Sweet anvils there, Derek .. very nice work !!!

You'll be Taking orders soon...

Just sayin'...

Thanks Guys!  And I don't think so JJ... Filing that top smooth took forever!

But got to use it for the first time today, dismantled an old Camillus Barlow getting ready for a total make over.

I have a Old Cold Steel AK47 Aluminum handle ULTRA LOCK (Axis Type) with a very scratched up blade. Is there anyone here who could and would be interested in doing a cleanup or customizing of it? Here are some pictures of my blade and one that was customized. I really like this type of lockup because I can open and close it with one hand which is what my disability allows. I have to use a cane to get around so other types of back locks are difficult for me to use unless I'm sitting down.

Just a follow up to my Oct 29/Nov 1 posts of my home made steady. 

I have now used it to complete my first make-over On an old Colonial Barlow

Before...

After...

An enjoyable process and learnt lots along the way...

Nice, Derek .. very nice indeed.

Good job Derek!

nice work, is that a copper bolster? Nice

Yes Micheal  Started out with some bronze but managed to make a mess of it ... The copper I had in 'the shed' so decided to run with that. I like the look of some of the Ka Bar knives that CSC made for them and pretty happy with how this turned out. I had never Silver Soldered before so taught myself by watching a shaky/indistinct video on youtube by Tony Bose.

@ Dale, Charles & Michael  - appreciate the encouraging comments ... Thanks

Derek,

WOW, that went well!  Having never done it before, you were helped by a youtube video.  I have seen the one your taking about and I am impressed that it got you to and through the project!  GREAT WORK 

Thanks Jan, LOL yep I had to watch the video several times stopping pausing rewinding etc it's not exactly professional quality - Actually videos it's in several parts.      ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQEQkz4TjVU

Anyway with the videos & some trial & error I got there. Thanks for the kind comment.

Late afternoon: ..... you walk out of the shed after working on a few different knife projects most of the day, and some 'dog tucker' hops up the flat down the paddock ...
What do you do ? ... Try out one of the knives you have been working on

(Even if it isn't finished)

Dog Tucker?  Coyote???

Jan, my knife making area in the shed 'competes' with my rifles and reloading gear for space. So when I spotted this rabbit a rifle wasn't too far away and my two Brittanys just love fresh Rabbit. 

Sweet set-up, Derek Wells .. lends a whole new meaning to "Man Cave".

!!! .. Very nice .. !!!

Nice setup, Derek.

I agree, it is a nice set up!

Hey, fresh rabbit is good and the dogs need a good meal too !!

I gotta tell ya, Derek. I'm gazing at your shop with envy!

And, by the looks of Bugs, I'd say that work-in-progress-knife did a pretty slick job of relieving Mr. Wabbit of his coat. I'm sure your Brittany's will feast hearty tonight!

Good show, mate!

Hey guys!  Read this post and let's see if there is any interest in here

http://iknifecollector.com/group/fight-n-rooster-knife-collectors-g...

I'd like to know if anyone out there repairs knives. This is a Frontier with a broken blade. I'd like to have the broken tang removed and the knife put back together with the pin in place. I want to be able to fit one of my key blanks onto the pin. Any Help

Pete, can you post a pic of the Frontier. ???

Hey guys! Newbie here. I've never worked on knives before and have a few questions.

I have an ongoing issue with a Case celluloid knife. It appears stable at the moment, but I'm the nervous type and having a potential gas bomb in close proximity to my other knives keeps me up at night. There's been some discussion of it here already:

http://iknifecollector.com/forum/topics/case-celluliod?commentId=31...

I have a friend who's a luthier and has scraps of very cool exotic woods I could use to rehandle my knife. So material is not a problem, but he has a woodworking shop and I have no specialty tools. IF I decide to rehandle this knife, will I need to buy special tools? I know I'll need a length of brass rod to make new pins and a way to tap out the old ones. Can a needle-nosed wire cutter trim the excess? Is this something a newbie can do with no experience, or will I be turning a collectors item into trash? Any advice or descriptions/video of the process so I can see what I'm getting into would be helpful. Oh yeah, and here's the knife in question:

Richard .. that's a very nice knife.

I would first consider storing it in a sealed container by itself.

Also .. consider .. gassing out generally happens because the celluloid was improperly cured. Has there been reported cases of this knife or Case's celluloid of the same vintage exhibiting gassing out issues ??

.

If you are serious about placing new scales on the Case .......

.

My first suggestion !!!

.

Buy a cheapo knife .. frost cutlery or something used & inexpensive.

Use that for practice. i.e. make the majority of your mistakes there.

? Question ?

A Luthier's woodshop does not necessarily contain a drill press .. does his ?

! direct answers !

Yes .. a needle nosed wire cutter could be used to trim the excess of the pin ..BUT.. it will deform the pins outer perimeter such that it's no longer just a matter of punching the old pin out. Additionally , one would need to carefully file or sand the pin flush with the frame.

