My Sweetheart asked me for a knife .. made my day !!!

Specifically .. she wanted a Doctor's Knife .. for the inherent pillbuster feature.

I showed her the ones I have .. a Kinsfolk (by Queen for Case) .. a couple Queen std # 96 .. a Case Baby Doc ..&.. the 2 A.G. Russell Small Doctor's knives. The A.G. Russell came out on top with the Case Baby Doc a close second.

However, she has a preference for natural wood scales. Which .. it turns out .. is not readily available in a small Doctor's Knife. There do exist some ..but.. an extremely limited selection .. at best. I and a couple members here (Thank you , Jan & Doug) verified this. SO0oo .. I decided to simply buy one with bone scales & replace the scales with Mahogany. Hence .. this project.

My wife chose a Remington R73 Mini Doctor's Knife as the starting point. Remington's knives are currently manufactured & private labeled for them by Bear & Son. She already has a Bear & Son Peanut as an EDC & is happy with the blade steel.

Also, the price vs quality is a deal.

I used a 0.125" end mill to remove the head of one side of the center backspring pin.

Which actually began forcing the pin out.

The pin (measured dia = 0.081”) was completely removed by using a 0.078” drill bit as a punch. The wooden mallet is one I constructed using the end of a little league baseball bat & a 0.750” dia wooden (oak) dowel.

This is the first time I've replaced the scales of a factory pinned knife. I've replaced scales before ..but.. always in a knife that used threaded fasteners & allowed complete disassembly of the knife. This will be a learning experience for me, i.e. FUN !!!

I'll document the process along the way by adding pics & comments as I progress.

Enjoy

D ale
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VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV ... end result ... VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV