Knifemaking Tuesdays Week 36 - setting detent, lockup, finishing Media

This week we got several steps closer to finishing this batch of knives. Starting with engraving serial numbers on each and every one, then I moved on to showing how I drill the hole for the detent ball into the blade. The detent hole has to be in the exact right position and tuned properly for the knife to flip out strong and fast every time, so I have come up with a way to fine tune the hole position using the accuracy of my Tormach. You get to see some of the knives coming apart and going together a dozen times, there is a LOT of test fitting involved in making such a high end knife. Next up I have to modify all the Alpha Knife Supply pivot pins that I use, the head is way too tall for my liking, so each one gets shortened and turned down to a nice low profile dome. Starting at 34:45 I'm using my Tormach mill set up as a lathe, so instead of holding a tool in the spindle it holds the workpiece and moves it into some turning tools that I have clamped into my vise. This is a pretty cool operation, it takes a lot of setup and tweaking to get it right, but after that it's very repeatable. After machining I show how I sand off the pip and scotchbrite the head of the pin to make it super smooth and shiny, this worked amazingly well. It turns out that the pins heat anodize very well too, low heat makes a really wicked bronze color and I think that higher heat will produce a blue/purple/blurple color. Erik tells us how he sands some of the blades down to a really nice handrubbed finish, going through a few grits and finishing with the scotchbrite wheel. The last thing I work on in this video is getting all the knives to lock up properly. All the lock tangs on the blades were cut last week, so this week I just had to mill a tiny bit off the end of the lockbar until it locks up perfectly. It took LOTS of test fitting. Then I carbidized the lockface to make it last a lot longer and not be so sticky. I've still got a few things to work out, but the knives are SO close!

Next week we just have to finish getting them all to lock up, finish sanding and cleaning everything, anodize, and sharpen. YAY!

Thank you all for your continued support!
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