As a newbies first shot at re-scaling a pinned knife .. unfavorable results would be likely. Hence .. the above suggestion.

... personally ...

I'd store it sealed safely by itself till an issue actually occurred before re-scaling !!!

I agree with Dale's comments.  That pretty Case knife (with the very nice handles, by the way) shouldn't be the first knife that you re-scale.  You can buy practice-knives at a flea market to sharpen your skills before working on the Case.  There is a tool that I would also suggest for cutting off the pins: flush-cut "end" nipper.  Looks like this:   You'll still get a misshapen cutoff on the pin, but it will chop it right down to the liner so you can get a good purchase on the pin-stub with a punch. 

   But, honestly, that Case knife is so pretty, it would kill me to disfigure it.  I've seen a video on YouTube showing how to "paint" a knife handle with Super Glue to preserve it.  Don't know how this would affect celluloid; maybe smarter members can advise on this.  Anybody???

Hey guys! Thanks for the advice! There's a lively thorough discussion of this going on here: http://iknifecollector.com/forum/topics/case-celluliod

The knife is already displaying signs of gassing out. The blade and bolsters are pitted and discolored (look at the far right at the bottom bolster and, though it's tough to see, on the blade, that rounded rectangle shape isn't a reflection, it's a smooth area surrounded by a pitted area), and if I were to show on end pics, you see shrinkage and the ends of the celluloid are warping out.Hold your hands out in front of you as if you're asking me, "Why are you doing this?" and you'll get the idea.

Someone posted a link to a discussion of gassing and ways to stop it, of which there are none. Storing it in a sealed environment would just concentrate whatever fumes were released and hasten the end and corrosion of the metal, though it would save my other blades. BUT I think you've dissuaded me from attempting an amateurish attempt at restoration in a cheap material (wood).

Someone ELSE sent me a link to Garrett Finney's custom knife place and for $80 (which I think is reasonable) he said he'd put genuine abalone scales AND filework the blade. So as pretty as the current scales are, I think I'll be going with letting a pro replace them with a much more stable and just as pretty, if not more so, material.

Richard 

I was unaware it was already beginning to deteriorate.
That's a completely different situation.
.

I've no personal experience with Garret Finney

...however...

He has an online presence (nice website) & if you've received positive feedback from satisfied customers .. I'd highly recommend that approach

... as opposed to ...

attempting it as a first time project yourself.

.

There's no polite way to state .. as a first go round .. you'd f it up.

Re-scaling is not as simple as it might seem !!!

.

Take a look at the discussions in this group .. I've modified a few knives .. I know the time involved is even a "simple" re-scaling project. The quoted $80 IS reasonable.

.

I'm glad to hear you're ready to hand it over to an experienced individual with a proven track record of success @ doing exactly what you wish done. imo .. you'll be much happier with the result !!

.

Best of luck w/ your endeavor.

Dale

The more I looked into it, the more I realized that, even without having to mess with the blade and backspring, I was probably out of my depth. I'm a graphic artist by trade, so I'm used to measurements and tight tolerances, but in the end I'd drive myself nuts trying to get it perfect without the proper tools or knowledge.

When I first looked at Garett's site, I saw all the $200 and up price tags and figured "Forget it", but then he had an $80 Kershaw in malachite that looked very nice and figured, "Doesn't hurt to ask". I was hoping for acrylic oyster, but to get REAL abalone AND the blade filed for that price...

I also reached out to Case with the specifics and am waiting for an answer from their warranty and repair dept. Free, or next to free, is always good, too.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll post the results.

Richard,

I've lost three knives to outgassing.  Celluloid is "Pretty Poison."

Jim

Well put. I love the grind on the blade, too, but it was the handles that drew me in. It's one of those "It'll never happen to me" things. People keep saying, "Oh, I had 30 knives and only one gassed out so far." Well, I only own ONE celluloid knife. Figures it'd be one with an intestinal problem.

Christmas tree celluloid is painfully beautiful and I can understand your attraction to that knife.  The "painfully beautiful" part is very much like hitting my thumb with a hammer: it stops me dead in my tracks.  Of course with the celluloid I don't have to deal with real pain.  

I removed the scales from all three knives in order to save the frames.  I suggest you do the same, even before sending it for re-handling.

What's the best way to remove the scales? Insert screwdriver and twist? Strike a match and stand back?

Richard Schuchman .. I believe it's safe to assume to do NOT wish to "save" the scales. Therefore .. might I suggest .. a wood chisel. A wooden mallet would also be handy .. w/ the wood chisel. ...OR... wood chisel implemented similar to the aforementioned "screwdriver & twist" approach.

I used a screwdriver on the backspring side of the knife to avoid damaging the liners as much as possible.  I was able to save one candy stripe and one Christmas tree scale, but they are continuing to warp and crack. 

