Pocket Clip for the Svord Peasant Knife

I like the Svord Peasant Knife because of its simplicity.  It's about as basic as you can make a folding blade. 

In total, there are eight parts to the thing.  I added a ninth.

While the Peasant Knife, sitting at the bottom of the front pocket on my jeans, protrudes enough to grab it (a little over a quarter inch in the jeans I had on at the time), I wanted to make sure that it stuck around.

I figured I could create a simple pocket clip and attach it to the two screws at top of the handle.

Design

It's a simple enough design: just a straight clip with a slight angle on the mounting side to accommodate the angle of the screws with relation to the handle.  Because the pivot and "pin" screws have large heads I figured it was necessary to install the clip as cut from the sheet (without necessary bends) and bend it into place after installation.  This method saved me the irritation of designing around the large screws.

Fabrication and Installation

I cut the clip from a small piece of scrap steel I had lying around (truth be told, I cannibalized the enclosure of an old internal CD drive).  A quick zip with the Dremel and it took form.

I then drilled the mounting holes and cleaned up any rough edges.

Installing it was a breeze.  The trickiest part was aligning the threads on the brass hardware.  Brass, being a relatively softer metal, can be finicky when it comes to small threaded parts.  The last thing I wanted to do was improperly align the threads and strip the screws.  That said, it didn't take but a minute to get the knife back together.

After installing the unbent pocket clip (I should have taken a picture; whoops) I proceeded to put the primary bend in it.  I used a small round metal file with a diameter of about an eighth of an inch.  This ensured that the bend was round and inhibited creasing or breakage. 

With the file still in position and the primary bend in place I took a small hammer and gave it a good few whacks thus putting a bit of tension into the clip that otherwise wouldn't be there with a simple 180 degree bend.

Next, I put a small upward bend in the end of the clip to enhance its ability to slide over the lip of a pocket.  I also placed a small downward bend in the middle of the clip (just past the mounting screws) so it would be a bit more flush with the handle.  I made these bends using the same principle I expressed above: putting an object (flat in these cases) where I desired a bend and applying pressure.

Finally, I cleaned up the corners with a file to prevent snagging.

I took a few pictures of the finished clip.  I'm calling it a prototype because I would prefer to use a more robust steel.  We'll see how this carries and go from there...

Here you can see the three bends placed in the clip.

The finished clip.  As you can see, it was necessary to install the clip without bends due to the location and size of the hardware.

Carry: Initial Impressions

Clipped to the front pocket the tang extends out of the pocket about 1 3/4 inches giving you a decent purchase on it for retrieval.  The design of this knife and other friction-folders forces tip-down carry because of the extended tang.  I do believe it's possible to install the hardware "backwards," as it were, to facilitate left or right carry (the spine of the blade should always face the "back" of the pocket; this helps prevent unintended opening of the blade on all folding knives).

My biggest problem now is going to be refraining from using the pocket clip enough to score the carry method and comfort of the knife based on its fresh-from-the-factory features...