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pick lock repair

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 12:11 am
by cappi
I have a 60s vintage italian stiletto folding knife that has the pin broken off flush that once locked into a hole in the paddle. Can this pin be drilled out and have a slightly larger pin inserted and then enlarge the paddle hole to match. Do we know what method was used originally to apply these pins ? Friction fit ?

Re: pick lock repair

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 2:40 pm
by Elvis
Sounds like a Rizzutto. If it is, the arm and the pin are cast in one piece. Enlarging the hole would also mean enlarging the hole in the blade requiring you to drill through hardened steel. If you can't find a replacement piece, I'd try just drilling a hole in the "paddle" you spoke of and threading in a small bolt then file off the threads to prevent them from getting caught when the lever is pushed. Hope this is of some help.

If it isn't a Rizzutto, a picture sure would help.

Re: pick lock repair

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 3:24 am
by cappi
Actually I have two pick lock knives with broken off pins. One is marked Rosco and the other is marked Made in Italy Inoxid. Did any knife makers drill holes and then put a pin in them ? Maybe by heating the drilled out hole to make things expand and then fitting in a pin of the same dimension as the hole, might then hold tight when the metal cools and shrinks down tight around the pin. Is there a better way that the manufacturers used ?

Re: pick lock repair

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:21 pm
by Elvis
The old ones I've seen were just the one piece cast material. Bad news is that it has a low melting point. Check out a store here on AAPK ran by a guy that goes by "Muskrat Man". He does great work and has a lot of experience on those push button autos. I take some pride in my knife repair abilities, but on those Italian automatics, next time I'll just pay Muskrat Man to fix it. They're a lot of hassle and if that pin doesn't line up just right........

Re: pick lock repair

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 5:17 am
by Gus
muskrat man or contact Bill Deshivs and here is switch forum for your questions http://www.talkblade.info/

Re: pick lock repair

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:00 pm
by muskrat man
the locking pins were normally milled in and are one piece with the blade. If yours are broken off, new ones can be fit and fixed in place, I can do the work but my backlog is around 14 weeks right now. Winter is a busy time of year. Everyone sitting inside because of the cold weather, on the computer thinking about what they can have fixed, made, ect.