Slipjoints My Way: A complete method of making a slipjoint folder from raw materials all the way to the finished knife.

Even better than anticipated. Don Robinson presents his approach to slipjoints very clearly and in a way that is enjoyable to read. He even includes templates in the back which alone are worth more than the price of the book.Updated to address some of the other reviews for this book: (mainly that you need to have a machine shop)First: you do not need a machine shop to use this book. The only thing Mr. Robinson does any differently than any other knifemaker is to use his Bridgeport to cut the blade bevels. If you have made knives before then you already know how to grind bevels. Mr. Robinson also uses his mill to relieve the liners so that you don't have washers in the pivot. That's a personal choice you need to make. If don't have a mill, or a dremel, then by all means use some bronze washers and adjust your blade dimensions accordingly. He also uses a surface grinder, because he has one. I use a granite surface plate and elbow grease.Slipjoints aren't usually the jumping off point for a person's first knife. If you have never made any knife of any kind before, I would suggest that you begin by making fixed blade knives and get you arms around the basics of making a good knife with good fit and finish. I say this because you can pretty much wing it and make a good fixed blade. On a folder things require a much higher degree of precision. Notice that I didn't say tools. You can absolutely make a folder with very basic tools, but it is going to require a lot of elbow grease on a surface plate to get components flat, square, and of equal thickness.I have now made several knives following Mr. Robinson's directions. Even my first one came out pretty darn good and became my personal pocket knife. The only issue I had was that I didn't set enough spring tension correctly and the blade doesn't walk and talk. That is totally my fault, because on the second knife I did exactly what the book says and that knife came out perfect. Sometimes the problem isn't bad directions, it's skipping ahead because you think you know better than the directions. Well, live and learn. Follow the directions and it works- amazing, isn't it?

I gave this book 4 stars because it is exactly what it claims to be: one man's very specific way of making slipjoints. The pictures are decent and descriptions are good. The issue i had with the book was that his method was so specific and dependent on specialized equipment that I simply can't make a knife his way without a huge investment in machines and learning how to use them. However, I did pick up some general tips from the book that were helpful.

This is a very detailed and clear step-by-step book, BUT...the author is a highly skilled machinist with decades of experience, and you will need a reasonably equipped machine shop and the skills to use it to build a knife with this book. If you don't, then it's an interesting albeit academic read.

Good book- Robinson not only describes the procedures but why. The only glitch is that its in a home shop that is a functioning machine shop. In the interim a person would probably do better to learn using another book to make slipjoints.But that being said if you have aspirations of making a better slipjoint than you currently are- this is a great book and definitive resource.

A good source to get information on the author's methods on making slipjoint knife. Great pictures and explanations on this subject

This book has some good information, and a few tricks that made it worth while. It outlines one perspective on how to make a slip joint folder. This author has a full shop, and utilizes his tools. Anyone with a very limited shop may not find all of the procedures applicable to them. That said, it will help readers through the process even if your shop isn't as full.

Let me first say the author is highly knowledgeable and makes a fine knife. This is not the book for me, however. I am a hobby knife maker and have a decent shop and several power tools. Unfortunately I do not have a complete machine shop with milling equipment etc. The author does a good job of showing you "his way" to build a good knife. My problem is "his way" includes the use of thousands of dollars of equipment I will never have. If you are a hobby knife maker with only a forge, drill press, 2"x72" grinder, etc. this is NOT the book for you.

Really poorly written book. Black and white pictures with such poor detail you can't even see whats being discussed or displayed. I finished the hole book in less then an hour. This book should be way cheaper then it was for what you get. Save yourself the money and spend 2 minutes on YouTube you will learn more and save 35 bucks.

This is an amazing book very detailed and will help me make slipjoints not much reading lots of Pictures which is good for me as dyslexic

Not as good as I was hoping for