Large folding knives scheme. All about knives

Manufacturing should begin directly with the blade. First of all, we mark the place for the axial hole. We drill it and, already guided by it, we make further marking of the blade. If you do the opposite and mark and cut the blade along the contour, and only then drill a hole, then during the drilling process, especially in hardened workpieces, the drill can lead to the side and all dimensions will “float away”.

Transferring the contours of the blade to the workpiece, we begin to make the blade. We grind with the help of a grinder and emery along the contour. For the convenience of holding the blade in the process of removing the descents, the blade itself is not cut off from the workpiece yet and the heel of the blade is not formed.

Various tools can be used to remove slopes: grinders, emery, flat grinders, grinders. I do a rough turning of the slopes on emery and a fine one on a flat grinder.

Next, we proceed to the manufacture of side dies.

Next, we drill a hole in the dies for the pin of the blade stopper, install the axis and stopper pin, install the blade and the second die. We move the blade to the open position and mark on the die the position of the heel of the blade, more precisely the place where the lock liner should rest. Next, mark the liner and proceed to cut it.

Having prepared the ribs in this way, we proceed to their installation on the dies. The methods are different: soldering, riveting, spot welding, etc. The most accessible are soldering and riveting.

For soldering, you will need a soldering iron, soldering acid, solder and a heat source. As a soldering iron, it is best to use a massive piece of copper, which is heated in a burner flame. Soldering acid is hydrochloric acid etched with zinc. POS-60, POS-90 are suitable as solder. Before soldering, it is necessary to clean and tin the soldering points. It is cleaned with sandpaper, a file. After stripping, we coat the soldering points with acid, take, on a well-heated soldering iron, a piece of solder and tin the surface. In the process of tinning, it is necessary to ensure that there are no gaps left and that the entire surface is covered with an even layer of solder. High-quality tinning and soldering are possible only with good heating of the parts.

After tinning, rinse the parts well in water with soda, removing acid residues. Next, we clamp the tinned parts in a vise and begin to warm up with a burner from different sides. To reduce heat loss, it is necessary to lay a thermally insulating material under the vise jaws; fragments of ceramic tiles are well suited. As it warms up, we tighten the vise until droplets of solder come out between the parts, after which the heating can be stopped.

Soldering the right tack has some peculiarities: first, we solder the axis of the knife into the die, and then solder the trap, while instead of one of the ceramic tiles we use a piece of tube larger than the axis of diameter.

So, all the components of the knife are ready, it remains to assemble the knife, once again make sure that the lock is working correctly. Adjust if necessary. For smoother operation of the mechanism, it should be lubricated with engine oil. After some time of operation, the parts of the mechanism should be rubbed in, the blade will rotate easily and smoothly, the liner plate will rise slightly.

Today, buying a folding knife is not at all difficult, since such a product is not only presented in a huge assortment, it is also sold in many retail stores, as well as on Internet sites. But, despite this, every day the number of people who want to make handmade folding knife. This is due to the fact that homemade folding knives are unique and a person can customize it as much as possible to suit their preferences. Moreover, in the process of self-manufacturing a knife, a person can use any materials, which will make the device reliable and durable.

Before you start making your own folding knife, you need to clearly define the following indicators:

• what will be the shape of the future knife;
• what material will be used for its manufacture;
• what design will the future knife have;
• what will be the design of the knife.

DIY folding knives can be made of any material and have any shape, the main thing is to adhere to the established standards in the manufacture. When choosing materials for a knife, it is necessary to give preference to the most durable and strong material. For the blade, stainless steel with high hardness or Damascus steel is suitable. Of course, most people prefer stainless steel, because it is easier to make a knife out of it and, unlike Damascus steel, it is resistant to corrosion.

In addition to materials, for the manufacture of a knife, it is necessary to prepare tools that may be required in the process of performing the work. It is worth noting that in the manufacture of a simple version of a folding knife, you will need the simplest tools at hand. Special attention should be paid to the choice of material for the handle, since it must be not only reliable and durable, but also convenient to use. That is, it is necessary to think over the shape of the handle correctly so that it is securely fixed in the hand and does not slip out. Having decided on the most convenient form of the handle, you need to choose the material from which it will be most convenient to perform it.

Making a folding knife can be done using handle materials such as hard wood, impact-resistant plastic or metal. And, of course, when planning the independent production of a knife, you need to think about the mechanism for folding it. Moreover, the mechanisms of the knife must be treated with extreme caution and everything must be thought out for the smallest details, since an incorrectly executed mechanism can cause injury during the use of the knife. Before starting work on the manufacture of a folding knife, you need to make sure that all the necessary materials are prepared.

folding knife mockup

So, if a person is interested in a question, how to assemble a folding knife, then it is possible to do this even without special skills. The main thing in this process is to take into account all the established parameters and adhere to all the rules for performing such a process. The first thing to do, starting with the manufacture of a knife, is to sketch the future fixture on paper. You can also use special graphic editors. The best option for cutting a template for a future knife blade is cardboard, since it is more durable than paper. Moreover, all the components of the future knife can be cut out of cardboard, and then fasten the cardboard blade and the handle with a screw and nut, for this you need to cut a hole in the cardboard for the axis. This approach will help to understand how proportional the elements of the knife are, and how the manufactured fixture will close.

In addition, the execution of a cardboard model of the knife will help to correctly fit the shape of the heel of the blade, and this part, as you know, is extremely important for comfortable and practical use of the knife. You can find out how the supporting part of the heel should look like by viewing folding knife do it yourself video. The video will help make sure that the heel of the blade is really made correctly and has the required bevel angle, the angle of 7-9 0 is considered optimal. After that, it is necessary to sketch a linear knife lock, as you know, it is based on three points that form a triangle. Each point of the linear lock has its own purpose:

• to install the pivot pin;
• for mounting a corkscrew pin;
• the contact zone of the supporting planes of the heel of the blade and the pressure plate, that is, the stopper.

