This is what I think KZread at its finest is all about. Sharing knowledge. I wish I had some to give on this topic but I don't. I just really love watching people who love what they do share. Thanks you so much for all you do and will do!! Subbed for sure! Thanks again.

While I don't make folders I wouldn't miss this for the world. Good luck cause we all are pullin' for ya.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the support!

For positioning the holes on the blade. You could do it this way (just an idea) -profile the blade and make the pivot hole. -profile the handle with pivot hole and with an undersized hole for the stop pin -assemble the knife with a pivot. Turn the blade to the position you want it to stop when it is opened and clamp it together -drill through the undersized hole. -assemble the knife with the blade where you want it to be in the closed position. clamp it, and drill again. -disassamble, and drill+ream all holes to the proper size. -after this you can mill out the path for the stop pin . This way, you can be sure, that the closed and opened position follows your design accuratley .

Thanks for all these videos, you do a great job of explaining how and what you're doing 👍

Great Stuff Mike - Thanks for sharing this with us!

My friend your blades are awesome. I keep coming back to this series. Best on YT

Love the idea with the locating pin on the mill ...nice one

Sure wish Mike was back in business. His videos are the best on KZread.

i was only thinking last night that i might try make my first folder soon. grate timing grate video as always.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

No time like the present!! Thanks for watching!

Yesssss! Love the video keep them coming!

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks brother!

Great vid Mike. Very helpful. Look forward to seeing after the etch ;)

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

That makes two of us! This is my first time trying out damascus of any type

Since you have the DRO, you could drill all 3 holes on the rotary table by finding the coordinates of the 3 holes. This would save some time. I don't know how to quickly explain it. Basically, find the center of the rotary table, Zero the DRO, put the stock on the rotary table, drill the pivot hole, use a dial indicator to make sure the stock is aligned in one axis, then travel to the 2 "end" hole locations via DRO coordinates, and drill those holes. Then switch to an endmill and crank the rotary table to machine the slot. I hope that makes sense. I enjoyed the video! :)

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

That's a great idea and would definitely eliminate some time and variability. Thanks for the tip!

@hellawellknives

6 жыл бұрын

Tried making a stop pin track with no DRO, I just bought a DRO and am going to try this.

Great video, I'm curious how you get a curved titanium handle flattened.

I would save the dama steel for when your start to get better at making the folders. But that is just me. Great video and the best of luck.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same but I figure its time to go all in on this project and make it work! If it fails, sure it will hurt but material can always be replaced along with the lessons I learn from trying.

Damasteel looks great

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I sure hope to make it far enough to etch it and see that beautiful pattern!

I just subscribed to your channel. Awesome! Do you have a set of plans for the knife you're making? If so how much are they selling for?

Mike, thanks for making these videos. Great stuff. I recommend checking out the KZread channel Tom's Techniques for some milling tips. You are running that small end mill way too slow. It should be turning closer to 2.2k. Not sharpshooting, just trying to help. Thanks again.

Hey, could I ask a favor. When you go through the process of making your folders could you possibly make a list of the various tools, measuring devices, etc., that you use. I've got an Grizzly Mill the same model that you have. I know Phase II makes your rotary table but what size are you using, the 10" one ? A few of my friends recommended that I start learning and using Fusion 360 to design everything that way you also go from CAD to CAM and like you and ultimately I want to do get into an CNC milling machine. I'm slowly getting my shop built up but ultimately want to buy a Tormach and start from there and build up.

