a couple thousands too much it's junk. That's why you have to leave some meat here and there. Every hole you drill will be a few thousands off from the theoretical placement. So you need to account for that by leaving some meat on the part that depends upon that hole placement. It's like any other thing, you get burned a few times and it becomes painfully obvious where you need to leave yourself some cushion.
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VERY well said
 
Well John, I am hoping to make a slipjoint folder in the foreseeable future and this KITH of yours is very helpful indeed. I have tuned in on this KITH as well. Thanks for sharing.
 
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