Jordan,

You need to find a copy of this book for liner locks.

http://books.google.com/books/about/Tactical_Folding_Knife.html?id=le0EpwzHEnUC

Bob Terzuola - Tactical Folding Knife.

Check out this one for lockbacks.

http://books.google.com/books?id=47yccy0MOvMC&q=folding+knives+how+to+book&dq=folding+knives+how+to+book&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D6-pU96WFIWKqAb6nYKoDw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBA

Better yet look for an ABS class on folding knives.

Steve Seib

Steve Culver has a fantastic slip joint tutorial. I think it is on his site, as well as the ABS Website - Master Class.

There are also several good liner lock tutorials out there, though I'm not remembering who did them.

Google "liner lock tutorial" and "slip joint tutorial" and you should find a few of each. I would read all of them, and go from there.

I have Steve Culver's Slip Joint folder tutorial posted in two parts in the Master Class section of the ABS website. It is well done with many photos and below are the links:

Tutorial Part 1

Tutorial Part 2

The liner lock tutorial I was thinking of was by Ray Rodgers. It walks you through everything including basic design.

That is an OLD tutorial! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> It didn't start out as a tutorial. It was a WIP that I posted on another forum. The customer who ordered the knife asked me to post a WIP on the build of his knife. The WIP took on a life of its own, becoming a how-to reference for other knifemakers. I later put it into a document to create this tutorial.

This tutorial is largely still the way that I build folders. One thing that I have changed, is the way that I cut the spring notch in the blade. I no longer use the grinding stone for this operation. The stone works, I just prefer to do it differently now. I cut most spring notches with a vertical mill. They can also be cut with a file, using a guard shoulder filing jig.

I used a lot of specialized equipment during the building of the knife in the tutorial. You don't need all of this equipment. The main points in this tutorial are the critical aspects of how the knife parts must be fitted. It doesn't matter what tools you use and how you get there. It only matters that you get the parts fitted to each other properly.

I have another tutorial that I wrote on how I design slip-joint folder mechanisms. When I first started making folders, I was using patterns that other makers had given me. But, I wanted to design my own knives. I wasn't sure how to calculate the dimensions of the blade tang and spring. I figured that the knife factories had a general formula for coming up with these dimensions. So, I took apart a bunch of factory made folders and took measurements of them. From this I developed a method of dimensioning, based on the size of the blade. I'm not certain that this is how the factories dimension their knives. I don't know how other knifemakers design their folders. I only know that so far, this method has worked for me. I've shown it to some other folder makers and they have adopted at least some of my designing method. Below is a link to this tutorial, on my web site.

Folder Mechanism Designing

Wow,

Thanks all for the great advice!

Mr. Culver, I really like the tutorial on making the slip joint.

I was wondering, is it imperative that folding knife parts be made out of stainless steel because of all of the small moving parts? I don't have any stainless on hand, and was considering using spring steel for the liners and blade.

Jordan

I see no issue with using spring steel for your knife parts. Especially since you are just learning to build them and plan to use the knife yourself. No doubt, there have been billions of folding knives made of carbon steel throughout history.

Most modern folders are made using stainless steel for the blade, liners and fittings. Liner locks can use stainless steel or titanium for the locking liner. This is more a matter of what customers expect today, rather than these materials being necessary for the knife to work properly.