I have an idea that might improve the concentricity of the slot and the pivot hole. It's similar to what *Wide Vision Metal Fab* suggested earlier... Basically, you're shooting for concentricity, right? That's the most important thing? That being the case, it seems like it would be a good idea to do everything on the rotary table. Quick disclaimer: these are just some ideas I came up with while watching your vid. I haven't done ANY manual machining what-so-ever so I can only hope that this will be helpful... 1. Step one would be to center the rotary table and fixture/spoilplate on the mill. 2. Punch the center of the pivot hole using the optical center punch. 3. Use the pointed ground rod to align the punch mark in the blade with the center of rotation of the rotary table. You may want to make the point a little sharper. OK, now the good stuff... 4. Drill a hole in the center of the pivot hole, but don't use as large of a bit as you're currently using. As you may know, drilled holes are neither round nor accurately positioned. Although I haven't tested this myself, I think I've heard that a drilled hole might be off a thousandth or two just because of the nature of the shape of the tool. The method I'm proposing doesn't require an accurately-positioned hole, so don't worry about it if you try what I'm suggesting... 5. Now drill the two holes at the ends of the slot. The size and positions of these holes aren't critical, but punching them first probably wouldn't hurt. Now, remove all the material you want, accurately, using an end mill... 6. With the blank still fixed to the rotary table, put in an end mill. I'd recommend a .125 end mill instead of that .140. 7. Re-center the rotary table with the spindle using the DRO. Oddly enough, it still won't be critical that you're PERFECTLY centered, but you probably don't want to be too far off. Being that the pivot hole is going to be reamed to 0.1875, you'll want to make the pre-reamed hole ~0.1838". Let's call that 0.184" in diameter or a radius of 0.092". If you're using an end mill with a radius of 0.0625", you'll need to move the table 0.0295" to put the cutting edge of the end mill at the edge of the final pre-reamed hole size that you're shooting for. I'd probably shoot to do that in two passes... 8. Move the table to Y0.015 and widen the pivot hole by milling. You'll be spinning the rotary table around a full 360º here. This step should leave you with a nice *round* hole that is also accurately positioned. (edit: it'll also be nice a perpendicular!) Unfortunately the diameter of the hole won't be incredibly accurate, but thankfully that doesn't particularly matter. It'll be roughly 0.155" in diameter at this point. Depending on the accuracy of the initial drilled hole, it's possible this first milling pass will remove slightly more material from one side of the drilled hole than the other. 9. Move the table to Y0.0295" and widen the hole again. This time the final diameter should be close to 0.184". Since you did a roughing pass, this pass with the mill should have removed a very uniform amount of material so the resulting hold should be very round and very accurately positioned. A nearly perfect pre-ream hole. I'm not sure how exactly you'll mill out the slot. Since I haven't done manual milling myself I can only speculate that you'll want to move the table to Y0.3125" and rough out the slot, just like you did in the video. Of course, the slot will only be 0.125" wide, not 0.140" like you want, so you'll then have to move the table out to 0.320 to mill out the outside of the slot and then move the table in to 0.305 to mill the inside of the slot. Rounding the ends of the slot might be best left up to the 0.140" mill. OR, maybe you could rough the slot with the 1/8" mill, switch it out for the 0.140" mill and finish the whole thing... Yeah, that might be the best route to take. I'm sure you've seen the "That Lazy Machinist" videos, but in case you haven't, or maybe just haven't seen his four-part lesson on the drill press, I'll link to it in a reply to this comment. (I'm going to link in a separate comment because it seems that KZread likes to declare all links as "spam" and messages filtered as spam are easy to miss... The part that blew my mind, and was the inspiration for my suggestions above, is at 33:33 in lesson three. He talks about drilling a hole (to remove the bulk of the material quickly), boring it (to position the hole accurately), and then reaming (to achieve the desired roundness and final dimension).

@Hirudin

8 жыл бұрын

Oh, one more thing I forgot, at some point you'll obviously want to ream the pivot hole. I guess the best time to do this would be while it's still fixed in the rotary table. Of course, if you ream the hole in the same fixture that you used to mill everything, you'll end up simultaneously reaming the fixture. Doing this too many times might distort the center hole in the fixture and make it useless for accurately centering the rotary table. The only/best solution I can come up with for this problem is to pre-expand the center hole in the fixture to something like 1/4". That way it can still be used for centering the fixture and it won't get messed up when you make knife blanks with it. Then use a 1/4" pointed ground rod to do the centering in step 1.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I've read through your comment here a few times and I must say I like the perspective you have on this. You must come from a machinist background of some sort...something I certainly struggle with. Ideally I would do everything with end mills on the rotary table to achieve the ultimate goal here of a perfect arc with an accurate start and stop location in relation to a pivot hole which is perfectly sized to .1875. I agree the number 13 drill I'm using is too large and doesn't leave enough room for the reamer to do its job. I've even gone as far as ordering barrel laps to polish my way to the desired .1875. I have so much to learn and this comment definitely has me thinking of smarter and more accurate methods! Thank you very much! Oh and I'm a big fan of that lazy machinist! I learned how to properly surface grind from his videos. I wish he never retired!