It is worth noting that it is the lateral pressure force of the stopper that fixes the blade in the closed position; there are no other elements that perform such a function in this knife design. That is why it is extremely important to mount a small steel ball from the bearing into the stopper, it will become an additional fixator for the closed blade and, accordingly, will secure the use of the knife. It is very important to choose the correct location of the ball retainer, since the functioning of the entire knife lock depends on it.

Having marked the location of the ball retainer on the cardboard mock-up of the blade and the locking spring, you need to make sure that it will fit tightly there and will not interfere with the folding of the knife. After that, it is necessary to decide on the fasteners that will tighten the dies together. It is not recommended to use fasteners with large heads and place them too close to the edge of the handle. This is due to the fact that subsequently it may be necessary to install a spacer or tubular racks between the mounts.

How to make a folding knife with your own hands

After the cardboard layout of the future knife is ready and all its elements meet the standards, you can begin to manufacture the device itself. At this stage, material for the future knife and tools that may be useful in the process of its manufacture should already be prepared. As already mentioned, stainless steel is considered the best material for making a knife blade, since it will not rust even if moisture gets inside the fold.

For drilling holes in hardened steel, it is best to use ceramic or glass drills. It is very important to drill at low speeds, while applying little effort. If you approach the process of drilling holes in the workpiece irresponsibly, then you can simply erase the drills without achieving the desired result. In order to prevent the steel from sinking, it is necessary to constantly monitor the level of its heating and often cool the part.

As for the dies, it is better to use titanium for them, since, even with a small thickness, this material has high strength indicators. In addition, titanium is lightweight and does not corrode, which is also important for a folding knife. When processing titanium and giving it the desired shape, it is also recommended to work at low speed grinders, you can even use a hand saw for metal.

In order to make a folding knife, the next thing to do is cut out the contours of the corkscrew spring, which will be located at the bottom of the die. In the intended place of the end of the die, it is necessary to drill holes with diameters of not more than 2.5 millimeters, there should be 3-4 such holes. After making holes, they need to be connected and a hacksaw blade should be brought there. The next step will be sawing the stopper line, but when performing this procedure, it is necessary to leave a small margin, which is removed during the process of setting up and checking the finished knife.

As for the lower plate, it often has the same dimensions as the upper one, but there is one difference: in the lower plate, it is necessary to make a special recess, under the hole for opening the knife. Another difference between the top and bottom plates is the diameter of the screw hole. In the lower die, such holes must be made for the screw thread, while the diameters of the holes in the upper die must have the screw diameter. After all the details have been cut out and all the holes have been drilled, it is necessary to make or pick up two small washers. Washers made of bronze or fluoroplast are considered the most optimal. Such washers will act as a bearing, and are attached to the axis of rotation of the knife.

The next step in the manufacture of the knife will be its direct assembly. You need to do this in turn:

• insert the axle into the lower die;
• put a locking pin;
• install the washer;
• put the blade and assemble the knife together.

If any inaccuracies arose during the assembly process, but they need to be eliminated, for example, if the parts of the knife do not match, then they need to be adjusted in place. After the knife is assembled, it is necessary to install the corkscrew ball. To do this, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe corkscrew spring, it is necessary to drill a hole with a diameter of 0.1-0.2 mm, that is, it must be smaller than its ball. The average size of a bearing ball is 1.5-2 mm. The ball is pressed into the locking plate using a vise, while it should protrude to the surface by about half a millimeter.

After the ball is installed, it is necessary to determine the place of its contact with the wedge, for this it is enough to close and open the knife several times. After that, a trace will remain on the knife blade, stepping back from the edge of the trace 0.3 millimeters, it is necessary to make a small hole, into which the ball will enter when the knife is closed. In order to set and test the functionality of the knife lock, it is initially recommended to assemble the fixture without the top die. If everything works properly, you can fully assemble the knife and check its operation already in the folded state.

That's all the knife is ready. As it becomes clear to do do-it-yourself folding automatic knife it may take a little time and patience.

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Knives are currently popular not only in the kitchen, but also among people who have connected their lives with extreme outdoor activities - these are: fishing, hunting, tourism, etc.

In modern times, there are various knives on the market: variable models, different sizes and designs. But none of them can replace a knife that is made by hand.

How to make a knife with your own hands is often written on the Internet, and you should try to make them.

Knives: types and main properties

On the photos of the knife on the Internet, you can see that each product is a creative element created from various mechanisms.

There is a large classification of knives depending on their functionality: combat, tourist, folding (for example, a butterfly), knives designed for hunting, multi-tools, bivouac knives, as well as ordinary kitchen knives.

Kitchen knives are bought ready-made, but knives intended for hunting or for tourism can be easily made at home on your own.

There are also such knives as survival knives, the main task of which is to help with existence in the wild. This option is relevant for tourists and hunters.

The blade of such a knife is usually no more than 12 cm. This length is sufficient for cutting wood, processing game, cleaning fish, or other similar actions. The small dimensions make it easy to transport such a knife.

In the manufacture of such a knife, great attention should be paid to the material intended to create the blade. Steel is often preferred.

Steps to create a knife

To get a positive result during the manufacture of the knife, you must first sketch out the drawing of the knife. In this case, you can know in advance what exactly you want to achieve in the end.

Instructions on how to make a knife at home includes a number of rules.

Making a knife step by step

Cut out the blank for the future knife. Based on the finished drawing, cut out the shape for the knife.

You will need a knife sharpener. With its help, bring the base to the desired shape. And after that, an already understandable blank will be in the hands, where you can distinguish the places of the handle and blade.

Rough sharpening of knives. At this stage, you clearly need to know what your future knife is intended for. If it is made for hunting, fishing or hiking, then it is better to give preference to the blade type of sharpening.

And, if the knife is created to function in the kitchen or in the garden, then a razor type will do.

Do not expect perfect sharpening from this stage, because this is just a draft, intended to determine the future shape.

