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Before seeing your tutorial I just thought shadow patterns used a really large pivot pin:what!: You thoroughly explained the 'how', but I was still fuzzy on the 'why', which prompted this post. Thanks again for the responses.

Thanks for the explanation and link to your testing. It is good information to have as I really don't care to put any more work, such as adding washers, to an already compromised blade. I just want to finish it out so that I can get started on the next one.

Is this a specific pattern per se or terminology used to describe just about any slip joint without front bolsters? I'm new to the whole slip joint thing, so I'm trying to get an understanding of the various patterns, terminology, etc. Another question regarding the lack of front bolsters...

ABSOLUTELY!!! I'm in the process of selling off some of my favorite knives in order to fund some better tools for a home shop (that presently doesn't exist). During the process of building this knife I have learned more about what not to do, from both a design and assembly perspective, than...

As an update, I haven't drilled the holes any deeper yet, but I switched to using the drill bit shanks and only 2 pins as suggested. Interestingly, I could vary the reading depending on whether I used the rear or center pin. I decided to use the center pin and apply pressure to the back of the...

Thanks for the explanation. I could see how, in the example you've posted pictures of above, there would be some notch sensitivity with that design. As is typical of just about any stressed application, all corners should have the largest radius possible to minimize any potential for stress...

I looked up Michael on Don Fogg's website. It appears that after forging down quite a bit of W2 he fell behind on some orders and discontinued the service earlier this year. I sent two emails, both directly and through the Don Fogg site, with no response yet. Anyone else interested? If the...

I have never seen a lockback fail, so I'm curious where exactly they fail. Until earlier today when I stumbled upon a photo of one, I had never seen the detail of the locking mechanism on a lockback. At least on the one I saw, the mechanism looks fairly elegant. I'd love to hear an...

Thanks for the comments and encouragement Don, it is certainly appreciated. Yes, I'm definitely hooked. Other than seeing and spending time with my daughter everyday, my 30 minutes at lunch working on this first one is what I look forward to most each day. That might change as I get closer...

Thanks for all the responses. I should have mentioned already that the blade and spring have been heat treated and tempered, which is why it is taking me so long to get these tweaked in when sanding by hand. Next time, I'll get them closer before HT. I think the spring tension is going to...

I'm doing my best Don. You can see some pictures, as well as some of our fellow forum members offering some advice here. I had already started this one prior to ordering your book, but it has been an invaluable resource nonetheless.

Another huge THANK YOU for the recommendation to only use the center and pivot pin as opposed to all three. This made trial fits a million times easier to do on the fly following light sanding. In less than thirty minutes I got both the half-stop and closed positions to within 0.005" of the...

Hey Johnny, I noticed Don's RFI in his for sale post. At the time I wondered why he only had 2 pin holes. Now it makes a lot of sense. Only use the center and pivot pin rather than fight with the spring tension. I'll try to get some pics of my RFI today at lunch as well. Checking the fit...

Hey Bruce, That is an excellent idea. My indicator is machined out of a 2" x 4" x 9" block of 6061 Aluminum. I only removed about 0.665" of material from the face, so I've still got will over an inch of thickness to play with. I only drilled the pivot hole 0.250" deep though, so perhaps I...

I'm having some trouble using the rise and fall fixture that I built and am curious if anyone else has experienced similar issues. The fixture itself is very robust, but I'm getting variation in my readings. I think the culprit is one of two things. Either my spring is set WAY too tight or my...

Anyone else getting some weird "Turkish Hacker" error message when trying to search the forums or is this an issue with my system?

I'll look up Mr. Pikula. Maybe it wasn't clear, but I only want someone to forge down, by my estimate, about 1/2" to 5/8" of one bar. Assuming a 20% loss of material to scale, this should yield two .13" x .75" x 4" bars.

I have two bars (1.5" dia. x 8") of Don Hanson's W2 that I purchased some months back in preparation for the day that I get a forging operation set up. In the mean time, I've been bitten by the slip joint bug. I would like to make a couple of slip joint blades out of W2 in order to bring out a...

I repeated all of these efforts adjusting here and there based on the initial results. Heat treat: Fast ramp to 1425°F, soak for 10 minutes. Fast ramp to 1925°F, soak for 30 minutes. Quench between two 1" thick copper plates while blowing shop air in between. Both pieces measured 61.x Rc...

I think this last round of heat treating and tempering did the trick. I just measured 47.3 Rc on the spring. This is a little higher than recommended, but based on all the WIPs that I've seen I think it is reasonable. Hopefully it won't be a nail breaker!