All About Pocket Knives

I am just trying to learn the basics on this subject and don't have a shop full of specialty tools. I am using a Dremel with a stand as a drill press. Really this works fine for what I'm trying to do and doesn't take up much space. The problem is the biggest shank the Dremel will accept is 1/8 inch. The pin spinners that you can buy are 1/4 inch. I have contacted Dremel and they say no adapter is available and they don't suggest the use of bigger tools. So has anyone came up with an adapter and if not some of you guys on here selling items might come up with a 1/8 inch shank pin spinner because surely I'm not the only one to encounter this problem.

Bob, you should be able to buy a 1/4 collet for your dremmel.

Tim

I contacted Dremel via email and they said no - they do not make them.

This is the biggest chuck that Dremel makes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DREMEL-QUICK-CHANGE ... 9894076937

Bob.....I thought i had one, but it was my Rotozip that i was thinking of

Tim

It should be easy enough to turn down the shaft of a 1/4" shaft spinner to 1/8"dia.
I use a drill and a belt sander to turn down the pins to the correct dia. for each knife I'm assembling.

Just chuck up the head of the spinner in the drill. Blacken the shaft to watch for taper and hold the spinning shaft against the belt/disc sander (a belt sander turned upside down will work). Sand a little at a time and check for any taper. Re-blacken the shaft and continue to sand down the dia. until the correct dia. is achieved.

...... Joe

You make it sound easy Joe. No doubt for you I'm sure it is. I've had to hand turn a lot of pins and I can assure you that in the begining, I'd get to use one out of every 5 or 6 I tried. Yeah, my odds are a lot better now, but that little trick of turning pin stick down by hand, just ain't easy to get right at first. Expecially when you decide that everything gets a micrometer put to it and polished. You probably make it look easy too, don't ya? I like the hint about paint to see where you've been, but a light buffing does the same thing. Most of all it requires a steady hand. Just wanted to say....Good tips!

The pin spinners that you get from Jantz have two ends. I think one end is 1/16 and the other is 1/8. I doubt I could turn it down and get it true enough but if I did I would lose one end of the tool. I have read about making these from set screws and maybe then you could get a smaller shank?

Not been around much, but this post caught my attention. I wonder what level of success you will have using the dremel as a drill press? I know that when I have spun pins, I have used A LOT of pressure from my 8" delta drill press.....not sure the dremel can handle it?

Let us know how it goes,

D

I'm with Diligence. Unless the Dremel you have has ALOT more power than the 2 that I own, you may not like the results. It usually takes alot of pressure, cutting oil and some practice to spin pins.
Bill

I think if I were in a tool-challenged state of existence, I'd try peening the heads of the pins with a small (6 ounce or so) hammer. There's a knack to it and it takes some practice, but it might be an option. I used to work with an upholstery-man who re-built the occasional pocket knife on his lunch breaks, using his tack hammer to peen the rivets.

Like Caddyman and Diligence, I'm not sure you can get enough pressure and control with a Dremel (on the other hand, I've seen my kid brother tighten up a pin with a hand-held electric drill--maybe a Dremel could be made to work).

Jim

That’s how I do it . The old fashion way. With a hammer.
That upholstery man knew what he was doing.
I sometimes use a 4 or 6 oz ball peen hammer but most of the time my old upholstery tack hammer does the job the best.
I tried to use spinners once when installing stag and ended up ruining the scales.
I don't like them.
The heads of the pins can be shaped round with practice using a hammer.
Then buff them smooth with a dremmel buffing wheel to get the same results.
Most of the time I'll leave the peening marks to show it was hand done.

J W

It's a rainy day here so I decided to update this. Please keep in mind I have taken fewer than 10 knives apart so I am very new to this and post things more as questions than how to. I did get the standard Jantz pin spinner machined. They cut it in half and machined one end to 1/8" so it would work in the Dremel. This seems to work fine for me and there are a couple of pictures of knives I've done. I put a blade in the Case and made the Barlow from spare parts. The handle material is from Jantz and I'm experimenting, but maybe you can see the spun pins. I went back and read the knife repair book I have by Ben Kelley and he describes this pin spinning process as burnishing. I think that is what I'm actually doing with the Dremel. I mushroom the pins with a hammer and punch and then clean the head up with the pin spinner. Not sure if this is what should be done ot not but it seems to work ok.

more pics

just bob wrote: The handle material is from Jantz and I'm experimenting, but maybe you can see the spun pins. I went back and read the knife repair book I have by Ben Kelley and he describes this pin spinning process as burnishing. I think that is what I'm actually doing with the Dremel. I mushroom the pins with a hammer and punch and then clean the head up with the pin spinner. Not sure if this is what should be done or not but it seems to work ok.

I suspect "the thing you should be doing" is whatever works for you. Upsetting the pin with a hammer then burnishing the final shape with a spinner sounds like a perfectly-functional system, and your results show that it is working for you. Congrats!

Jim

I agree with Jim!

Great job on those knives.

Hay, whatever works.......

.... Joe

just bob wrote: I mushroom the pins with a hammer and punch and then clean the head up with the pin spinner. Not sure if this is what should be done ot not but it seems to work ok.

Nice technique!
Some times you have to invent techniques to accommodate the tools you have available.

I was very fortunate to get a set of carbide pin spinners from the Camillus factory.
Even those require a fair amount of pressure to get a good even spun head on larger pins.
I usually peen the heads of larger diameter pins then clean them up with the spinner to leave a nice finished head on the pin.