If the blade is pre-prepared, then you can start working with the handle. A variety of materials are used to create the handle - these are: wood, organic glass, bones, thick types of leather, etc.

Note!

Having cut out the workpiece to create the handle, you should check whether it fits comfortably in your hand, as well as its proportionality with respect to the blade. The handle for the knife is fixed using the riveting method.

The shape for the foot handle is attached using a grinding machine.

The knife is ground and polished on the basis of sandpaper.

The final sharpening of the blade is done after sharpening on a sharpener, also using sandpaper.

At the end, the finished knife is polished with velvet or polish.

Note!

As you can see, the process of making a knife with your own hands is not that difficult, so everyone can try their hand at this area.

You can also set the necessary and desired design for the future knife. Pay special attention to the handle during the design process.

knife design

Since it is by the handle of the knife that the rest can then judge your creative thinking and status.

Some write their names on the handles of the knife, draw certain patterns and sketches in the form of tattoos.

The simplest knife can be built in an emergency in the forest, the main thing is to find the materials necessary to create it.

Note!

It is worth finding only the cutting part for the knife, and then you should insert it only into the handle, which will be in the form of a piece of wood, ropes or leather.

DIY knife photo

This is an instruction on how to make a homemade folding knife with a lock button that locks the knife in the open position.

The project took a lot of time and effort, but I am very pleased with how I made the folding knife with my own hands.

Step 1: Preface

Before you see the diagram and drawings, I must tell you that this is a very difficult build and I think luck was on my side during the making of the knife. Therefore, if you are a beginner, I would recommend that you start with a simpler project, such as building a small, sturdy, regular knife. The project turned out to be much more difficult than I expected, and I had to deal with new problems all the time. But if you want to make the same knife - act! It's a great feeling to have something like this on your desk and you know you made it yourself.

Step 2: Information

This is a brief overview of all the information related to the folding pocket knife.

• 8 cm long
• Thickness 1.3mm
• Mirror polish
• Razor sharp
• Engraved logo

• Length 10.5 cm
• 1.5 cm thick
• Made from stainless steel and black zebrano
• with button lock system

Materials + cost:

• old saw used to cut metal - FREE
• stainless steel from an old washing machine - FREE OF CHARGE
• Zebra Tree - FREE (I had a piece of this tree in my hands)
• other iron parts were found in the garden - FREE OF CHARGE
• project cost time, sanding discs and electricity

Step 3: Create the Blade

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Note: Some of these photos are not from this knife, but the manufacturing method is the same.

To assemble a folding knife with your own hands at home, you will need high-quality high-carbon steel. Saws are good for this, or, for example, a disk from a circular saw. Your best bet is to find spring steel. You can check if steel is high carbon by grinding it with a bench grinder. If the sparks are long and narrow, then the steel is soft; if the sparks are divided into several smaller sparks, then the steel is high-carbon.

If you are using (like me) some old saw, you need to "loosen" it. This means that the steel is too hard to machine, so you need to soften it. The best and most convenient way is to simply throw it into the fire and leave it there overnight so that the steel heats up and then cools down very slowly. (you may need to repeat the procedure several times).

Let's say you have good, high-quality and mild steel. Now you need to come up with the shape of your knife. For this project, I had to come up with a special mold so that I could assemble the locking mechanism. As you can see, I made several prototypes that I painted on steel.

Drill a hole (if you can't do that, the steel is still very hard and you need to soften it even more). Then use an angle grinder with a disc to cut out the rough shape. Level the workpiece with something like a bench or belt sander.

Now clean the steel and get rid of all traces that are present on it. You can use the belt sander again or the sanding disc attached to the drill.

After cleaning, start grinding down the steel under the blade. I used a hand grinder.

I wanted to make a “thumb rest”, so I took the remaining steel and tried different shapes on it. The one that I liked the most, I cut with a hacksaw and smoothed out with small files.

I stopped here because I didn't want to refinish the blade if I scratched it. After the handle was made, I heat-treated it with a propane torch to red-hot it and then quenched it in oil. Then I sanded it with sandpaper of different grits and finally polished it on a grinding wheel.

Step 4: Making the Handle

In exactly the same way, I cut and sanded pieces of stainless steel for the handle. I drilled four holes, one for the bolt, one for the locking mechanism, and two for the wood tabs.

Step 5: Continue with the Pen

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In order to make the lock more stable, I wanted steel parts in the front of the handle. I made them the same way I did the blade and stainless stuff. I used a 0.5 cm thick steel rod. For the safety pin you need to drill a hole in the back, but not through, but so that the spring can stay there! The front also has a smaller hole on the outside and a larger hole on the inside. This is to prevent the safety pin from falling out.

To thread the bolt, I drilled a hole with the diameter shown on the back of the caliper (see photo). I couldn't find the bolt I needed, so I made it myself on a lathe. Then I made a carving and cut out a recess in the head.

Step 6: Making the Handle: Safety Pin

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This thing is the most accurate, the most difficult and the smallest in assembling a penknife with your own hands.

Let me tell you something first: my original idea was to make a simple friction folding knife, so I designed it and made the blade. But then, I started thinking about the knife and realized what a locking mechanism could do. A few minutes later I came up with this idea. I decided that this is a good option how to make a locking mechanism. So I made another design and another blade and hoped for the best. Before that, I had not tried to create anything like this, and I was very curious if my idea would work.

During the build, I found that things would not be as easy as I expected, but nothing is impossible. Using lathes, drills, metal files, sandpaper and more, I finished the pin in about 3 hours.

Let me explain to you what it is: the front of the pin (the one without the ring) serves as a block for the blade. The pin sits on a spring, so when you press down on it, the other end of the pin pushes down on the spring, and the thinner part of the pin slides through the groove in the blade. The ring on the other end serves as a block so the pin doesn't fall out of the knife.

Despite the difficulty of making this item, I was forced to make two pins, because the first one dangled a little, and this caused the blade to oscillate.

In order for the pin to return and fix the folding knife, you need to insert a spring into the back - I cut a suitable one from the spring from a ballpoint pen.

Step 7: Making the Handle: Aligning

As the name implies, you need to perfectly align the handle using whatever methods you see fit.

You will also want to make spacers. I made mine from a piece of stainless steel. Next, I drilled two holes in the handle and in the spacer and then cut out a rod that was 2mm longer so I could hammer it in and make it flat.

Step 8: Making the Handle: Wood Liners

As I mentioned earlier, I used a zebra tree. I do not recommend it for beginners because it is a very hard wood and difficult to work with. (I know what I'm talking about. I had to redo the fingerboard twice on another knife because I didn't know how the wood behaved.) The most accessible and easy to work wood I've found is beech. It is solid but easy enough to work with.

First, copy the sketch of your knife onto a piece of wood. Then roughly file it with a rasp to shape it and use a round file to make a groove. Using different files and sandpaper, round off the corners of the wood so that the handle feels good to hold. Using pins, secure the overlays and make sure everything looks even and high quality.

Step 9: Finishing

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Finally, the product became like a knife. The only thing left to do is sand it with sandpaper of different grits and polish it on a grinding wheel.

Glue the wood pieces with epoxy and secure them with pins, but not through, but only to the stainless steel part so that the knife can go inside. Now cut the pins to the size of the pads and grind them to zero. For finishing, I used some kind of oil. You can use anything - oils, wax, paints, varnishes and so on.

Since I wanted to somehow mark my knife, I used two nine-volt batteries and vinegar to etch my logo on the blade. Pour some vinegar into a small container and put some salt in it - just enough concentration that the salt no longer dissolves. Now take a cotton swab and dip it into the solution. Next, connect two batteries. Connect the positive wire to the blade, and the negative wire to the tip of the stick, so that the blade touches the cotton saturated with the solution. Prepare the blade by cleaning it with alcohol or soap. Use nail polish to cover the area where you want your logo to be. Scratch the desired image with a toothpick. Now you can start etching. (I recommend trying this process on a spare piece of metal, because you won't get the job done right the first time.)

Another useful thing is to make two circles out of plastic with a hole puncher and make holes in them. Place these circles between the blade and the steel part of the handle, and a little lubrication with WD-40 will make the knife open and close much smoother.

The last thing to do is sharpen the blade. I used a wet whetstone and a strip of leather. I compared the sharpness with my old razor and I must say that the sharpness is almost the same.

I spent about 40 hours on the project, but it was worth it. The best thing you can hear from other people is asking where you bought this knife and if you are going to make and sell knives.

Step 10:

For better carrying, I made a homemade leather scabbard. First, take the foam and cut a hole for the knife inside. Then take a piece of leather and soak it in warm water. Next, make a sandwich: put a tree on the table, put a knife on it, put a plastic bag on top (so that the knife does not get wet), then leather, foam with a hole, a foam cover and another piece of wood. Then clamp the sandwich in a vise and let it dry overnight. Simply sew the resulting piece of leather to another piece of leather, add a rivet and a belt clip.

Step 11: Photos

Here are some photos of the finished knife. I hope you enjoyed it because it's a beautiful and challenging project.

The urbanization of the modern world has led to an increase in the popularity of folding knives (colloquially - "folders" or "folders", from the English folder - a folded object). Such a knife is compact and convenient for a city dweller, attracts less attention, and usually its wearing is absolutely legal.

It can be used for a variety of operations - opening envelopes and cardboard boxes, opening plastic packaging, cutting adhesive tape, etc. In a critical situation, it can also be used as a personal defense tool. There was even a special term for the knives of a city dweller - “everyday carrying knife” or an EDC knife (from the English abbreviation EDC - Every Day Carring).
The activity of human rights organizations in many countries of the world has led to the fact that folding knives have come to replace knives with a fixed blade in law enforcement agencies and even in special units operating in urban areas. These knives are called "tactical". Surpassing urban knives in strength and reliability, they are inferior to them in size and weight.
In addition to self-defense, they can be used for a wide variety of operations - breaking doors, breaking through office partitions and, of course, cutting ropes, etc. These knives are often used as auxiliary knives in army units, as well as tourist (camping) knives or knives for working in field conditions.

The main types of blade retainers

Achievements of modern metallurgy and inorganic chemistry, the introduction of new materials processing technologies make it possible to implement the most daring design ideas. The close interaction of knife masters with hand-to-hand combat experts allows you to create original models of tactical knives with enhanced combat qualities. As a result, new models of folding knives appear with an unusual blade shape, ergonomic handles, and additional design elements that increase the convenience and safety of using the knife.

Knives with increased cutting properties

There is no perfect knife. Certain design solutions and elements increase the performance of the knife for certain types of work. In addition, there are no identical people, they have different hand sizes, they can have a leading right or left hand. For those who are not experts in the field of bladed weapons, the variety of designs creates a certain difficulty in choosing a knife for their needs.

Folding knife design
Folding knives have a long history and have gone from primitive designs to high-tech products, the manufacture of which uses the most advanced technologies.
A typical folding knife is a blade with one-sided sharpening, mounted on the axis of the handle. When folded, the blade of the knife is hidden in the handle.
The main structural elements of a knife are the blade and the handle.
In the classic version, the rotation of the blade occurs in the plane of the handle. Much less common are knives in which the axis of rotation of the knife is perpendicular to the plane of the blade. These knives look very original, but in terms of reliability they are inferior to knives of a classic design. An exception to this rule is articulated knives with a transverse opening of the blade.
In most folding knives, when open, the blade is in line with the handle. Among folding knives designed for personal self-defense, you can find knives in which the blade can be fixed in an intermediate position - perpendicular to the handle. In this case, the knife turns into a knuckle-grip knife like the famous “push daggers” (push dagger), originating from the daggers of the hidden carrying card players of the Wild West. The advantage of such knives is a simplified technique for striking - a blow is similar to a punch.
STI even developed the Tai sabaki knife (from the name of the Japanese body reversal technique), in which the blade can be fixed in six positions, which allows you to expand the technical arsenal of striking.

