How to Build a Slipjoint

In October of 2001, I put together an online tutorial demonstrating how to build a slipjoint pocketknife. Since that time, many people have used the tutorial to build their first folder. One thing that contributed to the success of the tutorial was the fact that I had a basic knife shop with no special equipment such as milling machines or surface grinders.

Over the last few years, I've had numerous knifemakers tell me they would like to see a video on how I build my pocketknives. I decided that if I made a slipjoint video, I wanted to show the complete process from start to finish with plenty of detailed information and instructions. This is that video.

One of the frustrations that I had as a young folder maker was that almost all of the instructional books that I could find on the subject showed the maker using special equipment that I did not have. While I do have a milling machine and a surface grinder in my shop, and I do use them from time to time in the video, these pieces of equipment are in no way required to make an excellent knife. Whenever I use one of these, I always show one or two other ways to accomplish the same goal using basic tools that would be found in most knife shops.

This three DVD video set covers:

* Knife design and patterns

* Cutting out and grinding the parts

* Fitting up the blade and spring

* Grinding the blade

* Cutting the nail nick

* Heat treating the blade and spring

* Making the liners, bolsters, and scales

* Cleaning up the parts

* and Assembling the knife

(Running Time: 4 Hours 32 Minutes)