How To Make Folding Knives: A Step-By-Step How-To
Young Adult Non-Fiction Crafts & Hobbies Bladesmithing Knife Making Metalworking DIY Technology Vintage Workshop Manual
How To Make Folding Knives: A Step-By-Step How-To is the 1994 insider’s bible that sparked a generation of custom knifemakers. In 192 heavily-illustrated pages, legends Ron Lake and Frank Centofante demystify every critical stage—choosing blade steels, surface-grinding, heat-treating, creating walk-and-talk action, and hand-fitting liners—so you can move from raw bar-stock to a smooth-opening pocketknife that locks up like a vault. The book’s clear photos and exploded drawings let you see exactly how much tolerance to leave, where to drill pivot holes, and how to tune the back-spring for that distinctive “click” collectors prize.
What makes this vintage paperback special is the combined expertise of its authors. Lake is the father of the modern folding knife; Centofante was a master craftsman and Blade Magazine Hall-of-Famer. Between them they share shop secrets you simply won’t find in today’s mass-market knife books: how to build a hardened stop-pin, how to checker and anodize titanium handles, even how to salvage a blade that warped in quench. Young adults studying metal-work, adult hobbyists upgrading from fixed-blade projects, and professional makers seeking historical techniques all benefit from the same concise, safety-first instructions.
Because the 1994 first edition has been out of print for decades, clean copies are hunted by collectors and bladesmiths alike. This particular copy shows the honest wear you expect from a workshop reference—cover scuffs, no writing or dog-ears, pages still bright and binding tight—so it can ride in your shop bag without guilt while appreciating in value on the collector market. If you want the foundational text that custom makers quote and the blueprint for crafting a heirloom-quality folder, this is the copy to own.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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