STI knife with blade lock in several positions

According to the opening principle, knives can be divided into knives:
- with manual opening and closing of the blade;
- with semi-automatic and automatic blade opening;
- fully automatic.
In knives with semi-automatic opening, to bring the blade into working condition, it is enough to move the knife blade slightly, and then it is brought to working condition by a special spring.

Semi-automatic knives and automatic knife (right)

In knives with automatic opening, for this you only need to press a special button or a folding trigger guard on the handle. In knife literature, such knives are often referred to as "automatic" or "automatic knives", although this is not entirely true, since the reverse operation of folding the blade is performed manually in them. A classic example of such knives is the "Italian stiletto" and its numerous clones.

Buttons for opening semi-automatic knives and Italian stiletto

In fully automatic knives, both opening and closing of the knife is automatic. Moreover, the blade extends from the handle along the longitudinal axis of the blade (frontal ejection of the blade), and in the closed position it is completely retracted into the handle. This allows the use of dagger-type blades with two-sided or one-and-a-half sharpening in such knives, but imposes restrictions on the width of the blade - it cannot be greater than the width of the handle.
The process of opening / closing the blade is controlled by a special slider on the handle. These knives usually have a characteristic blade play. Only the specialists of the Mikrotek company, known for the high quality of manufacturing knives, managed to create automatic knives that are practically devoid of this drawback. But the price to pay for this is their high price.

Microtek automatic knives

The legislation of many countries, including Russia, classifies automatic knives with a certain blade length as criminal, and their wearing in these countries is prohibited. These restrictions do not apply to semi-automatic knives.
In order to avoid the risk of injury if such knives are accidentally opened in a pocket, they often have a special safety catch.
The main advantage of automatic and semi-automatic knives is to quickly bring them into working condition with one hand. This is of great importance in knife fighting, as well as for people who, as a result of professional activities, can only operate with one hand.
The disadvantages of these knives include increased sensitivity to dirt due to the rather complex design of the opening mechanism, and therefore less reliability. Cleaning the mechanism is a rather complicated procedure, especially in fully automatic knives, where it can only be carried out by qualified personnel. Therefore, automatic and semi-automatic knives are not well suited for field conditions.
These shortcomings are devoid of knives in which the opening of the blade occurs due to its gravity ("inertial knives"). The most famous of them is the knife of the airborne units of the Wehrmacht, which is still produced in a modified version today. The knife is very reliable, has a simple design and can be easily disassembled for preventive cleaning.

Fixing the blade in the open position is provided by special structural elements - locks(in English literature - lock). This fixation of the blade ensures the safe use of the knife, especially in operations where its piercing effect is necessary.
On the first primitive folding knives, the latch-lock was a special protrusion on the butt of the knife like a straight razor. Currently, there are many varieties of these devices. However, only three types of locks are most widely used - back up (lock on the butt of the blade), liner lock (strip lock) and axis lock (axial lock), as well as their varieties. All of them allow you to create knives that can be opened with only one hand, and provide a fairly secure blade in the open position.

A kind of lock on the butt of the blade

The lock on the butt of the blade (back up lock) considered the most reliable. But knives with this type of latch are difficult to fold with one hand. In addition, there is a possibility of accidental folding of the blade when the handle is strongly compressed.
Knives that use the kind of back up lock that was originally used on Spanish Navaja knives are free from this drawback. A similar lock is used on the South African Okapi. In this latch-lock, the blade is locked in the open position by a protrusion of the butt, which enters the hole on the spring bar of the lock. To disengage the latch in them, just pull the special ring. In modern versions, the ring has been replaced by a more compact and convenient folding bracket - a lever.

Linear lock (liner lock) compared to the previous one, it allows you to close the knife with one hand (in fairness, it should be noted that due to the asymmetry of the design, this is not very convenient for people with a leading left hand). Experts believe that in terms of the reliability of fixing the blade, this lock is inferior to the lock on the butt of the blade - with a strong longitudinal load, the end of the locking strip can disengage from the heel of the blade.

Much less common is ring lock, which is used on the French Opinel knives, which have been produced since the end of the 19th century. This lock has a very simple design - a slotted ring. To unlock the blade, it is enough to turn the ring so that its slot is aligned with the line of the blade. The same type of lock is used on the original domestic knife "Fortel".
In addition to the classic ones, there is a very interesting type of hinge-frame type knives. In these knives, the main structural element are special frames or hinges, which at the same time ensure the fixation of the blade. Such knives are distinguished by high reliability of locking the blade in the open position while the knife is held in the hand. They have a symmetrical shape, so they are equally convenient for both right-handers and left-handers.

Frame knives consist of two frames, the planes of rotation of which are mutually perpendicular. Among domestic knives, these include "Chizhik" by master Konstantin Sazhin and "Skat" by the company "NOKS".

Frame knives "Chizhik" and "Skat"

Of the hinged knives, the most famous is the Philippine balisong (butterfly knife) and its antipode, in which the plane of rotation of the blade is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the knife. The latter is, perhaps, the only knife with a transverse tear-off of the blade, which provides a very reliable fixation of the knife blade in the open state.
Among articulated knives, pantograph knives have the most complex design. Typical representatives are the German Paratrooper knife and the Power Glide knife from Smith & Wesson.

Knives with transverse rotation of the blade

The Paratrupper knife, patented in Germany in 1938, is sometimes erroneously called the knife of the Wehrmacht landing units. An indispensable condition for knives for paratroopers is the ability to open it with one hand, and it is impossible to open the Paratrooper with one hand. The reason for this misconception was the name of the knife, which translates as "parachutist". However, this name is not associated with the purpose of the knife, but with the fact that its opening resembles the opening of a parachute dome. The unique feature of this knife is that the length of the blade when open exceeds the length of the handle.
The main disadvantage of hinged-frame knives is the impossibility of opening the knife with one hand and the complexity of the design. The only knife of this type devoid of these shortcomings is the famous Filipino balisong knife.

