just bob wrote:That is great Dale! One thing that amazes me is you are able to get such good, round heads on the pins. This isn't easy to do. Have you found a pin spinner to do this with or are you doing this by hand? In a recent issue of Knife World they had an article on a guy making custom knives. He had perfect round pin heads flush with some very expensive micarta. I just wondered how many sets he had ruined and how long it took him to perfect the process. I've been practicing on wood handles and have a long ways to go. Keep up the good work Dale and I'm glad to see your hands are allowing you to get in the shop.
When you look at a knife you may see a couple different rivets on it.
Over the years Camillus used different rivets on different knives. I have some semi-tubular rivets that Wallace Rockwell sent me from the old Camillus factory. I think they used them on a lot of handles. They are round headed rivets with a hollow shaft up about 1/3 the shank. That means when you install the rivet there is less leftover brass to cause the blade to bind. They were quick & easy to install, no spinning & no inside cleanup. I think they were used to pin on the handles to the liner.
When I customize a knife & install a new handle I glue it first, (this seals the back of the handle and keeps moisture from getting in there and causing rot) and then I pin it on. The pins I use are ones I make. I use a length of brass pin stock (brass rod) and clamp it into a drill press vise leaving enough sticking up to make a head, which is about half the diameter of the rod. I put a drop of Ultra Lube gel on the pin and bring the spinner down on the rod. It takes anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds to spin the head. I then flatten the end of the rod on a sander, replace the pin stock in the vise and spin another one.
All the pins I use on a knife are ones I pre-spin a head on one end, including the rocker pin. When I have the knife assembled and I insert the rocker pin I push it through the hole until the head is seated into the handle (I pre-fit the heads to the rocker hole before assembly) and then I cut off the excess pin and spin a head onto the backside of the rocker pin. That is the only pin I typically spin on the knife. There is no need to spin the handle pins in place. It is easier to pre-spin them and then peen over the back and flatten the excess before assembly, than try to spin them on the knife. The same is true of the rocker pin.
I hope this explains why I can get such round pin heads. IMO it is easier, faster and looks better to install the pins with the heads already on them.
