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Friction Folder .. a Work in Progress.

Since the Friction Folder group opened .. I've been reminded of how much I appreciate their simplicity & functionality. I even prototyped one last week. Didn't document much of it though. So .. decided to do another & post the process here .. in hopes it spurs another to try the same.

This is the one I prototyped last week. Used a Buck smidgen clone as the parent blade.

The laminated wood of the cigar box lid I used is clearly evident in this pic. It was easy to work with (relatively soft) and strong at the same time (plywood).

This time I'm documenting the process .. and this was the beginning.

I am again using a buck smidgen clone as the parent knife. It's been drilled & blanking process started .. by sawing roughly in half. The drills I used are carbide drills used for glass & tile. Available @ Menard's .. Harbor freight .. etc. Drill @ low RPM's & use a cutting fluid.

I've some local Osage Orange for scale material. Should look pretty good.

I made 3 sets of scales during the prototyping. Set # 2 is being implemented as a pattern. I've transferred that pattern to the Osage Orange plank.

The scales have been blanked & the pivot hole drilled. The blade has had some further blanking also.

Also .. the leftover material from the parent blade is just the right thickness to serve as the spacer in the friction folder. I'm going to anneal it first though .. to facilitate drilling with standard HSS drill bits.

I believe I may end up with something not only functional ..but.. pretty too.

.... NOTE: The progress pics for between the last step & the next step are in the comments below. ....

I have the pivot pin epoxied in place. I saved some of the sawdust from processing the osage orange .. with the intent of dyeing the epoxy.

I processed the sawdust through successively finer screens until I had a dust akin to Ritz dye powder. I then mixed that into both parts of the two part epoxy. What resulted was a dark brown.

This epoxy needs to cure before I sand anything.

After the epoxy cured .. did some sanding.

I put a brass pin inside an aluminum tube inside a copper tube inside a brass tube for the pivot pin.

I'll radius some of the edges of the scales .. will polish a few surfaces .. it's all but finished.

Got a nice little user out of this project.

The osage orange is some pretty wood ..and.. it just gets darker with age. In the closed position, the sharpened edge is free from contact with anything. In the open position, the tab & spine of the blade are flush with the wooden frame.

I couldn't be more pleased with this build.

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Replies to This Discussion

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by christophe r on June 21, 2015 at 15:59

Very nice work

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on June 21, 2015 at 20:07

I think the new scales will really set it off, Dale.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on June 22, 2015 at 16:28

Made some progress last night.

Annealed the leftover portion of the parent knife. I heated it to cherry red / orange in color & then let air cool to ambient temp.

This allowed me to drill holes in it with standard HSS drill bits. Which the hardened portion simply eats.

Loosely pinned together to check the fit. It's starting to look like a knife .. sorta.

It almost appears I'm making a small puka knife.

Or perhaps .. a teardrop.

Still some work to go before the 2-part epoxy.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on June 22, 2015 at 19:51

Very cool project you having going on here Dale. I can't wait to see it finished. Looking good so far.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on June 22, 2015 at 19:51

Dale,

This is looking great and I appreciate your letting us go through the process with you! The friction folder seems like it would be fairly easy but I have seen it done, it has some precise parts to make it all fit, balance, open and stay closed correctly

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on June 22, 2015 at 20:14

Yes, Jan .. it turns out is is both simple & complicated.

The result is the simplest of folding knives ..but.. the required geometry is exacting.

The parent knife I used for the blade blank had a convenient notch pre-cut @ the base of the blade. I choose to use that as the stop pin surface for the closed position. I then determined where (on the resultant blade blank) I wanted that same stop pin to stop the blade in the open position. Draw a line between those 2 center points .. divide it in half ..&.. the half way point defines the center of the pivot hole. There's a few things to consider while doing that ..but.. that's the basic concept.

Then .. exacting placement is critical when drilling the holes. Otherwise .. all that planning one did ahead of time is for naught. It's the interaction between the holes that defines the resulting geometry which controls the exact open & closed positions.

That's one of the reasons there were 3 sets of scales generated in the prototyping process.

Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on June 23, 2015 at 7:19

looks great so far, those new scales will look so much better than the prototype cigar box scales, but there is a neat utility look to the plywood. Well done.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on June 28, 2015 at 14:08

Further progress this week-end.

The pin holes are counter-bored .. peened a head on the pivot pin .. further blanked the blade by cleaning up the radiused area of the tang (for stop pin clearance as the blade rotates) & dropped the point a small amount .. ready for a trial assembly.

Loosely assembled .. everything seems to fit .. the blade stops where it's supposed to .. in & out.

Ready for the 2-part epoxy.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on June 28, 2015 at 15:50

Coming along very well Dale! Before the final assembly, how many times will you have put it together and taken it apart?

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on July 12, 2015 at 21:58

Finished up.

Got a nice result out of this effort.

A nice looking little user.

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on July 13, 2015 at 0:05

Yaa-sure.
Nicely done.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on July 13, 2015 at 23:19

50~70 times.

However .. I do this as a hobby .. for relaxation. A project like this gets stretched out over 3~4 weeks .. sometimes more. I work on them as time permits. There are instances when I either lack the energy or the time required to complete (start to finish .. set-up to putting the tools away) a step. Those times are often spent assembling & dis-assembling while mentally analyzing the fit of ea part (daydreaming) ..&.. constantly improving. I'm not on a clock .. no $ amount I need to stay under .. no delivery deadline ......... so ......... I've the freedom to do this.

50~ 70 times .. a wag .. but realistic.

Jan Carter said: