Next up I drill the scale with a #55 drill so that I can press in a 1/16” hardened stainless ball bearing., photo 51 shows the ball pressed in place. The next photo shows the scale in a vice and the “special” tool for bending the lock, the tool is a scrap of aluminum with a slot cut in it to go over the titanium and give you leverage to bend it, you can see the bent lock in the pic 54. I like to bend the lock so that the outside edge just meets the inside edge.
The next photo shows my setup for grinding the lockface on the blade, this is the area where the lock engages the blade when it is open. I like to set up the face so that when you lay a flat edge across the radius made by the wheel it measures at about 7 – 8 degrees. If you make this area too flat the lock will slide over it and if it is too steep pressure on the back of the blade will push the lock off and release the blade allowing it to close. The last pic shows the lock in the assembled knife, right now there is very little engagement, I do that so that I can do the finish work on the blade and not worry about having the lock travel too far over. I don’t like a lock to go any further than the center of the blade when it is set, this allows for wear as the knife gets used.