@Hirudin

8 жыл бұрын

You're welcome, glad to be able to pass along some ideas!

Hey Mike, I'm in the design stage of making a frame lock knife handle for myself and I have a few questions. I'm actually not planning on making the blade, I am going to try to use one I already have. I have access to precision manual machines (and possibly a CNC mill in the future) and electronic measurement tools which should in theory at least allow me to design the handle around the blade without any mistakes as a result of not having the blade blueprint. Ok, back to my questions. Obviously, in order for a frame lock to work the lock has to be bent to hit the lock face of the blade but still have spring so that the lock can be pushed back to allow the blade to close. How do you accomplish this? Do you simply bend the lock into position, or do you use some combination of heat and bending? Also, I can't use titanium because of its price and the fact that the chips are flammable. Can you recommend any substitute materials? (Preferably something that does not rust and is reasonably machinable.) I'm thinking of using some form of stainless, but I'm not sure which. Thanks for your time, and I really appreciate the help as I am completely new to this.

Hey Mike when you comming out with the #3 how to make a frame lock vid

Hey Mike, awesome work. Love seeing the progression in your knife making skills. Just wanted to say thank you so much for mentioning knife maker Eric Luther in one of your older vids. With out you mentioning him I would not have ever known he was out there. He is now a friend and I will be a life long customer. Thank you so much. Get one of your frame locks done and I will pick one up from you as well. Once again thank you so much and keep up the great work!

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Eric is a great guy and definitely earned every bit of it! It makes my day to know that a great guy like you and a deserving guy like Eric could form that excellent relationship! Thank you very much for the support! With a little luck, I'll make a framelock I'm happy with releasing to the public by the end of the series!

@BigThumpr1

8 жыл бұрын

+EKIM1428 thanks so much. And you will get it down. Keep up the hard work bro. Can't wait to see your end results.

man I think I'm getting in over my head. getting a lil intimidated. I just got a shop task and few other things. I still need a grinder and couple lil things like dro n stuff then I'm jumping in head first. thanks a ton for the vids. between you and Walter sorrels I might have a shot at actually making a usable knife.

@shaunm2208

7 жыл бұрын

Me too... Fixed blades for me

what kind of software did you make your templates on? I have a lot of designs in cad but idk how to print them out like how you had yours.

Keep it comong, this is greet. Keep it up. O, and could you show us how YOU drill out your folder track, I'm interested...

hey Mike what do you use for templates and glue and where u get it

Mike, when I dial in a number on the DRO I always stop about .002 under and then when I lock down the table it moves right to the number I want.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I'm new to the whole dro thing and I've been noticing that as well. I'm going to start doing that so I don't have to fiddle with it as much. Thanks for the tip!

What software do you use to make the blueprints?

Hi Mike,how did you find the .3175?

Mike your PG 3/16 steel rod from MC looks to be pointed i went to order several sizes that would be helpful but the one's i ordered are not pointed did you grind yours to a point ?? thanks, Oh also the lathe live center you show please list the supplier

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I did grind mine to a point I just checked it up in a drill and ran it on the grinder for a few seconds. I got that lathe center from Enco for about $15 or so www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=251-3042&PMPXNO=943712&PARTPG=INLMK32 I cut the base off of it so it would fit in the table without bottoming out. You'll see what I mean when you get it

Could you make a framelock frame for an existing blade.

What brand is your countertop bandsaw?

👍👍👍

I am not that experienced with steel but I do a lot of wood work. I would have milled that stop pin track on a piece of cheaper steel first, just to test the set up.

nice work. you guys need to move to the metric system. its so much easier with millimeters!

