TECH QUESTION

[whittlenut]

Some of you pros tell me how do you get the ends of the pins to be invisible on the surface of the bolsters?

[orvet]

File, sand, polish in that order.
You first have to get the pin peened very well before you start the file, sand, polish part.

Personally I like to do most of it by hand & not by machine, just my preference.

Hope it helps,
Dale

[whittlenut]

Thanks orvet. What kind of tools do you use for the peening and how far do you spread the edge/lip? Can a finnishing nail be used for the pin? What grits and in what order do you sand with, and what do you use for the polishing stage?

[remington collector]

A finishing nail?? Goodness no. You need to use nickel silver rods in the exact same diameter as the originial pins. Any good knife making supply company will have them. Kovels is where I got my last batch from. I like to use a peening hammer to flare the end of the pin.

[Hukk]

Some of you pros tell me how do you get the ends of the pins to be invisible on the surface of the bolsters?

I take it you are pinning a bolster.
1. You have to know if your bolster is 416 ss, 303 ss, 410 ss, 360 Brass, 18% nickle silver, or 16% nickle silver and even copper. The pin must be the exact same material as the bolster. The hole must be the same diameter as the pin, +0/-.002, can't be bigger but 2 or 3 thousandths less will be OK.

1. The pins must be the same kind of material as the bolsters.

2. Form or shape the bolsters to your liking before inserting the pins.

3. Make the pins one pin diameter longer than the bolster thickness.

4. Form a small countersink about 1/16" deep in the mouth of each pin hole. I use a carpenters brad point bit held in a hand drill. Use the brad point only. It has about a 30 degree included angle.

5. Place the pins into the holes and hold the back side of the pin you're working on against an anvil surface. Peen all around the head of the pin, forming a mushroom head. Turn the knife over and do the same on the opposite side. Peen a little, turn it over, peen a little until both sides are mushroomed and down against the bolster. Do this with all the pins at the same time.

6. Don't hit straight down until the heads are all mushroomed. If you peen straight down the pin may swell up in the blade shank and lift the bolster. You just want to fill the countersinked areas.

7. Grind the heads of the pins off and see if they are all hidden. They should be invisible.

8. If any circles show around the pin heads, lightly peen the edges of the circle using the ball end of your ball peen hammer. Doing this melds the bolster and pin material together.

Grind again and check for visible pin heads or edges. Repeat as many times as necessary.

[XxBubbaXx]

speaking of pins, how the heck do you get the nails (pins) out of the scales w/o tearing up the scales? man am i ignorant about knives...

[muskrat man]

finishing nails can be used on vintage carbon steel bolstered knives, I have used them with great success, but you first must know for a fact whether it is steel or nickel, pits will usually verify that it is steel. Everyone has pretty much covered everything.

Bubba, there are different ways to remove them depending whether your knife together or apart, if apart you can use a dremel to grind awaythe flared part of the pin from the inside of the liner, if together you can use a dremel to carefully remove the heads, then slide a thin bladed knife under them to slide them off the pins, I use this method for bone, wood or composite you can usually just slide a thin bladed knife betwee nthe handle and liner and get as close to the pin as possible and just pry upward a little, NEVEr use this method for bone, it will bust, believe me I know

[XxBubbaXx]

Thanks!

[whittlenut]

Thanks much guys. What size or type of peening hammer do I need to use?

Another question: I traded an old painters 5-in-1 putty knife for an Imperial "folding hunter" looking thing (lock-back clip blade) about 4.5-5" long closed, hard rubber (or some kind of plastic...no bolsters) black handles, made in Ireland. Seem'd like a decent tool to scratch paint off wall plates with or cut a t-shitrt up for a rag. Only thing wrong with it, had a lot of play in the blade. I figured I could tap on the pins a little and tighten it up. Did'nt work. I took the thing apart and inside the 2 halves of the handles was a hollow place, trapezoid shaped, approx. 1 1/4" long, 1/4" at one end, 3/8" at the other. It served as a "cavity" for a piece of spring steel (1/4" wide x 1 1/8 long x 1/16" thick) to lie in and keep upward pressure on the backbone latch. The cavity was slotted at the narrow end for one end of the spring to mount in and the other end of the spring could move up and down ( like a diving board) in the tall end of the cavity, to keep pressure on the latch/backbone. I couldn't believe my eyes. The spring was not steel, it was PLASTIC. I nearly cussed. WHO would put their name on such a knife... No, not Imperial. A real piece of work. Why would they stoop to such practices. I can't believe they saved a more significant amount of profit by putting plastic springs in these instead of just dropping in a piece of steel the same size. DOES ANYONE ELSE OWN ONE OF THESE? I'm going to try and replace the spring with steel (or a rake tine or coat hanger or somethin... anything but plastic) I need to know what size peen hammer to use for the pins. When I first pry'd the handles apart slightly to see what was going on, the pins slipped right thru the handle material easily so I pulled them on off. I'm going to put new pins in and peen the heads larger than the original. So what size, or type, of peening hammer do I need and what kind of pins can be used for the handles? (The handles are a little ragged and I'll be using this for a work knife so this is not a showcase job)

[orvet]

You might try using a small washer and inlay it into the handle material and then put the pin through the washers and then peen the pin down. That should give you more strength.

Does your knife have a clip blade? If so, it is probably an AP-13. I have a few of them in my collection. I actually bought one for my son about 12 years ago, when he was about 11 years old. He still has it, and has used it quite a bit. I didn't know they had a plastic spring in them.
They seem to have pretty good steel and take a good edge. They seem to hold the edge pretty well too.

Let us know how you come out with the pins.
Dale

[Hukk]

Thanks much guys. What size or type of peening hammer do I need to use?

On that one I have hammers from 4 oz to 20 oz. They are not very expensive and sooner or later you'll find a use for them all.

Depends on what I'm peening. If I'm using some 1/8 416SS pin stock on a bolster of a fixed blade I may whack it good a couple times with a big hammer, BUT, I always shape the bolster first, then prep the hole by running a 30 degree reamer down the hole to about 1/16 inch deep.

On pearl, you can bet I'm using a samller hammer, 4 to 6 oz on those pins or a head spinner. Experiment, play around and go with what feels best to you. That way your work will always be better if are using tools that are comfortable.

[Ringmaster]

I agree Hukk,

I have several - the two that get the most use are an old, old cobbler's hammer, and an ultra-lite chasing hammer. On occasions, I use a brass gunsmith's hammer, as well. I think it's about 4 oz.

I keep the faces polished with green chrome compound, too.

Claw hammers are for nails, not for a knife shop.

Take Care,
JR

[Hukk]

JR brings up a good point, I also keep the hammers and anvil surfaced, especially if I have a large bolster fixed blade. Whatever dings you have in the hammer or anvil in the large bolster case, will transfer directly into a bolster, less so in a pin, but it will be there, Thanks JR.

[orvet]

Good point guys about keeping the hammers & anvil surfaced.
I went out and bought new hammers for my peening hammers and then polished the faces. I had an old one , about 2 oz. that was in good shape and just polished it. The 2 oz. gets more use than one might expect.

Dale