DDR3BL Assistance Needed

[brutaldiver]

Hello To All, new to this forum and to the world of knife kit(s) assembly. I'm a police officer for a small community in SW Ohio and was hoping to try my hand at building knives with the Knife-Kits Kits. As an armorer for a handful of firearms mfgr's I'm familiar with working with small parts, tools & patience.
I recently ordered the Knife Kits DDR3BL & DDR3LL kits. As an afterthought, I was wondering what all went into converting either of these knives/kits to an automatic. If there's a link I missed in searching, I'd surely appreciate a pointer to its location. If there is a relatively easy/short explanation a member is willing/able to give I'd be very thankful. In short, any and all help in this project will help me out greatly. I'm hoping this building effort goes well & the finished product impresses my Chief enough to allow me to build for other officers in my dept.
Thanks in advance!
Bryant (brutaldiver)

[BMiller]

Good evening Bryant,

Welcome to the forums! You'll find a great deal of info here and a lot of great knifemakers.

The .375 spring fits the DDR3-BL. I used the Maxx version. Gives a good kick.

Don't know how to convert the Liner lock (yet!). Have fun and let us see what you finish.

Bill

[brutaldiver]

Bill,
Thanks for the welcome! I'm pretty pumped about getting these kits. I had to reschedule some physical therapy and a few other things just so I'd be here when they were to be delivered. I was going to wait for the weekend to begin work on them but, heck, who am I kidding.
There has got to be more to it than a spring???, isn't there? if so, that means I'll have to find a bunch of other goodies to order (to make it worth my while.... ) My wife is going to kill me.....Maybe I'll have to sell off a gun or 2...
Thanks again for your help Bill.

[James G]

Hi Bryant:

I just completed this same kit with a lot of help from B. miller. He was great help. The knife is not that hard but I took it apart at least 6 times trying to get it right. The spring is very easy to install as long as the push button release is lined up correctly. I made sure the knife worked the way I wanted it before I put the scales on and trimmed them. The blade is very heavy so don't expect the snap to be great. I will say it is a nice knife for the money and fun to put together.
For more help look at the other thread next to this. This is where Bill walked me through my project.
Good Luck.
James

[brutaldiver]

James, Thanks. I just ordered the springs and some more goodies from Knife Kits.com.
I also had to order some Cocobolo handles/scales. I love they way they look on my Colt 10mm & had to try them on the DDR3BL. I'm al little apprehensive about starting the sanding/shaping process on the carbon fiber handles/scales I got for the DDR3LL & BL. I've never worked with CF before. I figured I'd shape the Cocobolo ones first (that, I have worked with).
I'll check out the other thread to see if it helps any.

[EdStreet]

Originally Posted by brutaldiver

James, Thanks. I just ordered the springs and some more goodies from Knife Kits.com.
I also had to order some Cocobolo handles/scales. I love they way they look on my Colt 10mm & had to try them on the DDR3BL. I'm al little apprehensive about starting the sanding/shaping process on the carbon fiber handles/scales I got for the DDR3LL & BL. I've never worked with CF before. I figured I'd shape the Cocobolo ones first (that, I have worked with).
I'll check out the other thread to see if it helps any.

I am not sure if you are aware of it or not but....

many wood and other materials are toxic and will do some nasty things to your body. It's best to get a good respirator that filters everything out and use that at all times while working with alot of things. home depot, lowes, sears and other places stocks various things you can use. I do not recomend using just a dust mask as some of this stuff is way to fine and will come thru a dust mask, even if it's rated for wood dust. I once had an asthma attack from working with rosewood and that will be the *LAST* time that happens, now I use a respirator at all times.

Here's a good starting place for wood toxins in all forms.
wood/dust toxicity
Protect it now for tomorrow it maybe gone.

Ed

[David Reavis]

I am also interested in making an automatic conversion with the dd3 bl i just got. If there is anyone out there who could help me it would be much appreciated... thanks

David

[andy gascoigne]

Originally Posted by David Reavis

I am also interested in making an automatic conversion with the dd3 bl i just got. If there is anyone out there who could help me it would be much appreciated... thanks

David

Hi David

There is nothing to do except add a coil spring!! I won a DDR3bl in a competition and it came with the required spring, everything is even drilled, ie the blade and scales.

Of course I did,nt install the spring in my knife as they are not legal in the U.K

Regards,

Andy..

[brutaldiver]

Originally Posted by BlackNet

I am not sure if you are aware of it or not but....


Here's a good starting place for wood toxins in all forms.
wood/dust toxicity
Protect it now for tomorrow it maybe gone.

Ed

Andy,
Thanks so much. I appreciate the concern. Ever since I furst started working/fitting/grinding/sanding steel & polymer parts on firearms I began using such breathing & eye protection. I paid over $5K to get my eyes "lasered" and don't want o mess them up. My grandmother suffered severe resp problems due to her work during WWII (and lack of protection back then) & i still remember her difficulties.

Anyone with some suggestions as to best way to start the material removal process with CFiber would be much appreciated. I'm thinking I'm going to wind up buying just about 1 of most every handle material there is so as to show people all the options they can pick from.
If these first couple of kits finish up looking and working well I should already have around half a dozen guys that want to order one up. I have some great pins to inlay in the ones I want to do for some other copper friends of mine.
Oddball question: Is the DDR3BL supposed to come with washers for the pivot pin?
Thanks again for the help and guidance.

[andy gascoigne]

Originally Posted by brutaldiver

Is the DDR3BL supposed to come with washers for the pivot pin?
Thanks again for the help and guidance.

Allways glad to help

NO the DDR3BL does not come with or need washers. The inside of the liner has been pressed with a raised area that acts as a clearance washer. You would not be able to use a coil spring if washers were used on both sides of the blade.

Hope this helps..

Andy..

[brutaldiver]

Andy,
Thanks, makes sense. I haven't had it apart since putting it together the first time. Springs & other extras arrived today. No if I can just get some quiet time out in the garage away from the wife and 5 month old I might just get some work done....

[brutaldiver]

OK, Got the spring in. The button lock is now spring loaded. Not too bad on the opening. I'm just happy it locks out & locks in (unlike my MicroTech's )Now to start work on the sanding/finishing of the scales and bolsters & attaching the pocket clip. Thanks for the help from you all so far.

Any suggestions for me as to a core set of books/manuals on building folders (and a source to buy from)? I'm also interested in a good book on Auto Knives. I saw that the KnifeKits.com site has quite a few and didn't know if anyone might want to make a suggestion or 2. While I'll probably wind up with a ton of these things down the road (OK, so I love having a good research database... & they make for good throne reading ) I'd appreciate knowing which ones are the Gotta Haves.... Thanks again.
Bryant

[TexasJack]

As much as I hate to do an unpaid ad for Knifekits, they do make pretty nice knives. The DDR3 is a good example. It's a great design, but you have to put in some work to make the final product come out right. It's built so that you can do a wide variety of customization. That's a good place to learn techniques.

As for info, try doing searches on this web site and check out the Workshop link. There's a lot of info here and it costs you nothing. Don Robinson just had a lengthy session on building a liner lock.

[BMiller]

Originally Posted by andy gascoigne

Allways glad to help

NO the DDR3BL does not come with or need washers. The inside of the liner has been pressed with a raised area that acts as a clearance washer. You would not be able to use a coil spring if washers were used on both sides of the blade.

Hope this helps..

Andy..

Andy, you are right about the raised areas. But, when I did my file worked silver G10, I must have damaged one of the surfaces. The blade would work real well for about 15-20 times then start grinding to a halt. I dis-assembled and sanded and buffed the raised part and clean up the groove around the blade...work real well again until the customer got it and it started to be hard to open even by hand. So, the third time I took it apart I thought about putting washers in place of the raised area. Then you posted the above and I was worried that all my file work may be wasted. Here's what I did. The smaller of the two sides that are raised (the side the button is on), I sanded down flush with the liner so there is no more raised area. Then I took a large washer that comes with the DDR3LL and bored out the hole by hand with a drill bit in order to fit the pivot. I slid the washer over the pivot and installed the liner. My blade is even more centered than before and I dropped some WD40 type spray in the pivot area and it works. I use the Maxx spring and now it has a tremendous snap!! With a little more work the other side could be done the same way, just have to allow for spring movement etc.

Point of the story is BE CAREFUL when clamping the liner in your vise!

Hope this helps someone,

Bill

[BMiller]

Originally Posted by brutaldiver

Any suggestions for me as to a core set of books/manuals on building folders (and a source to buy from)? Bryant

Hi Bryant, I saw this the other day, pretty extensive list and also a good thread started by Don Cowles. It's over on the Newbie area as a sticky but here is the link.

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=13921

Don't forget to post some pics of your knife when you finish

Bill