All About Pocket Knives

Hi all, A question about countersinking pin holes.

I usually just use a tad bigger drill and judge the depth by eye, is this right or wrong.
Do you's all use that method/ countersinking bits/ reamer?????

I was thinking about getting a hand reamer, but that's still guess work.

Is there any hard and fast rule like 1/2 the dia. of the pin dia. or some such rule???
How much bigger diameter do you need to make a pin secure once you've countersunk
and peened the pin??

I'am not doing it right because I always end up with the peened pin not filling out all of
the countersunk area.

Or do I just need to make sure not to countersink too deep, sort of like just skim the edge of
pin hole?
Peening a 1/8 pin is alright because you can peen a bit harder but not so with 1/16.


cheers Gary.

Here is a small carbide bit (the cigarette is for size comparison) that I use for boring out a countersink space in the backs of liners as well as handle materials. It's sharp and hard enough that I only have to turn it by hand to get the countersink I want on brass, nickel-silver, bone, ivory and just about anything else you can think of. Between drilling most handle holes a "hair's breath" larger than the liner hole and the countersink area to allow for expansion, it prevents the material from splitting while being peined enough to hold. After peinning(sp?), it's time for spinning, but most times, if you were careful, buffing will smooth things out to the same effect. It's what works for me anyway.


If you're using anything that threads, drill and tap accordingly.

Here are some pics to show the countersinks I use when repairing knives.
I have one similar to the one Bob uses, as well as several others.
The tools I show in these pics are ones I use most often on knife repairs.
Obviously I will need a larger tapered reamer for a lockback that has a 1/8” pivot pin than the one I used here.

This pic shows the reamer I used on the liners for the handle pin holes. Those are the only ones on the inside of the liner that need to be countersunk. The inside of the bolster and the rocker pin hole do not need to be countersunk.

I used the same reamer to countersink the pin holes in the bone. These pins will have spun heads, so I make them deep enough to for the head to sit down the bone a ways, (about half the depth of the head). Note that I do countersink the rocker pin hole on this side.


This is the 3/23” tapered reamer I use on the bolsters so I get a good fit with the pivot pin.
As you can see here I reamed this with a “T” handle for taps. NOTE- See the steel bar supporting the liner? It goes all the way out to within about ¼” of the hole I am reaming, otherwise the liner and bone will break from the downward pressure of the reamer. I used the vise to show the work better; usually I would use a block of micarta with holes drilled in it to support the liner when reaming.



Hope this helps a bit.

Greal pics guys, looks like everyone's got similar styles. Like Bob, I generally open op the holes a bit (in the covers only). For example, I'll drill through the liner and cover with a #44 bit, then open up the cover hole with a #42 bit. Countersink is similar to Bob's, a bit steeper angles than a standard bit. I use the same bit on the bolsters and the covers, cover hole is just barely touched, while the bolster hole gets a decent countersink since a shallow one would just be glazed right off during finishing. I cut the pin fairly short, the more banging you do the better the chance of cracking the cover. You want to mushroom the head well to fill the hole, even overlapping the hole a bit is fine since everything will be sanded smooth and even during hafting:

Eric

I use the 1/2" reamers too Dale and they work real good I think. I have a hand held model and one for the drill press. Where did you get your 3 /32" taper reamer? I'd like to grab one.

Eric, thats an intriguing looking knife you're working on, care to share some more about it?

I think I got it as the OKCA show from K & G.
Jantz has some good looking ones called pin reamers in 3/32" to 1/8" that look similar.

muskrat man wrote:Eric, thats an intriguing looking knife you're working on, care to share some more about it?

Kaleb, it's a Canal Street pinch, we keep the butt end of the covers long to help prevent pin cracks (they're mighty close to the edge), then haft them off later. That knife was part of my morning's work

ea42 wrote:

muskrat man wrote: it's a Canal Street pinch, we keep the butt end of the covers long to help prevent pin cracks (they're mighty close to the edge), then haft them off later. That knife was part of my morning's work

That makes a lot of sense to leave them long to prevent cracking.

Maybe I missed something somewhere, but I didn't know you worked at Canal Street!
Is this a recent development?

Been there a little over a year Dale, got offered the job and just couldn't turn it down. Quite the dream come true for a knife-nut like me!

Eric

Congratulations Eric, that is indeed a dream job!
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and you get to work with some of the key Schrade people of the last several decades!
Sweet, Sweet, Sweet!