Articulated knives

In most folding knives, when folded, the blade is completely hidden in the handle of the knife. Only part of the butt protrudes from the handle (for this reason, double-sided sharpening of the blade is not used in folding knives). However, there are knives in which, when folded, the blade comes out of the handle - semi-folding knives. A classic example of such a knife is the daggers of Admiral D'Estaing. This design combines the advantages of large fixed blade knives with the small dimensions of folding knives. This design of knives in the last century was quite common on hunting and jaeger knives. It is with this knife that Kuzmich cuts pineapple from the garden in the popular comedy "Peculiarities of the National Hunt."

Semi-skewed knives

The disadvantage of these knives is the need to use a sheath to carry them. Knives are free from them, in which the blade is retracted into a special groove that extends from the handle when the blade is folded.
A Soviet knife designed by A.I. Shilin, deputy chief designer of the Kovrov Plant No. 2 named after A.I. K. O. Kirkizha (State Union Plant No. 2). The knife was developed as part of the competition for the selection of a folding knife for the officers of the Soviet army, which was held in 1944, and took second place in this competition. According to some reports, in 1945 a small trial series of these knives was made. However, for unknown reasons, the knife never entered service. The knife had a blade with double-edged sharpening. When folded, the blade was hidden in the handle for two-thirds of its length. To carry the knife, a wooden sheath was used, inside of which there were special hooks that automatically extended the blade to its full length when the knife was removed. In addition to the blade itself, the knife handle contained a standard set of tools needed in everyday life - an awl, a corkscrew, a screwdriver, a can opener and a bottle opener.

Officer's knife designed by A.I. Shilin and its modern Chinese counterpart

The ideas laid down by Shilin in our time have been used by the Chinese in the development of a special knife that is in service with the Chinese police.

The blade is the main part of the knife. It is from him that the piercing and cutting properties of the knife depend. The main factors determining the operational characteristics of the blade are the material and technology of its manufacture, as well as its shape and section. The blades of modern folding knives are made of corrosion-resistant steels. On blades from well-known manufacturers, the steel grade is often stamped on the blade at the base of the handle. On cheap knives, you can often see the inscription on the blade - "stainless" or "rostfrei", which simply means "stainless steel". Currently, the knife industry uses several dozen different steel grades. Since different countries have different standards for the designation of steel grades, the same steel may have different designations. The most common steel grades used for the manufacture of folding knife blades are shown in the table.

For an inexperienced user, it is enough to take into account the fact that the more expensive the steel, the longer it keeps sharpening, but this increases the fragility of the cutting edge and makes it more difficult to straighten the knife at home. The quality of the blade is largely influenced by the technology of thermal hardening of steel used by the manufacturer. With proper heat treatment, even relatively cheap types of steel provide good cutting qualities of the knife, and vice versa, even expensive types of steel with flaws in heat treatment will not ensure good blade quality. It is with this that the high cost of folding knives of well-known manufacturers is associated, which have modern equipment and carefully monitor the quality of the blade.

The hardness of the cutting edge is expressed in Rockwell units. Typically, folding knife blades are hardened to 42–60 HRC units. The larger this number, the longer the knife keeps sharpening, but you have to pay for this with less resistance to shock loads and the complexity of sharpening the knife. And, conversely, at low HRC values, the cutting edge is more plastic, easily sharpened, but does not hold sharpening well. With an increase in hardness above 61 HRC, the blade of knives with a normal butt thickness becomes very brittle. The edge of blades tempered to 42 pts. and less, has low strength and is difficult to cut ordinary materials. This indicator is not given on the packaging of knives. Even when describing the model on the manufacturer's website, it is not always possible to see it. When using a knife, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the knife blade is very sensitive to temperature rise. That is why you should not stir up the coals of a fire with a knife or use an electric grinder for metalwork or carpentry tools to sharpen it.

The surface of the blade can be polished, matted, blued, chrome-plated or have a special protective coating.

Polishing increases the resistance of the blade to corrosion, but such a surface shines in the sun, which is not entirely acceptable in tactical knives. Matting increases the anti-reflective properties, but worsens the corrosion resistance of the knife.

When the blade is burnished, a thin layer of protective oxide film is created on its surface, while the blade acquires a dark color. In chromium plating, a thin layer of chromium is applied to the surface of the blade, which prevents corrosion of the blade, but not its cutting edge.

In modern knives, blade coatings made of synthetic materials (epoxy resins, Teflon) are becoming more common, which provide high resistance to moisture or acid and alkaline environments. Since this coating prevents the blade from reflecting in the sun, it is often referred to as "anti-reflective" and is often used on tactical knives. The disadvantage of such coatings is low wear resistance and sensitivity to scratches.

Recently, with the reduction in the cost of industrial production of Damascus steel, more and more blades are made from it. Damascus steel is obtained by forge welding several layers of steel with different carbon contents. As a result, a beautiful pattern appears on the surface of the blade. Modern industrial production of Damascus steels allows you to pre-design the shape of this pattern ("mosaic Damascus").

The combination of low-carbon strips of steel providing ductility and high-carbon strips of steel providing hardness of the cutting edge allows you to create blades with excellent performance. In addition, the cutting edge of Damascus steel knives has micro-teeth, which increase the cutting ability of the knife.

Knives with blades made of Damascus steel look very impressive. However, it should be borne in mind that the risk of getting a defective Damascus steel blade is much higher than when purchasing a knife with a conventional steel blade. This is due to the rather complex manufacturing technology of such steel.

