Brass Rod NOW!!!

[Gareth]

Good to know I'm doing something right. 

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Don't you find that peening from both sides will bend pins sometimes...in knives 4-layers and up that is.

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Good to know I'm doing something right. 

Do you assemble by hand...or do you have girly hands and have to use a fixture?

[DaveK]

Don't you find that peening from both sides will bend pins sometimes...in knives 4-layers and up that is.

Yup - I've seen that happen.

[Gareth]

I do it by hand. Strong, manly hands.  

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Don't you find that peening from both sides will bend pins sometimes...in knives 4-layers and up that is.

Yup - I've seen that happen.

It's very annoying

[Neil]

Don't you find that peening from both sides will bend pins sometimes...in knives 4-layers and up that is.

Having only girly hands I've moved to using little girly hammers.

Yes, I've bent pins in the past but now I just take an obscene amount of time over it with teeny, tiny, minuscule, feminine tools.  Suits my demeanour 

Your all just a bunch of ham fisted apes 

Neil

[DaveK]

I try to think of those sort of occasions as "learning experiences". Then I generally pick the whole lot up and throw it with considerable force across the garage. Often this will result in severe damage to the knife, so I will swear a lot and give up for the evening> If I'm lucky I'll have to walk past the remains on the way out and can give the thing one last Colorful Enunciationing kick.

Calm.

[Ben X]

I try to think of those sort of occasions as "learning experiences". Then I generally pick the whole lot up and throw it with considerable force across the garage. Often this will result in severe damage to the knife, so I will swear a lot and give up for the evening> If I'm lucky I'll have to walk past the remains on the way out and can give the thing one last Colorful Enunciationing kick.

Calm.

Yikes! I do stuff like that all the time when I'm working on stubborn (*cough* American *cough*) cars, but usually big heavy metal parts can handle a little frustration I really don't favor carrying anything over 3 layers, so hopefully I will never run into that problem, but it's good to know to be careful of that. Is that because brass is a little softer than what Vic uses? That silver nickel or whatever the heck SwissBianco is always insisting is superior?

[Ben X]

Wow I can't believe in less than three days this thread went from "where can I get brass rod?" to "Here is my completed second mod!" Thanks everyone, I hammered this sucker together tonight and it is lovely! I am tempted to keep it for myself, but it will probably end up a gift for someone. It would make a great camping or landscaping/gardening knife. Now it's time to start dreaming and acquire donors, this was about all I could do in the way of a 2 layer with the leftover parts from a champ. I would've made a Scientist if I had a combo tool

[Neil]

That looks like a cool woody stuff sorter outer   

You could perhaps thin out the small blade and have it as a kind of super whittler.

Neil

[Gareth]

Good job Ben.  I've always liked the idea of a focused SAK, tool selections that are intended for a specific job.  I did a similar one and, as Neil suggested above, I flattened out the edge to give more of a Wharncliffe shaped blade.  It makes the blade a little easier to maneuver for detailed whittling/carving duties.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Now thats a good mod

[DaveK]

Hey hey - great start Ben

[scibeer]

Nice work man.   Nice having one done eh?

The brass will go fast, just start doing a bunch for friends and you'll be through it in no time!

[Ben X]

I do have one more question: Which side of the hammer is best to use? So far I've only done two, and I'm nor sure if it was just me or if the rounded end worked a hair better at making the pins mushroom out more. Is there any difference between using the blunt end and the ball?

[Neil]

You're right.  Go for the ball 

Neil

[Gareth]

Sounds you are about right.  I use the flat face to rough out and spread the head out.  Then use the ball-peen to more finely shape it.  Different people have slightly different techniques, I tend to go for 1 or 2 biggish hits straight down to start and then smaller hits to finish, the ball end will help work the edges out.  The important thing is, once the action is nearly right, to keep checking it.  Don't give it "one more for luck", the moment you have got rid of the sideways play stop hitting the pin.  If you still have material sitting proud of the bushing then file it down.

When I first started doing SAK mods I hadn't riveted in a long time and some of my early results are ghastly to look at.  

[Neil]

Another tip, that I think originally came from scibeer, is to insert a razor blade between the layers when you first start out with this brass bashing malarkey.  pull it out once you've got it about right and then just a couple more wallops.  Stops you over peaning.  Not tried it myself but it makes sense.

Neil

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

I rarely use the ball part of the hammer.

[Neil]

I rarely use the ball part of the hammer.

  Oh, there's always one isn't their

Keep in mind this is from a guy who uses chewing gum to adhere lighter attachments to SAKs 

  Everyone else uses bubblegum and duct tape

Neil

[Ben X]

Well it sounds like there's more than one way to hammer a SAK, as uncomfortable as that sounds. I've got a couple of older Executives, by the way, and I was thinking about attempting to add the combo tool. Anyone know how far back they switched to larger pins for the 74mm series? Both of my Executives have a scissor screw, so they're pre-1991ish, is that old enough to have the smaller pins?

[Gareth]

  Pass.  Next question please. 

[Neil]

Well it sounds like there's more than one way to hammer a SAK, as uncomfortable as that sounds. I've got a couple of older Executives, by the way, and I was thinking about attempting to add the combo tool. Anyone know how far back they switched to larger pins for the 74mm series? Both of my Executives have a scissor screw, so they're pre-1991ish, is that old enough to have the smaller pins?

No idea, sorry.  If you're careful you could take a peak under the scales to see and then push them back down.

Neil

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

I rarely use the ball part of the hammer.

  Oh, there's always one isn't their

It just shows that there is more than one way to do it...the only correct way is the one that works best for you. Nothing beats hands-on experience and practice.

[Neil]

I rarely use the ball part of the hammer.

  Oh, there's always one isn't their

It just shows that there is more than one way to do it...the only correct way is the one that works best for you. Nothing beats hands-on experience and practice.

Very true 

Here's a weird one I tried the other day.  Fine crosshatch file over the brass the hit the file.  It seems to push the brass outwards.  Like I said a bit weird but you have to try these things.  Well I do anyway

 

Neil

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Not really weird...I've seen slipjoints staked that way before. Not with a file, but a staking tool with that sort of parttern.

I've seen and used a staking tool used in the precision mechanical trades like watchmaking and camera repair with an assortment of different punches and anvils. These all slipped into a heavy base to hold the tools in alignment...a couple taps with a hammer and it was done.

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Something like this - Burgeon Staking Tool

[Neil]

Something like this - Burgeon Staking Tool

Those are cool.  Expensive but cool 

Trust me to reinvent the wheel

Actually they remind me of an old address embosser I have kicking around  I wonder  ....

Neil

[Ben X]

Weird, so would pressing the pins not work so well without the Vic factory unit? I know thats how they do it, but I just don't see how it would work. I would expect the brass to swell inside the knife layers or start to bend before it would just mushroom out perfectly into the bushing alone.