Hi all,
I’m thinking about having a go at making my first folding knife and would appreciate some advice from anyone who’s been down this road before.
The current plan is a fairly simple liner lock design rather than a lockback, mainly because it looks a bit more achievable as a first project. The blade would probably be O1 tool steel, around 3 mm thick, and I’d machine most of the parts rather than forge anything.
One thing I’m still undecided on is the liner material. I’ve seen people use titanium, spring steel, stainless spring stock, and probably half a dozen other options. Given that this is a first attempt and I’m working with fairly basic heat treatment equipment (blowtorch and domestic oven rather than a proper heat treat oven), what would you recommend?
I’m also interested in any common beginner mistakes to watch out for. Things that looked easy on paper but turned out to be a pain when you actually built one.
If anyone has made a liner lock before and has any tips, drawings, photos, or lessons learned, I’d love to hear them before I start ordering material.
This is the design I was thinking of
