Folding Knives

Slip Joint and Liner Lock, .....they seem like grandfather and grandson to me. I ground both blades from 07.The handle slabs of the locking liner are Indian Almondwood (Terminalia Catappa) and the liners are made from 6Al4V Titanium. The slipjoint sports bronce for the washers and the liners and the wood is unknown. I found the wood about 10 years ago in the jungle and never found any of it again. So there is not so much on stock, which is a shame because it is hard as Ironwood, but with very small pores, it sinks in water and works very easy, I wish I had 100 kgs of it. You guys have a nice weekend. Cheers …

Hey All. I envy you guys in the states - if we want to carry a knife in the UK it has to be under 3" and non-locking. But, it gives me the want to try making one! So this is my first attempt at a slip joint, and it's a 80th birthday present for my Dad. From this; Some of my own damascus (80 layer!) for the blade and spring (old handsaws and 1095), 1.6mm brass liners and stainless pins (with a bushing). To this, with Rosewood scales & Stainless bolts. (another nod to the future owner - My Mum's name is Rose); It's not perfect. I did my best to get the steel flat without a surface grinder, but the liners ended u…

...... to finish this folder which I started out of curiosity. How one of my signature folder models would look like if made from materials that are static, not taking any patina and only can be colored in colors which are completely kitsch....well, that is imho, of course....so I didn't take any efforts to color it....left it all "natural" and white. It has a blade made from inox damascus by the living legend Fritz Schneider, he was the first man on the planet who developed stainless damascus. As time goes by I experienced that curiosity sometimes is not enough to keep the flame burning so I abandoned the project countless times and only worked on it …

Hi everyone, I'm after recommendations from experienced makers, if possible, on what would be the best type of folding knife for my first folder build. Liner lock, friction folder, back lock, etc? I've made not quite a dozen blades, in different styles, since starting blacksmithing and knifemaking but I have yet to try a folder. I have all the basic tools required (forge, anvil, hammer, angle grinder, cheap belt grinder, files, small drill press, hand drill etc). I'm comfortable with the basics of the processes involved and I have a fair bit of theoretical knowledge and understanding to support this but I want to be realistic about a first folder because I know …

Over two decades ago I restored an enormous flick knife from Russia stamp dated 1876 on the ricasso. Very impressive piece it was. I became fascinated with huge navajas, big folders from Afghanistan and somehow I was inspired to do a big folder myself....at least for a while. But after I started working on the knife I absolutely lost confidence....it didn't make sense anymore, the motivation was like a bushfire, burned hot but burned out too fast. You guys maybe can comprehend why...and besides it would nearly be impossible to sell the knife....however I put the already milled and worked Titanium liners away and forgot about it. Until recently I stum…

....using very old stock green canvas micarta....well, it is so dense pigmented that it appears practically black and it misses the white fibers which I never appreciated in recent micarta qualities....if I had more of the stuff I would use more micarta. The blade sports the German Aogami version 1.2419 (105WCr6) and the liners are milled 6Al4V Titanium with separated spring. Spring and clip both made from high carbon spring steel 1.1274 (Ck101) with its own heat treatment. Cheers

I recently forged a straight razor and while it takes the hair off my arm like nobody's business and slices cleanly through paper, it barely cuts off any whiskers, and is more likely to take of the skin. I tried for several hours to get a flat grind on the blade (I don't have power tools to do this), but my first thought is perhaps the blade is a little thick. Looking at examples on YouTube, they all appear to have very hollow grinds (mine is slightly convex near the edge). I had heard that when you sharpen them, you lay the whole blade flat on the stone. I had gotten impatient and raised it up to, say, 20 degrees (I freehanded it). Is the edge likely not acute enoug…

I googled "Disadvantages of slipjoint knives" because there are simply no advantages in slipjoint knives except better than no knife, flint blades or friction folders. I was just curious if something would come up that I don't know yet and the first meets my eye was in " People also ask" -Are slipjoints safe-....that made me grin. But what I didn't knew was that they are around since 1660 and that's a very long time. So it's all about nostalgia and they are practically legal in most countries ....an advantage hidden in the disadvantages Knife laws made the slipjoint rise again at least in Germany.... On this one blade, spring and bolsters…

During my education as a traditional German cutler and blade smith I had to do slip joints.....and I didn't like them at all. There are a lot of do's and don'ts on slipjoints ...from limited using range to the fact that they are very hard to clean.... Also the very small design range when making them....compared to a linerlock they must loose in every aspect. (actually it would be more appropriate to compare linerlocks with backlock knives, but I compared them just under the term of folding knives.).... ....and yes, not to forget: we are not supposed to let them snap back into the handle....a good crisp, long lasting spring has a strong snap and …

im trying to build my first flip knife and trying to figure out all the mechanisms any advice would be appreciated

Here’s a field version of the feathered damascus/elk version I posted earlier. This folding skinner is utilizing .150 80CVR20 steel for the stone washed 4” blade. Liners are titanium, and the scales are canvas micarta.

I've just finished my first friction folder to give to my dad for fathers day from an old file and bed frame steel for the liners. Anyone else making something for fathers day?

