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Post: How-To Pin And Soldering Guards And Bolsters -- Part II (Topic#770679)

BruceJensky
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Yorktown, VA
Reg: 02-04-05

06-19-06 07:53.52 - Post#961462

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This Is The Second of Three Parts On Pining And Soldering Guards And Bolsters…

This is how I solder my guards and bolsters on my knives. There are other methods and all are good, the best method is what works best for you.

Photo 1 shows almost all the necessary equipment to solder your guard or bolsters in place, I forgot to include the torch (I use a butane torch with mapp gas) and my lighter (I use a “Cricket�?)…

The “Stay Brite�? solder and “Stay Clean�? flux are often sold together by all knife supply businesses, but can be bought separately. It is a mixture of 96% tin and 4% silver, it has a consistent melting temp of 430 degrees and its color is “bright-silver�?!!!

Do not use “plumber’s solder,�? it is a mixture of 95% tin and 5% antimony (unless you have some old stuff, then it’s a mix of 50% tin and 50% lead). It melts at temps that vary between 450 degrees and 600 degrees. And it starts out “bright gray�? and as it ages, it turns “ugly�? (from dark grey to black).

Next, there is a 3cc hypodermic syringe. One problem with the flux, is its applicator nozzle, it sprays like a garden hose and you do not want to get flux any place that it’s not needed. Remember, it’s a mild acid and when you add heat, it can cut some pretty deep pits (not so much that you can feel them, but you can sure see them!!!).

As a precaution, I took my moto-tool and cut the points off the needles so they are now just blunt tubes. I acquired some of mine from my local vet (freebies…) and some from the local pharmacy, about 50 cents each.

Then, there is the “dental pick.�? I know some of you may never have ever see or even heard of such a device. I could even make a joke about some regional areas of the country where a dental pick might be considered a deadly weapon… But I’m above that… maybe another time…

Any case, the dental pick is used to run through the melted solder to release/pop any air bubbles caused by the heat or flux.

It’s important to have all your required items laid out and in easy reach. You do not want to have your knife up to soldering temp and not be able to grab your solder.

You might even want to write up a check list of the order to perform your tasks. This may sound pretty anal but if you forget to flux your blade and guard first and bring it up to temp, the solder will not flow properly without the flux and if you put the flux on hot, it will make a terrible mess and if you let your knife cool down to flux it, the metal (blade steel and guard brass) will have oxidized somewhat and your solder joint will be not be pretty unless you take it all apart and clean it up…

Photo 2, I have clamped my blade vertically (point up) in my vice between 2-small wooden blocks. The wooden blocks insulate the blade tang from the cold the jaws of the vice (I don’t want any stress fractures now…).

I then cut four (4) pieces of solder, 1/4�? long and place two (2) on each side, spacing them out evenly along the blade. The solder should be touching both the guard and blade, you want the heat from the blade and guard to penetrate the solder together.

Now I crank up the torch, place it in a handy location and make sure it isn’t pointing at me, my work, or anything else that “doesn’t like�? flame…

Now, I insert the hypodermic needle into the open nozzle of the flux, inverted the bottle and draw out about 1 cc of flux. Straighten up the flux, remove the syringe and point the syringe straight up and suck some air into the syringe. Place a rag/paper towel over the needle and slowly squeeze the air out (like you see on TV, but you don’t want to squirt the flux around; hence, the rag). All that remains in the syringe should be flux…

Then, using both hands squeeze out a small amount of flux onto the joint on both sides of the blade. The flux will flow around all the nooks and crannies through “capillary action.�? You’re using two hands because you need a lot of control to get only a few drops of flux to fill the joint, then wipe up any flux that runs down the blade.

Set your hypodermic syringe down where it will not fall onto the floor.

Pick up your torch, and start playing the flame over the base of the handle, about half way between the wooden blocks and the guard. The torch tip should be pointed up slightly. You do not want to directly heat the guard. Let the heat run up the blade and get absorbed by the guard. This takes a few minutes, remove the torch from time to time, remember, the heat form the blade will continue to rise up the blade and into the guard. You only want the blade and guard to get hot enough to melt the solder (definitely NOT burn the flux!!!). If the flux should get burned, you must disassemble the entire guard and blade and really sand the mess down… Besides, the hotter the flux gets, the more it bubbles and splatters (which equals “acid scaring�? you need to clean up).

