Rehandle and repair of a Case 2138LSS sodbuster

[gsmith7158]

Camel bone? I stand corrected! I have never worked with Camel bone either. I do like the looks of it! Did you get it from Cullpeppers?

Yes .I got the stag and the camel bone from Culpepper.

[zp4ja]

Whatever the bone type, turning out well. Good job Randy!

What is the deal with the green bone CASE fixed blade Greg?

Jerry

[gsmith7158]

Whatever the bone type, turning out well. Good job Randy!

What is the deal with the green bone CASE fixed blade Greg?

Jerry

Jerry the handles have been patched and repaired in several places, looks bad, so Randy is going to rehandle it with amber stag.

[zp4ja]

Whatever the bone type, turning out well. Good job Randy!

What is the deal with the green bone CASE fixed blade Greg?

Jerry

Jerry the handles have been patched and repaired in several places, looks bad, so Randy is going to rehandle it with amber stag.

Oh OK. Just did not want you sending it my way with flaws. I will wait till Randy has finished working his magic.

[gsmith7158]

Whatever the bone type, turning out well. Good job Randy!

What is the deal with the green bone CASE fixed blade Greg?

Jerry

Jerry the handles have been patched and repaired in several places, looks bad, so Randy is going to rehandle it with amber stag.

Oh OK. Just did not want you sending it my way with flaws. I will wait till Randy has finished working his magic.

I hear ya buddy! It's a good old tested fixed blade. That bone is shot though.

[#goldpan]

Alright here the last pics for today. The pins are in to check fit and function. So before I decided to take it apart and do some fitting I thought I would take a few pics.

[Colonel26]

Boy, that's sure pretty! I have an old CASE 64047 here that needs lots of help. That camel bone just might be the trick! Very nice work!

[glennbad]

That's coming along nicely. Looks like a nice amber color in the pics.

[#goldpan]

Update: I have learned something about camel bone. As I work the scale to its final dimensions I have noticed that camel bone wants to flake along the grain. Can't really get a decent pic. But I need to be real careful at his point. I am ready to assemble peen and finish. There is a lot of sanding left to do and I know the flaking will sand out. I may need to use some CA to stabilize it as I sand it to the final dimensions. Flaking makes me nervous. Time to take a break! I may take a little longer to finish Greg. Hope that's alright. At this point I want to be cautious.

[gsmith7158]

Randy, you take as much time as you need my friend. I'm in no hurry . I'm also enjoying seeing all the little things that go into rebuilding a knife and the curve balls you encounter!

[#goldpan]

Hey Greg, I have switched gears here for a bit. I pulled the scales off of the fixed blade and discovered that there is enough clean material between the pin holes to do a Camillus 72.

Don't you have one that needs the scales replaced?

[gsmith7158]

Hey Greg, I have switched gears here for a bit. I pulled the scales off of the fixed blade and discovered that there is enough clean material between the pin holes to do a Camillus 72. 20170330_151311.jpg Don't you have one that needs the scales replaced?

I sure do Randy! I hadn't even thought about that. When I get home I will ship that to you and you can do it at your leisure.

[FRJ]

That's a real nice looking folder, guys.
And now there's soon to be a third one in the mix. Intrigue building.
Can't wait to see the Case fixed blade.

[gsmith7158]

That's a real nice looking folder, guys.
And now there's soon to be a third one in the mix. Intrigue building.
Can't wait to see the Case fixed blade.

Joe this is getting interesting isn't it.

[FRJ]

Yeah, I've been following along, as many others are, I'm sure. It's great.

[#goldpan]

Its been an education for me, learning about the nature and qualities of camel bone and the different methods of doing bird's eye pivot pins. Amber stag is also new to me. Can't wait to to see the finished color!That Case fixed blade is going to look pretty darn cool. And I can't wait to do that 72. I think that the green jigged bone from the Case fixed blade is going to look right at home! The 72 is one frame that I have had plenty of practice with!

[#goldpan]

Alrighty! While I am waiting for our 30 mph wind to stop ( I am riding the motorcycle at the moment, Mustang has a broken windshield) I thought I would show where I am on the fixed blade! I am at the point where I have a mock up ready. Its very close to being done! The next set of pics will show the final appearance. But for now:

Even though its not done its looking real good! After the wind dies down later I need to pick up some new drill bits (broke a couple this week) and a selection of sand paper to finish both of these knives. They will be making the trip home pretty soon Greg. Hope your trip home is a good one!

[gsmith7158]

Randy, I finally made it home. That stag is looking really good on the fixed blade. I'll be shipping this one out tomorrow for the green bone scales that you salvaged.

[#goldpan]

Glad to see you made it home Greg. Hope you get some rest before you take off again. Here some pics of your Case Tested fixed blade. Turned out real nice Needs a little more sanding and polishing but she is basically done my friend. Would you like me to touch up the edge for you? Some folks prefer to do that themselves, so I thought I would ask. The sodbuster is close to being done. Stay tuned!

[gsmith7158]

Oh yeah! That's looking pretty sweet Randy! I'll put an edge on it, I need all the practice I can get with that.

[glennbad]

Great looking stag!

[FRJ]

Very nice looking fixed blade!

[Colonel26]

Man O Man! That fixed blade is some kinda fine.

[#goldpan]

Update on the Case sodbuster: A couple of issues have slowed down the progress.The issues were the bone flaking on one scale. That's been taken care of. The other was the bird's eye. I wanted to pin it back the same way that Case did the original. They had perfect pockets in the plastic from injection molding. Giving the recessed holes a flat bottom. I found that drilling the holes left a concave bottom. This caused the washers to not lay flat. I came up with a new custom rivet! Believe me I will use cutlers rivets if I ever do another sodbuster. or I will make the "washer" out round brass stock of the appropriate diameter. I would have used cutler's rivets this time, except that the heads on the rivets that have the correct shaft size had smaller heads than the heads on the Case rivets. I need to pick up a larger assortment of end mill bits. If I had the correct size I could cut a very neat flat surface in the bottom of the pokets and eliminate all of the issues.

From left to right: The Case factory "washer" then the first one that I made and finally the new version. The new version takes the concave bottom of the hole into consideration. Of course I did some work with my Drimel so that the throat sits nicely in the hole.

Here is the new set up installed on the pivot pin. Now that I have everything ready I will do my peening tomorrow and then finish sanding and polishing! Its been a learning curve for me with the bone and the bird's eye rivets! Stay tuned!

[gsmith7158]

Randy, I'm glad you are doing that and not me! All those parts would probably be in the trash by now.