Hey dude. What are you using for sandpaper after heat treat for your hand rub? I've been doing all my hand rubbing after heat treat, but I started polishing up to 500 before heat treat and started using anti scale compound. It's made my life a little easier.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I typically go up in this order 120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 I stop at around 600 or 800. I always start with a more aggressive grit than necessary to remove any scratches I couldn't see. For example if the blade has a 400 grit grinder finish, I still start hand sanding with 120. Your roughest grit is the most important so when you think you're done, sand for another 10 minutes to be sure lol

@paintballnsk

8 жыл бұрын

Sorry I should have specified. What brands do you like to use for hand polishing?

@paintballnsk

8 жыл бұрын

Ya I have to be careful at the lower grits too. You can't be too aggressive with them or they'll scratch the blade worse than the belt haha.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

rhynowet is my go to brand. i get it from supergrit and I've heard black ice is really good as well but I haven't tried it yet.

@paintballnsk

8 жыл бұрын

I'm also starting to experiment more with filing for finishing. I'm using 1x4inch diamond sharpening stones at a known grit. It keeps your grind lines super crispy.

What kind of milling machine is that?

Have you tried assembling the knife and drilling through the stop pin hole in your frame to establish your open and closed positions in your blade. It works perfectly for me, but it won't work if you're wanting to hide the stop pin holes in the frame.

@schmidtforge1946

7 жыл бұрын

do you HAVE TO have the pin track? sugar Creek forge didn't use any that why I'm asking

@kodyeutsler1234

7 жыл бұрын

+THE Justin Schmidt There's several methods of doing the stop pin. The internal stop pin track tends to be the easiest to incorporate into a design in my opinion.

@schmidtforge1946

7 жыл бұрын

thanks for the reply man. I don't have a milling machine that's why I'm asking. so if you have the stop pin track down you still need the detent ball? I'm just trying to figure out the inner workings of all this.

Great Video man. I just started out with making knifes and right now i only try me on fix blades. But i want to try out to build an folder anywhen, not sure when. But my question now is, if it is possible to build an folder with a medium quality drillpress. Because i don't have the space and the money right now for a milling mashine, i thought about an outside stoping pin because it is way easyer i think. My biggest Problem is that the drillpress don't run perfectly "straight" (longer drillbits wobble a little bit but the holes are in a 90° angle) with shorter drillbits i can minimize that. But i also don't have any precision mill(bits?) so my question is if i can make a good pivotfit with a medium quality drillpress. I thought that it maybe work to drill a very little bit smaller than the pivot pin (maybe 1/10 of a mm) and than grind the pivot pin a little thiner. Should i try it anywhen this way or is it hopeless that way? Maybe someone can help me with that. (I'm from germany and my english is way far from perfect so if you can't understand some sentences, please ask.)👍

@kadensundquist8867

8 жыл бұрын

i haven't attempted to make a folder, so this might be useless but if you use the shorter bit, I think it would work. just make sure you don't put too much force or torque on your drill press

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Your best bet is to design your knife around the equipment you have so an external stop pin is a good start. Milling the stop pin track on a drill press can be difficult and very hard on the drill press. They just aren't made for that kind of lateral force. As for drilling precise holes, it can be done. Like you mentioned, drill undersized and ream to the correct size with a chucking reamer.

@MPablo-ct5ut

8 жыл бұрын

Was du auch mal testen könntest, wenn du nur ne standbohrmaschine hast ist: dem gewünschten schlitz entlang mehrere löcher bohren (am besten etwas kleinerer durchmesser als am ende gewünscht) danach die gebohrten löcher ausfeilen auf die gewünschten maße. ist zwar ne menge arbeit, aber vllt ein besserers ergebnis. Einfach mal ne testklinge anfertigen, mit jedem projekt lernt man! auch ich mache noch oft fehler, die aber beim nächsten messer natürlich nicht geamcht werden ;) For the english speaking readers: What you can try, too, is just drill a bunch of holes along your desired line, then use a file and get to work, you can make it a little smaller with smaller drillbits and work your way up there. it is much more work but should be possible. just play around and you will learn something new with every project you do. cheers Magnus

