So now you have to decide, which pattern knife will I make? Well, that’s totally up to you. For purposes of this tutorial, we are going to make a Texas Toothpick. To get you started, I have made available a full size drawing in PDF. format. Click here to download it.
If I am going to make more than one of any style knife, I make a pattern out of steel which I can use repeatedly. This pattern is a fully functioning slipjoint. You can use the drawing I have supplied either to make a pattern or just use it to make a knife.
First thing I do is to trace the outline of my pattern onto steel that I have marked with red Dykem. For some reason, I like the red better than the blue. You can also use a sharpie to darken the steel for tracing.
Cut the blade and spring out as close as you can to the line. Drill your pivot hole in the blade and the center hole in the backspring. Once the parts are cut out, you can profile them just to the line. You want to make sure you leave a bit on there for making the small adjustments. At this point, I grind the inside of the backspring right to the line and finish to 600 grit. The end of the backspring is left a little long and unfinished at this point. We will finish the end later on.
