uh oh..Peening problem.

Tod Lowe

Tod Lowe

Well-Known Member
I drilled a 7/64 hole in my guard and it was supposed to be 3/32.
I cant find any 7/64 ss pin stock. The guard is not big enough to make the hole 1/8.
Is it possible to peen the pin big enough and not have it show?
This sucks. I spent some time on the guard and hate to scrap it for this.:mad:
 
It is possible, but not by any means simple.

how much practice do you have with peening pins?

I would be sure to use a peening block and patience
 
Shankmaker,

I'm no expert but I do peen my pins so I do have a little experience.

I wouldn't see this as a problem at all. Your hole is 1/64 oversize. Thats 1/128 th around the perimeter of the pin.

The expansion you get when upsetting the pin should fill this no problem.

Epoxy or superglue the pin in place. I'd use 2-ton epoxy so you have time to do the peening while the epoxy is not cured.

Upset the pin by hitting it straight on with the flat side of the hammer. You'll want to flip from one side to the other. This should expand the diameter of the pin enough to make it fit your oversized hole.

I'd go lightly at first expanding the pin a little at a time as opposed to giving it a swift heavy handed shot right off the bat.

Once the pin fills the oversized hole it will actually "bulge" out to a larger diameter creating a tiny mushroom of pin on top of your bolster material.

One you have to this point then hit it hard as needed to pull the bolsters tight.

This heavy hitting will flatten the mushroomed tops of the pin. As a final measure switch to the round side of your ball peen and peen the pin material around the perimeter of the HOLE. This is to ensure the pin fills the hole in the bolster completely and doesn't leave a SHADOW.

That's how I would attack this problem. When you think about it... It's really no different than using a tapered reamer to open up the top of the hole. The top of the hole ends up a larger diameter than the pin. You just won't have the added security of a tapered hole.

-Josh
 
Hey Tod,

If that were brass, I'd feel a lot more comfortable peening it that much. Yes you can do it for sure, but as the guys say, be extremely cautious, make sure you have the anvil side on a non slip surface and slow down when you get close or pop goes the scale. Which I'm sure you know. That's if...you are determined to do it.

My self, I'd do like Cliff. I'd put the next size up pin material on my 4x36 bench sander's tool rest...let er spin up and turn it down to fit. Works great. Done it many times with all kinds of stuff. Just use light pressure so it doesn't stop spinning and flat spot it.
 
I ordered some new pin stock this morning.
I think im going to try and thin the 1/8 down to fit the hole. It seems to be the less risky way of fixing this.
Some great ideas have came out of this though from everybody.I appreciate all the responses.2thumbs
 
if you have a drill press you can chuck up the pin stock and use a file to turn it down
 
or chuck a 1/8" pin up in a cordless drill , put a 400 grit belt on the grinder and let the grinder run on slow , use the slack belt area and voila' poor mans lathe ;)
 
John T Wylie Jr. said:
or chuck a 1/8" pin up in a cordless drill , put a 400 grit belt on the grinder and let the grinder run on slow , use the slack belt area and voila' poor mans lathe ;)
Click to expand...



This works, but be aware that you will almost always get a tapered pin, which isn't the end of the world, but a micrometer and frequent checking will make your life much easier
 
Stephan,

I wanted to ask you a newb question. What is a peening block ?

I've been using the top of my vise jaws to peen on. Probably not ideal but it gets the job done.

Thanks, Josh
 
John T Wylie Jr. said:
or chuck a 1/8" pin up in a cordless drill , put a 400 grit belt on the grinder and let the grinder run on slow , use the slack belt area and voila' poor mans lathe ;)
Click to expand...
What JTW said is the way to do it. It only takes a few seconds to remove that little bit and with everything spinning it keeps it round.

Edit, be careful to keep it square on the belt or it will taper the pin.
 
Josh Dabney said:
Stephan,

I wanted to ask you a newb question. What is a peening block ?

I've been using the top of my vise jaws to peen on. Probably not ideal but it gets the job done.

Thanks, Josh
Click to expand...

a peining block is a block of steel usually 5 lb or so, with concave depressions in one side of various diameters to accept the end of the pin while peining.

typically used to form a nice head on the finished rivet, we don't really care about that since it will be ground flush

the benefit is more in trying to keep stress off of the handle scales during the peining.
 
Got it peined today! Thanks for the tips. I chucked up some 1/8 and an it across the belt to turn it down. Worked like a charm.
I should have the knife finished tomorrow and will post a pic.
Thanks again.
 
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