When you get your knife back from the hospital, please post a picture or two.

......... and, I agree w/ James .. from the backspring side to minimize damage to the liners.

D ale, Good advice.

Will definitely do post-op pics from the hospital. Working on health insurance right now; ObamaCare is pretty clear about not covering Case knives, at least 2nd party items. Wooden mallet and chisel, huh? Dang! And I just got rid of the last of my vampire hunting supplies at a garage sale last week. My knife may actually be safer with the scales on for it's plane ride to CA. I'll only attempt a celluloid exorcism if it starts to forcefully deteriorate and I have no choice.

Seeing these comments about Celluloid and info from elsewhere I have taken these out of my display table that holds 60+ stockman pattern knives. A couple of these have 'shrunk' at the bolsters. It seems the risk is too much.

L to R a Kinfolks, Bulldog, Pit Bull and a Winchester 

Is the Kinfolks a Parker reproduction .. by Queen .. for Case .. while owned by Jim Parker ???

(Dang! I just deleted a post some how >>> Not sure of the maker D ale all three blades just have this simple logo and nothing else if this helps ID the maker please let me know. Also note the shrinkage Not sure what I am going to do with these now - Probably sell them on with the buyers full knowledge re the celluloid 

Wow! Pretty poison indeed! Those are really nice. Looks like they're shrinking a bit, but not warping. I wonder if ANY change in the handle material is an indication of gassing?

Greetings all - I'm looking for advice from others with experience. I posted photos of a badly abused Western (Boulder CO) sheath knife. Unfortunately the blade is damaged/tarished enoguh I can't see the model, but it looks like it might be an L66 or Boy Scout survival type - but definitely does not have the Boy Scout fleur de lys and other markings. 

My wife picked this up somewhere for 25c, unfortunately also no sheath and badly neglected, and told me you might like to fix this. So I plan to clean it up and polish it at the very least, and try to sand and polish the pommel to at least improve it. I had thought to take the stacked leather handle off and do something else, but then decided I may as well try a restoration and see if I can salvage it in any way to keep the original form as much as possible.

The leather disks are so dried and shrunk there are some gaps and they are clearly much smaller than they used to be with a good amount of the spine and belly (is that the right term?) on the handle exposed.

One idea I had was to start rubbing in small amounts of Neatsfoot oil at a time to start moistening the leather, and try to get it to start filling back out that way. Is that worth trying, or are there any better ways to restore what I have, other than removing and re-stacking with new leather or other material?

Not sure the image is getting in, I may have to post from home again tonight when the proxy server at work (while I eat my lunch) is not interfering

Link to photo in my uploaded photos

Derek,

Sometime in the past Bernard Levine posted some info on Kinfolks production

Kinfolks folder productions dates per Bernard Levine:

1) Kinfolks by Kinfolks c1926-1951

2) Kinfolks by Robeson c1951-1965

3) Kinfolks by Parker c1993-present

I am going to take a guess based on the celluloid and the type of match strike pull used on the knife in the pic that it is Parker made

Allanm,

Neatfoots oil may work.  It is certainly worth a good try.  I would start the steel parts out with some simichrome or something along those lines, you can pick it up at walmart, home depot, ebay...just about anywhere.  I would love to watch this one come back to life!

Thanks Jan, I will try to get Simichrome and give that a try, and let you know how it goes. Just to prove to myself the problem is the proxy server at work - I can attach an image in here. So it looks when I'm eating my lunch I need to read and research new knife making things and join in here from home. :-)

I am surprised work lets you even see us!  Most places block anything to do with knives

Note to allanm: Regarding the leather disks on the handles, I would suggest examining the edges of the disks to see if they have been coated with grease or oil or paint or just "polished" smooth by use.  If so, take a medium sandpaper and rough-up the edges so they will absorb oil; several coats of oil will cause the disks to swell up and close up the gaps.  Second, I would suggest that you use baseball-glove oil on the leather.  Rawlings or Dunlap or whatever brand you can find is ok; they are made especially for treating leather and will have the best chemical compound.  I've used 3-in-1 oil on sheaths and it improves the look and softness of the leather, but it never seems to soak in deep: it always feels oily and slippery. 

Thank you Bryan, good ideas to try also. I had not thought of coated edges. With age I had just guessed the disks were just totally worn and dried out but you may be right in possible coatings.

Jan, I was also halfway surprised at the proxy allowing me to the site, bit not entirely, What surprised me was it allowed me to get to the site but some things don't work, like attaching / embedding images, and when I post a comment, after posting, the proxy whines and cries that I am attempting to go to a social media site and blocks me. But we can get to facebook and twitter, because businesses use them too. Go figure. :-)

Bryan,

Great call in using some sandpaper on the edges to get better absorption!  Also on baseball glove oil.  I have never tried it on a knife but DUH!  I should have LOL.  I have seen it do wonders for old gloves