Doly, often referred to as bloodlines, are longitudinal grooves along the axis of the blade and serve to lighten the weight of the blade. At the same time, they increase the rigidity of the blade in the transverse direction. Sometimes they are through cutouts.

Ricasso- the unsharpened part of the blade at the handle serves for the convenience of sharpening the knife.

false blade came from combat knives with a fixed blade that has one and a half sharpening.

Folding knives use a variety of blade shapes. For ordinary household operations, knives with a straight blade or a blade converging to a point are preferred. The disadvantage of the classical form of the blade is its lower strength at the point, since the thickness of the blade gradually decreases towards the point. Blades in the form of "tanto" or "modified tanto" are free from this drawback.

At the beginning of this century, first on knives with a fixed blade, and then on folding knives, a special blade shape with a reinforced tip began to be used. At the end of the last - the beginning of this century, knives with a sickle-shaped blade, which is typical for Malaysian karambit knives, came into fashion. Such a blade does not cut, but rips open the surface of the target like a plow. Knives with such a blade are used for self-defense or for cutting car seat belts. Knives in which the blade is located at an angle to the handle serve the same purpose. This idea has received its maximum development in knives with a pistol grip from the STI company.

Flat wedge has high performance, combining the strength of the blade and a sharp blade. Due to the uniform distribution of force, it cuts soft materials of large thickness well. Disadvantages - the complexity of sharpening, does not cope well with cutting hard materials.

Chisel profile- Differs in manufacturability and ease of sharpening. It is widely used on Asian knife blades. It has excellent chopping properties, cuts thin materials well.

Flat wedge and its variety, the plano-concave wedge with a supply, is easy to manufacture, easy to straighten and sharpen, perfectly performs a shallow cut. Disadvantages - low mechanical strength, difficulties in cutting thick materials due to protruding side ribs.

wedge profile has excellent cutting properties. The disadvantage is the fragility of the cutting edge and the difficulty of sharpening (it is necessary to sharpen the entire plane of the blade). From this disadvantage, a wedge-shaped section with a supply is free.

Pentagonal profile combines manufacturability, strength, good cutting qualities, well corrected. Disadvantages - the difficulty of sharpening when restoring the cutting edge.

In addition to the blade, folding pocket knives can have additional auxiliary tools - an awl, a corkscrew, a can opener, a bottle opener. In the so-called "Swiss Army knives" (Swiss Armyknives), the number of such tools can reach several dozen. Such multifunctional knives are called "multi-tools". For self-defense, knives with two working blades are also produced, which allow you to hit the target with the forward and reverse stroke of the hand without changing the orientation of the knife or changing its grip.

Part of the blade of the blade can be sharpened in the form of a saw for cutting fibrous materials. In the knife literature, such sharpening is called "sereytor" or "sereytornoy" (from the English. Serrated"sawtooth"). In self-defense knives, sereytor sharpening facilitates cutting through the upper dense clothing and can be performed along the entire length of the blade. The tooth configuration of this mini-saw may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. The presence of a sereytor makes it difficult to sharpen the blade at home; for this, you need to have a special tool and skills to work with it, or contact the appropriate specialist.

The design of most modern folding knives allows you to open them with one hand, both right and left. To do this, there are special elements at the base of the blade - cylindrical pins, round or square dies, or holes in the blade (a round hole is protected by a patent owned by the American company Spyderco, and other manufacturing companies are forced to use its other forms). It is more convenient to open knives with protruding elements - pins or dies, but they reduce the effective length of the blade.

At the beginning of this century, a special device appeared on the knives in the form of a hook on the butt, which ensures the automatic opening of the knife when it is pulled out of a trousers pocket. Owners of such knives should be aware that if the trousers are made of thin material, then after several cycles of pulling the knife, they are likely to be torn.

Much less common on modern knives is a special semicircular cutout on the blade. Most often it is used in models that have several working blades or tools, or in knives without blade fixation, which are well known to the older generation in Soviet times.

Another element that facilitates the opening of the knife is the flipper (from the English. flipper"fin") - a special ledge on the butt of the blade. To open a conventional knife, it is enough to move the blade slightly by pressing the flipper with your finger, and then, with an energetic swinging movement of the brush, bring the blade to its working position. In semi-automatic knives, there is no need for such a move; the blade is brought to the working position by a spring mechanism automatically.
In addition, the flipper plays the role of a kind of guard, preventing the hand from slipping onto the blade.

The most common grip on folding knives is the straight diagonal (fencing) grip. In this grip, the thumb is located on the butt of the blade. For more comfortable control of the knife, a special notch is made at the contact point of the thumb on the butt of the blade. The part of the handle adjacent to the blade may also have a notch.

handles

The handles of most modern knives have a package type-setting design, consisting of an internal frame (frame) in the form of metal strips - liners (liner) and overlays. Blade fixing elements, automatic opening mechanism (for semi-automatic and automatic knives) are mounted inside the frame.
Simple monolithic handles with a groove for the blade or handles made of a bent strip of steel are rare in modern knives, mainly in the French Opinel and African Duk-Duk. Previously, the parts of the handle were connected into a single whole using rivets. The axis of the blade was also riveted. In modern models, screw connections are usually used for this. The use of screw connections allows you to eliminate the loosening of parts that occurs during the operation of the knife, adjust the “softness of the blade stroke”, and facilitate the disassembly of the knife for maintenance work. Most foreign folding knives use screws with a torx slot (torx). To work with such screws, a special tool is required - screwdrivers or socket wrenches with the appropriate head. Some companies include such keys with the knife, otherwise they have to be purchased separately.

The shape of the handle, its section, as well as the texture of the lining determine the convenience and safety of using the knife. The rectangular section of the knife is technologically advanced in production, but not convenient when working with a knife for a long time. The handle with a round section fits comfortably in the hand, but it does not allow you to determine the orientation of the knife by touch. Therefore, oval-shaped handles are most convenient. The rectangular shape is compact, but it does not provide protection against slipping of the hand onto the blade. The wedge shape of the handle better protects the hand when working with the tip of the knife, but when trying to pull out the knife stuck in dense material, the hand will slide off the handle. Small penknives often have this shape for small household work.

