My question is whether you need to dome or peen your handle pins or can you just glue a pin in and grind it flush with the handle. I know I want to get a little better at doming and peening, just want to know if a straight pin ground flush is acceptable, thanks in advance for the advise
Hello Landon. Yes it is acceptable, peened pins are stronger, but with the right preparation, ground flush works. Make sure to rough up the pin surface before gluing, so the epoxy has something to grab on to. I rough it up with a 120 grit belt. Usually pins are very slightly oversize. Say a 1/8" pin which should be .125 will actually be .128 or so. So roughing up will get you very close to the correct size. An option is to use a tapered reamer and go ahead and peen the pin, then grind flush. Because the hole is slightly tapered the pin will swell and act the same as a peened pin or domed pin. These reamers come in different sizes, I usually use a 1/8" reamer which actually has a slight taper to 1/8". Another option is corby bolts. You must use a step drill with these. They are very strong.
Hope this helps.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
|quoted:
Hello Landon. Yes it is acceptable, peened pins are stronger, but with the right preparation, ground flush works. Make sure to rough up the pin surface before gluing, so the epoxy has something to grab on to. I rough it up with a 120 grit belt. Usually pins are very slightly oversize. Say a 1/8" pin which should be .125 will actually be .128 or so. So roughing up will get you very close to the correct size. An option is to use a tapered reamer and go ahead and peen the pin, then grind flush. Because the hole is slightly tapered the pin will swell and act the same as a peened pin or domed pin. These reamers come in different sizes, I usually use a 1/8" reamer which actually has a slight taper to 1/8". Another option is corby bolts. You must use a step drill with these. They are very strong.
Hope this helps.
Brion
Thank you Brion, I do use corby bolts on occasion but I will definitely try tapering the holes, peening and then grinding, thanks again.