I’ve had more time than usual to work on my bladesmithing so decided to get some folders under my belt. My learning experience (with lots of tears) has culminated in my design of this folding skinner. Blade is 3.75” of 1084 15n20 feathered damascus. Liners are titanium, and scales are local elk on bronze. Spine is left open so animal gunk can be cleaned out easily.

I thought I would share my first attempt at a slip-joint. This is pretty much copied from Steve Culver's plans in his book, and was a pretty educational process. Made a few goofs, but this won't be the last one of these I make The blade and spring are made from a remnant of a mosaic bar I made from 1095 and 15N20. The liners are mild steel, the scales are dyed stag, and the bolsters are nickel silver.

So, i am making this folder, and wanted the handle to be "skeletonized" (refer to picture below) the handle is made of some old scrap mild steel, its about a quarter inch thick (i wanted a nice heavy beefy handle so i can actually use it for hammering or whatever odd job im workin on) and i would like to know what the easiest way to cut out those triangles would be, besides a hand file. (Plasma cutter is not an option haha) i have every imaginable file, sander, dremel bit, drill bit, hacksaw and a propane torch, and a bunch of other basic tools to work with.

Here are some of the razors in O2 tool steel. I have tried several types of steel, and imo, for razors, O2 is the best, bar none. Heat treating it is fool proof, and it doesn't ever warp during quench. It has so much manganese that it never fails to harden. It takes a very fine edge, and polishes up nicely. It also behaves well on the hones. I just picked a couple of different designs to give you an idea of some of the things I've made. The scales are almost always kirinite. I love it for scales. It is easy to work, hard enough, takes a nice sheen when buffed, and doesn't release solvent smell when sanding. It also doesn't release such hazardous dust as G10 for example.

This folder with locking liners has a damascus blade with approximately 300 layers of O2 and 75Ni8. 6Al4V liners and the scales are buffalo bone .It has an additional titanium lock and the locking spring is made from high carbon spring steel 1.1274. Blade measures 93 mm and 212 mm overall length, etched in instant coffee. Again another semi industrial made damascus steel from my old friend and colleague Achim Wirtz http://www.lohmann-stahl.de/1/contact/ I expected that the pattern would look like rain drops but it looks more like wall bricks, mignon filets and dwarf heads...I like the pattern a lot. Cheers

Here are three of my recent folders I made the last months. As they come in unetched Wirtz-Damascus with Padouk, O1 with Ceylon ironwood and etched Wirtz-Damascus with Indian almond tree. Liners are springy hard titanium 6Al4V, locking springs are high tempered1095 and the screws are hardened low carbon steel. Cheers

I finally went ahead and sketched up my own slip-joint design. I like the old Fiddle-back or Coke Bottle style knives, so that is the aesthetic I was after. This is the prototype, and mechanically, the action turned out pretty good. I might go for a few thousandths more spring preload in the next one, but not enough to really change the design of the parts. I'm going to reduce the diameter of the pins and move them in a bit on the next one. These are 3/32" pins, and look a bit too large after being peened. I might try 1/16" pins on the next attempt. The blade is 2.5" overall and a two bar twist of crushed W's in 1095 and 15N20. The scales are jigged bone w…

I've been having fun learning how to make these. I'm still pretty much using the design the Culver published in his book, but have been tweaking mechanical bits to get the action to where I want it. This is the 5th attempt, and just about right. The blade is a mix of 1095 and 15N20. The bolsters and pins are nickle silver. This one has a pivot busing made from A2, and the scales are jigged bone. The spring is 1075.

how many bends for this knife to have a good spring., Utilizing piece of metal with same flexibility as the knife came with...

Commissioned lockback folder I just completed: Antiqued finish S35VN blade with blued 80CrV2 spring, bronze frame/thumbstud, and patternwelded side panels. The side panels have little skulls in the pattern, something that took a looooong time to get to work. Let me know what yall think!

Didnt intend for this to be a folder, but I dorked up my billet somewhere along the line & I don't much like wasting metal. So its off in this direction instead. This started out as 1084 powder & 15n20 in a 50mm x 50mm x 75-80mm can. Welded, drawn out, & twisted (where I think I dorked up) by hand. Ground to a quick dirty 240 grit, followed by a 10 minute ish dip. I'm hoping to get about a 25mm wide strip from the middle of my little billet. That should get me past my problem areas. None run very deep. In full disclosure, I've never done a folder before. So I'm sure I'll muddle this up a fair bit. Any and all advice & pointers is greatly …

Translated their meaning directly from English to German, bolsters turn cheeks (Backen). While in English bolsters are word related to pillows, in German they are word related to the face...always interesting to see how the two languages work. This liner locked folder has a blade forged from TNT triple6, detachable steel bolsters, 6Al4V titanium liners, a high tempered clip and locking spring from high carbon spring steel(1.1274) and scales made from buffalo bone.The screws are hardened low carbon steel. Blade measures 83 mm and overall length is 190 mm. Cheers

new blade I am now working on. Koa scales just glued up, bolsters are Mokume Gane made of white brass, yellow brass and red copper, no where near finished yet, I started to use white pearl for the scales, but they cracked so I had to change to this figured Koa. The blade which has not been added yet is of nickel damascus