All About Pocket Knives

Truegrit has carried some of the stainless stock cheaper than any other place I have found.

Stick with Jantz supply for your brass pin stock. Theirs is true to size but more importantly the brass they stock is softer than hardware store brass, so it's easier to peen the heads and doesn't crack.

I have had just as much problem with the brass and nickel silver I get from Jantz as I have from any other source.
I've gotten in the habit of measuring a length of rod before I cut pins from it, that way I know how many thousands +/- it is off.
I will even measure precut pins that I have gotten from various sources such the Schrade or Camillus factories.
It literally takes seconds to measure the diameter of a pin, and I have found it to be time well spent.
I can measure hundreds, maybe thousands of pins in the time it takes me to replace a broken handle.

I found another place to buy a brass pin stock and brass tubing. Last weekend we had a Hobby Lobby open up in our town. My wife and I went down there and I was very impressed with the assortment of adhesives they had. It was without a doubt the best assortment of adhesives I have seen under one roof. They even carried the Bob Smith Industries 5 Minute Epoxy, which is the best epoxy I have found. I’ve been using it almost exclusively for about 8 years and I haven’t had a handle failure that I can recall since I started using it.

They also have a good selection of K & S Metals brass pin stock in the smaller sizes. I was also surprised to find small brass tubing. They had 3/64” and 1/16” brass tubing. This is useful when replacing some of the clevis or bail on some of the older scout type knives that used a brass tube to hold the clevis on and then a small nickel silver pin that went through the tube and had a head spun on the end of the nickel silver pin.
I have no connection with, or stock in Hobby Lobby.
I just found they had a great selection of things that can be difficult to find when doing knife repairs.
If you’re having difficulty finding brass pins and brass tubing and have a Hobby Lobby near you, you might check it out.

Sadly however, I did not find any nickel silver pin stock at all.

My local Hobby Lobby also had .025" thick brass 1 1/2" wide in case you need to make a replacement liner or center divider. No nickel silver at my local either. I will have to try their epoxy, have been using Loctite 5 minute with mixed results. I have no connection with or stock in Hobby Lobby either.

Grainger.com has some of the standard sizes in 3 foot lengths. I have a Grainger facility a few miles from my home so I can order it one day, have it the next and avoid the shipping charges. I just picked up a few packs today.

We have a local Ace Hardware that stocks 3 foot lengths of brass also. That is the cheapest I have found.

orvet wrote: ↑Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:28 pm We have a local Ace Hardware that stocks 3 foot lengths of brass also. That is the cheapest I have found.

Do you know what the nickel silver you have been using for pin stock is, dead soft or half hard?

For steel pins, buy cheap drill bits and cut them to length. I learned that trick playing with guns.

I buy brass rod from my local welding supply shop. They also has some stainless rods, all are brazing or rig welding rods.

I would be afraid to try to use a drill bit for a pin. They would be too hard to peen.

Just my $.02 about that.

glennbad wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:07 pm

orvet wrote: ↑Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:28 pm We have a local Ace Hardware that stocks 3 foot lengths of brass also. That is the cheapest I have found.

Do you know what the nickel silver you have been using for pin stock is, dead soft or half hard?

Sorry Glenn, I just saw this post.
The nickel silver I use is half hard. I have some nickel silver that is dead soft; I use it for scale pins sometimes and it works good for that
It is way too soft for pivot pins

Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

The closest I have found is .079" from Jantz.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 4:22 pm

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

The closest I have found is .079" from Jantz.

Thanks
I have some.079 from Jantz. It seems .081 is only available in brass. I had an old penknife that had .081 for the blades the .079 just felt to lose for the wear in the tang hole so I drilled everything to .094 so I could match the nickel in the bolsters. Maybe I was too critical, but the blades had no play and good snap.
Regards Nev

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

Try Thunderbird Supply

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 12:39 pm

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

Try Thunderbird Supply

Glen
Thanks for the information. they do have .081 But it said comes in a coil and is dead soft. Can that be used for pins?
Nev

Nev52 wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 3:02 pm

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 12:39 pm

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

Try Thunderbird Supply

Glen
Thanks for the information. they do have .081 But it said comes in a coil and is dead soft. Can that be used for pins?
Nev

Dang it. I bought from two places, that wasn't the one I was thinking. Try Fire Mountain Gems, they have half hard NS. I think the 12Ga. works out to .081"

And yes, it comes in a coil, so you'll have to straighten it out to use it.

Thanks

Nev

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 8:01 pm And yes, it comes in a coil, so you'll have to straighten it out to use it.

Thanks again Glen on my micrometer 14 gauge wire is .082 12 gauge was .089. So I am going to try 14 gauge. I really appreciate the information.

Nev

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 8:00 pm

Nev52 wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 3:02 pm

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 12:39 pm

Try Thunderbird Supply

Glen
Thanks for the information. they do have .081 But it said comes in a coil and is dead soft. Can that be used for pins?
Nev

Dang it. I bought from two places, that wasn't the one I was thinking. Try Fire Mountain Gems, they have half hard NS. I think the 12Ga. works out to .081"

You were right Glen .081 is 12-gauge wire . 14 was .064 Now I have both.

Thanks for your help on this matter.
Nev

Nev52 wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 3:02 pm

glennbad wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 12:39 pm

Nev52 wrote: ↑Sun May 01, 2022 1:12 pm Can anyone tell me where? I can purchase .081 pin stock in nickel silver.
Thanks
Nev

Try Thunderbird Supply

Glen
Thanks for the information. they do have .081 But it said comes in a coil and is dead soft. Can that be used for pins?
Nev

I have used dead soft brass and nickel silver wire to attach handles, but they haven't worked well in my experience as pivot pins or rocker pins.
Wallace Rockwell, from Camillus Cutlery, Had some .081" half hard nickel silver wire on eBay several years ago. I don't know if he has any left now or not. You might be able to contact him through his retail store if you can't find him on eBay.

Thanks Dale. Always good to have a few suppliers.
Nev

Miller Bro's wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:23 pm

orvet wrote:Many older knives are made with pins that are not standard proportions with the sizes readily available in the local hardware store or through a knife supply house.

Ever wonder how the old knife companies made all the different size wire they used on pocket knives?

Knife companies bought nickle, brass and steel wire, one size, not all the different sizes they needed for their knives, it did not come in straight lengths like you buy from these modern supply houses either, it came in large rolls.

They used a Wortle plate to size the wire to whatever particular size they wanted.

A Wortle plate is made of steel and it has tapered holes of various sizes through which the larger wire was fed, it was then pulled through the tapered hole and it came out the other side the proper diameter.

Needless to say these plates are very rare and quite honestly if I had one to put in front of a modern knife maker they would have no idea what the hell it was used for.

Just one of the many facts I have uncovered in my ongoing search for the knowledge the early cutlers used to make pocket knives

I did some repair work in a nail factory about 20 years ago. That is the same way they were making nails. The stock was one size, on rolls, stretched to the proper diameter.