Horsewright
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 13,036
Recently there's been several threads on bolsters, how to attach , peening etc.
Thought I would show you how we do it. Do want to mention that this is not the only way to do this step its just how we do it but it has evolved over time and with experience on many knives.
Had a good size batch to do yesterday, 49 of the 53 blades were getting bolsters. All bolster material was cut and drilled and the holes tapered already. Material was either brass or nickel silver. Each bolster piece has written on it a number which corresponds to a number on the tape on each blade. Each bolster piece also has a L or a R on it telling you which side of the knife the bolster goes on. Each piece on the inside was flattened on a 60 grit flat disc and the front was polished prior to attachment. Blades and bolster pieces have been wiped down with acetone.
There are four little videos. If you are looking on your computer after the first one plays there is a little arrow in the screen on the right to play the next. The first two are about a minute each and the last two are just a few seconds. If you are looking on your phone you don't need an old guy that still has a flip phone to tell ya how to swipe, you know how to swipe.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B46MORjJV9k/
So whats going on. In the first video my wife pics up the blade and bolster pieces from the workbench and brings them over to the other bench. She spreads JB Weld on the inside of the bolster pieces using a broken piece of bandsaw blade. She will sometimes use the teeth of the blade much like a trowel to ensure even coverage but not too much. Other times she'll use the flat side to smooth it out, Just kinda depends but we want an even covering out on to all four edges and relatively thin. Ya kinda want to be able to almost see through it. She then fits the mosaic pins through the holes on one side of the bolster into the blade. Once she has both pins through the blade, she'll fit the other bolster piece onto the pins and then tap them down securely. She'll place the knife down in front of her. She will never get two ahead of me and the first one is always to her left. This allows us to make sure to get the right knife back to its handle materials. Each blade also has written on the tape what handle material goes with it just in case the number may not be readable. I'm working on the other side of the bench from her.
Second video. I pick up the knife (always the one on my right first if there are two). I will seat the bolsters down firmly using the flat of the hammer over the vise. I then walk over to the flat disc and grind down excess pin material. On the way over I am checking bolsters for alignment top and bottom and front and back. On the way back to the anvil I check again. If any adjustments are needed I make them at this time and then using the flat of the hammer, I seat the bolster material flat on the blade. I want to see a little JB Weld come out evenly, front and back, and on all four sides. I then flip the hammer over and use the ball end to peen the pins. Velocity not power, is the key here I think. I'll then use a Q Tip thats been sitting in a paper cup of WD 40 to clean up excess JB Weld. I use the wet end first and then the final cleaning is done with the dry end.
The third video is just a couple seconds long, really just a pic but it shows a close up of the bolster all peened and the JB Weld all cleaned up.
The forth video I move back over to the flat disc and clean up the bolster slightly so we can see the pins are all seated. This was done just for this little demo, I don't do that on every bolster. I use to, years ago, but quit cause it was an extra step that just wasn't needed. I learned to trust the process and I'm gonna clean up the bolster when I shape the handle anyhoo. The view is kinda sucky too. The mountains in the background are our ranch.
Anyhoo thats about it. Not particularly difficult or mysterious. We've done this a lot together, the wife and I, so it doesn't take us very long. This batch of 49 took about an hour.
Questions, comments and discussion is very welcome.
Thought I would show you how we do it. Do want to mention that this is not the only way to do this step its just how we do it but it has evolved over time and with experience on many knives.
Had a good size batch to do yesterday, 49 of the 53 blades were getting bolsters. All bolster material was cut and drilled and the holes tapered already. Material was either brass or nickel silver. Each bolster piece has written on it a number which corresponds to a number on the tape on each blade. Each bolster piece also has a L or a R on it telling you which side of the knife the bolster goes on. Each piece on the inside was flattened on a 60 grit flat disc and the front was polished prior to attachment. Blades and bolster pieces have been wiped down with acetone.
There are four little videos. If you are looking on your computer after the first one plays there is a little arrow in the screen on the right to play the next. The first two are about a minute each and the last two are just a few seconds. If you are looking on your phone you don't need an old guy that still has a flip phone to tell ya how to swipe, you know how to swipe.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B46MORjJV9k/
So whats going on. In the first video my wife pics up the blade and bolster pieces from the workbench and brings them over to the other bench. She spreads JB Weld on the inside of the bolster pieces using a broken piece of bandsaw blade. She will sometimes use the teeth of the blade much like a trowel to ensure even coverage but not too much. Other times she'll use the flat side to smooth it out, Just kinda depends but we want an even covering out on to all four edges and relatively thin. Ya kinda want to be able to almost see through it. She then fits the mosaic pins through the holes on one side of the bolster into the blade. Once she has both pins through the blade, she'll fit the other bolster piece onto the pins and then tap them down securely. She'll place the knife down in front of her. She will never get two ahead of me and the first one is always to her left. This allows us to make sure to get the right knife back to its handle materials. Each blade also has written on the tape what handle material goes with it just in case the number may not be readable. I'm working on the other side of the bench from her.
Second video. I pick up the knife (always the one on my right first if there are two). I will seat the bolsters down firmly using the flat of the hammer over the vise. I then walk over to the flat disc and grind down excess pin material. On the way over I am checking bolsters for alignment top and bottom and front and back. On the way back to the anvil I check again. If any adjustments are needed I make them at this time and then using the flat of the hammer, I seat the bolster material flat on the blade. I want to see a little JB Weld come out evenly, front and back, and on all four sides. I then flip the hammer over and use the ball end to peen the pins. Velocity not power, is the key here I think. I'll then use a Q Tip thats been sitting in a paper cup of WD 40 to clean up excess JB Weld. I use the wet end first and then the final cleaning is done with the dry end.
The third video is just a couple seconds long, really just a pic but it shows a close up of the bolster all peened and the JB Weld all cleaned up.
The forth video I move back over to the flat disc and clean up the bolster slightly so we can see the pins are all seated. This was done just for this little demo, I don't do that on every bolster. I use to, years ago, but quit cause it was an extra step that just wasn't needed. I learned to trust the process and I'm gonna clean up the bolster when I shape the handle anyhoo. The view is kinda sucky too. The mountains in the background are our ranch.
Anyhoo thats about it. Not particularly difficult or mysterious. We've done this a lot together, the wife and I, so it doesn't take us very long. This batch of 49 took about an hour.
Questions, comments and discussion is very welcome.
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