If you’ve been careful, the solder will suddenly melt, probably even when you aren’t directing heat on the blade. Since the heat is still rising from the blade, remove the torch, extinguish it (turn it off…) and use your dental pick, or any other convenient clean, rust free metal, sharpened piece of steel (a sharpened finishing nail works nicely…) to run through the melted solder at the joint where the guard meets the blade. You want to pop any bubbles that formed or pools of melted flux. You want a nice clean line of solder at this joint, be sure to do all sides. It will take a few minutes for the solder to cool and harder so while the blade is cooling, squirt the left over flux back into the bottle and do this gently, you might get some blow-back. Wash out your syringe real well, lots of water, the flux can really eat up the inside of the needle, then take it all apart and let it air-dry.

There’s no rush to quench the blade. If you’ve been careful with the heat, the hottest the blade got up to was 430 to 440 degrees, and this is about perfect for tempering… Also, you should note, that since you played the heat over the handle, the blade should not have had any color change…

When the blade is cooled enough to handle it, clean it also real well. You need to remove and vestiges of flux as it will keep working and burning the steel… Ivory Soap (low ph) or baking soda, and a tooth brush works great…

Photo 3 shows how the blade should look after you’ve cleaned up the blade, note the nice clean solder line and there isn’t all that much excess solder to remove… Also, note that the color of the steel on the actually blade is still a nice bright gray, while the steel in the handle location is slightly blued. The guard acted like a “heat dam�? to prevent too much heat from rising up the blade.

Photo 4 shows the tools needed to clean up the solder from the guard and the blade. I forgot to include my “secret weapon.�? I also use wooden coffee swizzle sticks, like the kind you get at a fast-food joint to stir your coffee. You can use “popsicle�? sticks, but they aren’t as flexible.

I have a woodworker’s scribe (also called an engraving tool or gouge). If you look at it’s point, it looks like a diamond. I sanded down the bottom edge so there is a small bevel so the scribe does not remove all the solder in the joint. The scribe is used to remove any lumps of solder, especially underneath the guard. I also use an old brass plate (from an old trophy) to scrap the solder from the brass and blade.

WARNING: you need to be gentle with this scribe, if it slips, it can really gouge the guard and it’ll be a bear to sand out. Use both hands and don’t try to take off too much solder at one time.

When I have removed the bulk of the solder, I then use my swizzle sticks. I cut a thin strip of 400 grit sandpaper (the width of the swizzle stick) and gently sand any remaining solder from the blade and guard. I like the swizzle stick because I can flex it as needed.

You can also use higher grits to clean up any flux scarring on the steel and if you go up to 2000 or 2500 grit, you can get that mirror finish back on your blade.

Photo 5 shows you the finished soldering job. Perty ain’t it??? The actually time it takes to do all of this (once you get some experience…), including: setup, cooling, cleanup is about an hour for the two knives shown. I’m in no rush and I listen to my smooth Jazz (Kenny G) and I smoke. If I had to put meat on the table, I could probably get it down to 45 minutes, but not much lower. You do not want to mess up now…

Now, stay tuned for the final installation--The Finished Knives and Sheaths…

For a knife to be truly “handmade," the knife must be held to the tool or the tool must be held to the knife during its making… if it’s a “hands-off" operation, it ain’t handmade…

Roadfish
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: The Lauragais
Reg: 11-29-99

06-19-06 07:59.55 - Post#961467
In response to BruceJensky

Nice explanation! Thanks.

"Roadfish"

Jerzee Devil

Woodlander
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Canada
Reg: 11-11-04

06-19-06 19:16.09 - Post#961921
In response to BruceJensky

Once more Bruce, you gave great information!

Nevertheless, soldering guards/bolsters seems to be a really tricky knifemaking operation that needs a lot of practice...

Thanks a lot for the info!

BruceJensky
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Yorktown, VA
Reg: 02-04-05

06-21-06 04:12.37 - Post#963016
In response to Woodlander

Woodlander,

True, it does take some practice, but unlike some instructional books, that say, “Now solder the guard onto the blade.�? I’ve given you step-by-step exactly what to do.

Read over the How-To several times, run through the process without any heat on the torch and you should be fine.

As I wrote in the How-To, I review all my procedures first, have everything laid out, and I’m completely ready when I start.

If you want art verses utilitarian, you’ve got to get a little anal…

Bruce

For a knife to be truly “handmade," the knife must be held to the tool or the tool must be held to the knife during its making… if it’s a “hands-off" operation, it ain’t handmade…

Roadfish
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: The Lauragais
Reg: 11-29-99

06-21-06 07:06.41 - Post#963096
In response to BruceJensky

From my experience, the most importan part of the process is to make sure your surfaces that you are going to solder are clean and have not been buffed.

By the way, I always thought that the anal brougt utility and art was more of an occurance.

"Roadfish"

Jerzee Devil

BruceJensky
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Yorktown, VA
Reg: 02-04-05

06-21-06 19:56.36 - Post#963638
In response to Roadfish

Ron,

When I solder a guard onto a mirror finish blade, I carefully tape off the area of the blade immediate in front of the guard, then I install my filing jig to protect the finish under the tape. Then I sand the buffed are that will be under the guard that I want the solder to stick to. Then remove the jig and tape, clean up the blade, acetone/ hot soapy water, etc… and then I’m ready to solder.

When I refer to a utilitarian knife, I’m thinking of a knife that you would sharpen on your bench grinder and play “mumbly-peg�? with; not something you would want to keep, treasure, and pass onto your kids.

When I say I try to make each of my knives an “art knife,�? I’m saying I want you to say “Wow, it’s perfect, how did you do that?�? Not something like, “Will you take less for the knife, there is a gap in the guard, the handle doesn’t feel even, and the blade has been sharpened more on one side than the other…�?

Bruce

For a knife to be truly “handmade," the knife must be held to the tool or the tool must be held to the knife during its making… if it’s a “hands-off" operation, it ain’t handmade…

Roadfish
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: The Lauragais
Reg: 11-29-99

06-22-06 00:34.25 - Post#963706
In response to BruceJensky

Bruce When I say Art Knife, I think "Wow, I've never seen anything quite like that before, How did you enlay that gold flake into the ivory handle." When I think utilitarian, I'm thinking a working knife that I am not afraid to use. By the way, do you really sharpen your mumbly peg knife on a bench grinder? Shame on you if you do! Additionally, I call that good fit, high shine "wow factor" "gee mister is that knife chromed" as the excellent craftmanship that your knives obviously display.

"Roadfish"

Jerzee Devil

BruceJensky
Master Member KnifeNut!

Loc: Yorktown, VA
Reg: 02-04-05

06-22-06 19:16.15 - Post#964593
In response to Roadfish

Ron,

I think I received or bought my first "mumbly-peg" knife when I was about 5 or 6 (mid 1950s), back when it was still OK to bring a pen knife to school as long as you did not carve your initials into the desk top.

Back then, I didn’t have a bench grinder so I used the next best thing, a big, fat rock. And I still think that a big, fat rock is the best sharpening tool for a mumbly-peg knife.

And thanks for the nice “craftsmanship�? comment. Even when I am making a working knife (even one made from a file) with a satin or bead blasted finish, I always put file art, and mirror finish the non-working surfaces (back of the blade, file art, the choil, dutch nick, and the blade/handle area.

I’ve never made High Art (Gold Flake, Silver Inlay, Sculptured Handles) knives. I just don’t have the training (and maybe the talent…) and I’m not comfortable with the investment (time, materials, etc…) that would be required.

I know there is a market for these items, in spite of the state of the economy, there is still just so much “disposable income�? just being frittered away. My neighbor spent over $150,000 on a sail boat that he spends about one day, a week on, while it’s berthed, drinking bannana daquiri's with his other pier mates. He only takes it out on the water about once a month. Another neighbor spent $80,000 on a replica of a 1965 Ford Shelby Cobra (not the Mustang). And of course, I’ve got a Dodge Ram 2500 with a Cummins Diesel (monkey grunts like Tim the Toolman Taylor…) with every accessory available except the snow-plow package (I bought it in Tucson…).

If you check Blade Galley’s Web Site you’ll see so many beautiful, Art and High Art knives for sale. What is nice about this site, they also show the pictures and profiles of past knife sales by maker. Although it doesn’t show the price of sold knifes, you can guess by looking at what the maker is listing for sale now…

I plan to try this site to see if I can open my market up.

Well, this has certainly gotten long, better go…

Bruce

For a knife to be truly “handmade," the knife must be held to the tool or the tool must be held to the knife during its making… if it’s a “hands-off" operation, it ain’t handmade…

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