Christmas 2012 .. an SS-3.0 buttonlock kit.

I intend to document assembly of this kit. It will take some time .. both by design & other demands upon said time.  I'll update as progress occurs ..and.. progress seems painfully slow @ times. 

I hope you enjoy .. and .. are possibly motivated to try something similar.

Dale

Initial assembly was tight & resulted in a working buttonlock folder.

I intend to automate this project. Soooo, machining a spring cavity is required .. for a 3/8 coil spring. The stack height of the specific spring used will define the minimum cavity depth. 

Note: A portion of the spring cavity exists within the frame & bolster. 

I used a diamond tile drill .. cost effective & readily available .. < $13 @ Lowes / Menards.

The spring cavity .. machined to ~ half the required depth.

There exists a small hole (visible in the initial kit of parts pic) for anchoring the spring end .. drilled from the opposite side .. to ~ half the material thickness.

It's presented as a "guide hole" for drilling the final spring anchor hole. 

I use it as a depth gauge when machining the spring cavity. See below ...

The finished spring cavity.

The proper depth has been attained when the anchor hole is intersected. 

NOTE: I referenced some of my notes for the SS-2.0 assembly and recovered this. However, I also discovered early on that using the 0.046" dia anchor hole as a depth gauge allows one to forego the sometimes difficult measurements listed below.

".. w/o further machining .. a barely adequate auto can be had .. simply punch the 0.046” hole the rest of the way through with a carbide drill bit & add a std 3/8 coil spring .. reassemble .. carefully & loosely !!!!

The stack hgt of the spring is the issue .. proper automated functions require additional machining. Specifically, a 0.390” cavity (clearance on a 3/8 coil spring) needs to be machined into the spring side tang of the blade .. to accommodate the full 0.135” stack hgt."

The same is true for the SS-3.0 kit.
 

One of the many assembly / dis-assembly stages .. proofing something.

In this case .. Initial spring implementation &  fit of sear pin lock.

A back spine is being fabricated of black linen micarta.

... tapping the required #2-56 holes in the backspine ...

A matched set of Desert Ironwood scales get a 78 deg angle machined .. instead of the existing 90 from the supplier.

This will be the end mating with the bolster.

The machined edge of the scale was mated against the bolster and the c-clamp loosely tightened.

The frame was slid up~down along the machined edge until the 3 dark growth lines lay within the confines of the frame outline.

Once a uniform tight fit @ the scale / bolster juncture was obtained while simultaneously getting the 3 dark growth lines to lie within the confines of the frame .. the clamp was tightened securely .. in preparation for transferring the hole pattern.

A threaded fastener was implemented in the hole transfer.

Ideally, said threaded fastener would be hardened & posses an accurately centered pointed end .. with which to mark the mating material. 

I cheated .. used a standard #2-56 screw .. tightened until it contacted the wood .. then rotated it back & forth a few times .. obtained a precise circular mark ~ 0.040" in dia .. quite workable.

The frame outline is evident .. as are the hole transfer markings.

Well .. maybe not that evident in the pic .. but actual is ok.

One can perhaps see how I wish the grain to flow with the frame lines ........

Mon 20 Apr 2015

Some final result pics.

Great kit from Knifekits dot com !!!