@semjonborzutzki9907

8 жыл бұрын

Magnus Pablo ich hatte überlegt ob ich den stopping track sonst, wie du sagtest vorbohre und dann mit einem Fräswerkzeug ausfräst, indem man sich in eine Vorrichtung zwei Löcher im benötigten abstand bohrt. Mit dem ersten Loch zentriert man dann die Vorrichtung und in dem befestigt man dann die Klinge mit einem Pivotpin. Dann sollte der Stoppingtrack überall mit dem Fräser übereinstimmen (wenn man präzise gebohrt hat). Aber für die ersten Versuche werde ich es wohl erstmal mit nem externen Stoppingpin versuchen. Kurze Frage noch: sehe ich es richtig, dass bei nem externen Stoppingpin der Pin auch den "unteren anschlag", also den eingeklapten Zustand festlegt?

@semjonborzutzki9907

8 жыл бұрын

For english readers: I thought about a jig with two holes to drill a bunch of holes along the stoppingtrack. The first hole is to center the jig at the stoppingtrack place and the second hole is to hold the blade with a pivot in place. Then i first drill holes along the stoppingtrack and then use a millingtool to will it out slowly with rotating the blade around the pivot. But for my first trys i will use a external Stoppingpin. My only question is, does the external pin determine the "foldet stop" (detend?) ?

What company do you send your blades to for heat treating?

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I send them all to Peters' heat treating in Meadville PA

What kind of mill is that?

Hello, this knife is too beautiful! Can you give me a drawing?

@shaunm2208

5 жыл бұрын

love this ...just cant see you knives made in China bud.... but Thailand hahaha

I wouldn't mill the full width in that channel on the rotary table. You won't be able to hold as tight to your tolerances because the chips won't have anywhere to go. I'd go undersize then finishing pass to clean everything up.

FYI I have the same Grizzly Mill Vice and I can not find any company that has Aluminum Soft Jaws for that vice MonsterJaws Does not make them for our Vice.any suggestions. I need at least 6 sets for doing different operations in My Bead Making Process.

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

I haven't looked for soft jaws yet but If I come across some that fit I'll let you know.

@brianmadsen9687

7 жыл бұрын

Gary Demarco you have a mill. Get some aluminum and make your own!

Hello the name may be misleading but I just started making knives (I have no videos) I made a fixed tanto out of a lawnmower blade (a pain and a bit of a mistake but it was a first attempt) and it actually didn't look like Crap for a first attempt I recently ordered some 1095 and handle materials (I already had the tools) I'd would like to say thanks because you helped convince me to start, I would also like to point out I am a 13 year old ADD Kid who always has to be doing something so this is something more constructive and fun than videos games or tv, my family loves this being mainly active or retired military or just generally knife friendly people, so thanks sorry for the long comment I just thought you would like to know (Also sorry for bad grammar and parentheses).

@EkimKnives

8 жыл бұрын

Comments like these are by far some of my favorites! If you keep up this mentality and the hard work doing something you enjoy at this early age you will definitely make it real far in knife making. Remember its only 20% skill...the other 80% is a refusal to quit and hard work! It sounds like you have what it takes! The best part about this comment is at 13 years old I was that same add kid trying to make throwing stars in the back yard from an old aeration rake and a bench grinder LOL. You're already ahead of me!

what is the name of your mill

I need the template bro!

great video. big like. can you sent me a drawing? thanks

what make an model is our dro

RIP Mike. sad

@odmods

4 жыл бұрын

Passed away ? 😳

What I meant to say is, when I do not have an End mill,.

Hi my name is albin andersson and I have made some knifes and I want to sell a folding knife and don't know how to do it so if you want give me a template white the knife I should be happu

you have a rotary table, why do you play around with hand holding and blocks on top of Parallels in a cheap vice? do all the work on the rotary table in one set up? then you know everything is true.

too much acces talking this is very bad habit