The concave shape of the handle provides a more secure grip, but is not entirely comfortable. The convex shape of the handle fits perfectly in the hand and is comfortable to work with. It is this shape of the handle that time-tested Finnish-type knives have.

Even more convenient is the handle of a convex-concave shape and a shape that is often used on tactical knives. In modern knives, handles of a complex shape are increasingly used, taking into account the ergonomics of the hand. However, its configuration is calculated for a medium-sized arm, and a person with a large or, conversely, a small hand, will not be able to take full advantage of its advantages.

overlays

For their manufacture, materials of natural (wood, bone, horn) and artificial origin (metals, plastic) can be used. The main advantage of wooden overlays is their "warmth" and the beauty of natural material. In expensive handmade knives, exotic woods with a very beautiful texture can be used. The main disadvantage is poor wear and moisture resistance. The multi-layer lacquer coating in some way solves the problem, but it reduces the reliability of holding the knife in your hand. Another material of natural origin is horn and bone. Handles made of these materials are well polished and look very nice. The disadvantage is that they can crack and scratch easily. Metal linings are highly durable, but in the cold season, knives with such handles are inconvenient to use. In addition, they are difficult to hold in a wet or sweaty hand, even if they have a notch. In modern knives, titanium alloys based on aluminum or titanium are used for their manufacture. Damascus steel can also be used in expensive designer knives.

Materials based on synthetic resins make it possible to imitate the structure of natural materials and at the same time avoid their inherent disadvantages, although they lose to them in terms of weight. One of the most popular materials of this type is one of the types of micarta textolite. Recently, overlays made of various types of plastic, such as ABC, Zitel, Kydex, etc., are being used more and more. These materials are technologically advanced, moisture resistant, durable and resistant to the external environment. They allow the production of rubbers of any shape with any texture pattern - from a simple roughness inherent in the rubber material itself, or a rectangular cut to specially designed surface types. So, in the knives of the "For those who serve" series, CRKT uses a special honeycomb structure that prevents the knife from slipping in the hand. For the same purpose, rubberized inserts or structural inserts such as sandpaper are used.

At the end of the handles of many models of folding knives there is a through round hole for attaching a lanyard or lanyard to it.

Security elements

Although modern designs of blade retainers are quite reliable, nevertheless, as noted above, there is a possibility of accidental folding of the blade. To prevent this, modern knives have special fuses. For knives with a lock on the butt, they are usually located in the cutout area of ​​​​the locking lever. In linear lock models, they are located in front of the handle under the thumb. The addition of blade locks with guards practically transforms the knife from a folding knife into a fixed blade knife.

For the safe wearing of semi-automatic and automatic knives, the fuse must prevent the knife from opening in a pocket of clothing if the trigger mechanism is accidentally actuated. Therefore, in such knives, the safety often has a double action - it blocks the blade in the closed and open state.

Clip (clip) for wearing

An almost mandatory attribute of modern folding knives is a steel spring clip. In knife literature, the term “clip” is often used to designate it (from the English. clip clamp, clip). It provides convenient carrying of a knife in pockets of clothes or on a trouser belt.

Many knife manufacturers make the clip adjustable - that is, it can be fixed on different sides of the handle, depending on whether the owner is right-handed or left-handed. In addition, sometimes you can change not only the side of the clamp attachment - at the base or at the end. In this case, the knife in the pocket will be oriented either with the tip down or up. Some experts believe that when carrying a knife with the point up, there is a possibility of a cut when trying to get the knife out of the pocket, if for some reason the blade comes out of the handle. At the same time, with such an orientation of the knife, it is faster to bring it into working condition.

In some models of folding knives, the clip attachment point is not Z-shaped, but shaped like the letter "G" or "P". In this case, when carrying a knife in a pocket of clothing, the upper part of the handle is hidden from the outside eye - only the spring plate of the clip protrudes from the pocket. Outwardly, it looks like a regular ballpoint pen.

Elements that expand percussion capabilities

For self-defense, the knife can be used without opening the blade. In this case, it is used as a palm stick and the blow is delivered by parts of the handle protruding from the fist. In tactical and self-defense knives, the end of the handle to increase the effectiveness of such strikes often has a triangular shape or a special impact element in the form of a cylinder, cone or pyramid.

Concluding the review of folding knife designs, it should be noted that the legality of a knife, that is, the fact that it is not a cold weapon, can only be determined by an expert by law. Therefore, when purchasing a knife, it is always necessary to ask the seller for a copy of the information sheet for the certification test report (in common parlance it is often called a “certificate”). The absence of such a document, no matter what the seller says, may indicate that the knife you like has not passed the tests for belonging to melee weapons. Moreover, it is best if such tests were carried out by the parent organization "Expert Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs." It is best to always have a copy of this document with you, which will allow you to avoid unnecessary conflicts with law enforcement officials.

Most high-quality folding knives on the Russian knife market are the products of foreign companies. Unfortunately, the majority of serial domestic folding knives are inferior to foreign ones in almost all respects, and you can rarely find original models among them. Russian craftsmen and knife companies prefer to create knives with a fixed blade, and among them there are very original models that have no analogues abroad, which include Vitaly Kim's knives, the Kondrat knife, the NDK-17 knife (saboteur knife designed by Kochergin) . This is largely due to the more complex technology and the expensive equipment required for it. Among Russian craftsmen, only a few design and produce original folding knives of the author's work that are not inferior to foreign ones (including in terms of price). Folding knives of the Ural master Urakov and the workshop of the Shirogorov brothers are shown as an example. The rapid pace of development of the Russian knife industry allows us to hope for the appearance of domestic folding knives that are not inferior to foreign models.

Anatoly Fomin. Magazine "Bratishka" 2013-01