Folders

My first two attempts at making folding knives were a straight razor and a friction folder.  I felt like non-locking knives would more practical given the fact that it would such a big leap for me.  As I had imagined, laying out and fitting a folder turned out to be much more tedious than making a fixed blade.  First I made the straight razor and used several lessons learned to improve the way I joined the friction folder.  With the friction folder, I found higher success by making each piece on cardstock, cut them out, and then made them work together.

Straight Razor

I have had a razor build in mind for a while. I thought it would be good opportunity to attempt a simple folder. I enjoyed the build, and look forward to applying what I have learned. Hopefully the next one will take less time.
3/16" 1095, 3.25" edge, hollow grind, acid stained. I wanted to keep it clean so I did not use a liner, not sure if that was a mistake. Time will tell.  I altered my tempering process from what I use for knives, in an attempt to have a harder steel that would hold a lower angle edge.  It in fact was ultra-hard, unfortunately a few days later I found two cracks in the edge that could only been seen under magnification.    Live and learn...

 

 

 

Friction Folder

3/16" High Carbon 1095. 3 1/2" Blade and 7 7/8" OAL. Full credit for the idea to Jeff over at BM, I saw that he made some friction folders about a year ago and have wanted to try it myself. I have carried this in my pocket quite a bit.  I think I will want to make more in the future, and maybe transition in to a liner lock at some point, but not anytime soon.  I still have a lot of fixed blades to build...