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handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:34 am
by wiseguy
what do you professional repairmen use to fix this that will take a stain and can be sanded ? also can i bend the donor backspring to tighten up the snap ? and would you reccomend i put some pinstock threw the hole first , make the repair and pull the stock and pin it , or pin it first then repair the chip ? thanks guys

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 5:50 am
by muskrat man
normally i match a piece of bone, repair knife, pin it together then fit the piece

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:01 pm
by just bob
There is a guy near here that is doing beautiful work patching bone handles with super glue. He mixes leather dye to get the color he needs and fills in the hole. He uses a nail to get a rough shape with the jigging to be matched and then the Dremel to finish it and buff it out. You can detect his repairs if you roll the knife and watch the light reflect off of it,but you wouldn't notice it with a quick glance. I am going to go take some pictures and post some of his work.

I think to repair that you would have to fill it and then redrill for the rocker pin. If not the repair would lock the rocker pin.

I have been trying to bend some backsprings in order to restore snap with some luck. If the spring is wallowed out and the blade has a hangnail there isn't much that can be done. If the spring is full, then a slight bend will help, but you have to be careful not to go too far. I just did a knife and made backsprings for it from junk parts. I put a slight bend in the springs and you can't open the knife w/o breaking a fingernail. I am going to take it back part and either file where the kick hits or try and bend it back a tad. If it is a cheap knife the backspring will likely break if you go bending on it.

Best of luck on your efforts.

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:18 pm
by just bob
Duh. I happened to think after that last post that I had a knife here that the guy patched. 4 blade German Boker congress knife with red bone handles. I looked for a handle for a year and gave up on ever finding one. This isn't a perfect color match on this. With black or very dark colors the guy can match them dead on and that is the key to a nice repair. Look at the upper left corner of this knife. Super glue, leather dye, rough shape with nail, Dremel.

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:09 pm
by wiseguy
Thanks guys , its not my knife its a friends he`s not that picky and it isint a museum piece just sentimental . the backsprings not here yet , i have done the superglue / epoxy and dyed the mix . sometimes it didnt quite set up , maybe too much solvent in the dye ? i was just wondering if you guys had better stuff to try . MM i dont have extra bones so thats not an option at this point but thanks for your response . any other types of product known that will hold while i pin the back would be appreciated . J

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:19 pm
by muskrat man
just bob wrote:Duh. I happened to think after that last post that I had a knife here that the guy patched. 4 blade German Boker congress knife with red bone handles. I looked for a handle for a year and gave up on ever finding one. This isn't a perfect color match on this. With black or very dark colors the guy can match them dead on and that is the key to a nice repair. Look at the upper left corner of this knife. Super glue, leather dye, rough shape with nail, Dremel.
thats a very nice patch job. I would be interested in knowing what brand of glue and leather dye he is suing. The superglue I use tends to gum up instantly whenever any kind of pigment is added to it.

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 12:16 am
by just bob
I'll run over there tomorrow if we don't get more snow. I'll take some more pics and get the name of what he uses. I'm pretty sure he said it came from Harbor Freight. He did a killer job on a green bone camper that Ill try to get him to dig out.

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 5:22 am
by wiseguy
Well , i tried tinting the super glue again today and it failed . so i grafted a piece of bone from the donor with super glue ,stained the piece then litely burned it with a bic lighter . it came out decent as the origional bone was darker than the grafted piece . Dremeled a matching jigging , sanded with 1500 wet then polished it off with finecut automotive compound . Sorry no pics guys but the knife was back in the owners hot little hands before i could take any . Keep this thread alive if someone has suggestions on tinting/ bonding for repairs :D

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:30 pm
by Elvis
Every job can be a little bit different, but here's one method that has been useful in the past. After cleaning the area on the knife to be filled, stir up some good quality wood putty to fill the void. It dries fast enough that you can shape it as you go and it's sandable. Unless the material is very old stag, it will probably need to be dyed. Mix your dyes and practice on smooth samples you've already prepared. Once the repair looks like you want it to, just apply a thin coat of super glue and depending on your application of the glue, sand or Flitz accordingly.

Re: handle ./ repair / patch question

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:25 pm
by Bill DeShivs
I use clear casting acrylic from Hobby Lobby.
You can color it with finely ground coffee, charcoal, and other powders.