With tooling in for the new framelocks, this week I will be able to start on the milling of the first framelocks. This design has been in the works for about seven months, so I'm happy to see it finally start to come into being. I wanted to show off some of the more exotic tools that we'll be using for this job, some folks may find it interesting anyway, and it helps explain why these kinds of knives can be so pricey.
Among the many carbide drills and endmills, there are some micro milling heads in the mix. The last photo above is one such endmill, which is a .018 milling bit for milling the framelock cutout. I'm hoping the bit lasts, it's proportionatly taking off very little material from the titanium billet, but I will need to flood coolant and feed like a sloth-extreme. These kind of bits are astronomically pricey, so I've got to make them last. I've also got some really awesome twisting taps for the pocket clip mount that should allow me to use the CNC to tap the frames. This will be a big help, it insures it's done perfectly each time and reduces the chances of breakage. Now to start milling...
-Will
