This was a lesson in lever lock repair for me

[muskrat man]

Well Done

[SteelMyHeart85420]

That turned out pretty sweet. Nice resurrection

[FRJ]

Very nice, Mike.
Good save.

[just bob]

That is nice but I'm very curious as to why you didn't have to heat treat it? When I cut a spring from strip steel it has to be heat treated. Does SS not have to be heat treated? When I need a spring I usually look in the junk box first and try to find something close. Heat treating steel isn't hard but it can go bad on you and the spring snap like a pretzel. It saves time to try and rework an existing spring.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I am so glad I read this thread. That repair job is fantastic. You have given me a great idea. I never thought about drilling the stainless and cutting w/ a hacksaw. I don’t have a whole lot of machines that you do this with, but I do have a drill and a hacksaw. Inspired. Thank you so much.
That knife sure cleaned up nice.

[muskrat man]

That is nice but I'm very curious as to why you didn't have to heat treat it? When I cut a spring from strip steel it has to be heat treated. Does SS not have to be heat treated? When I need a spring I usually look in the junk box first and try to find something close. Heat treating steel isn't hard but it can go bad on you and the spring snap like a pretzel. It saves time to try and rework an existing spring.

The lockbar on a knife like this western or a buck 110 or schrade lb7 doesn't HAVE to be tempered (although it's preferable that it is) because it's not actually flexing, it's just the lock. The small spring steel rod in the butt end of the knife it was actually flexes.

[just bob]

That is nice but I'm very curious as to why you didn't have to heat treat it? When I cut a spring from strip steel it has to be heat treated. Does SS not have to be heat treated? When I need a spring I usually look in the junk box first and try to find something close. Heat treating steel isn't hard but it can go bad on you and the spring snap like a pretzel. It saves time to try and rework an existing spring.

The lockbar on a knife like this western or a buck 110 or schrade lb7 doesn't HAVE to be tempered (although it's preferable that it is) because it's not actually flexing, it's just the lock. The small spring steel rod in the butt end of the knife it was actually flexes.

That makes a lot of sense. I should have considered that. One other question I have is on the drilling of SS. That isn't easy to do. You can go through a lot of drill bits in a hurry. Did you slow the speed down on the drill press or did you use special bits to get all of those holes drilled?

[Meridian_Mike]

That makes a lot of sense. I should have considered that. One other question I have is on the drilling of SS. That isn't easy to do. You can go through a lot of drill bits in a hurry. Did you slow the speed down on the drill press or did you use special bits to get all of those holes drilled?

Well... to answer that question.... I have a friend who supplies me with drill bits. He has a way of getting drill bits (from a certain business) that fail to meet certain requirements (length, diameter maybe???, I don't know).... I don't look this gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, I will dull a bit and then I make it into a tool like a punch or scribe. These bits are really nice (government) ones too. I have many plastic bags of these bits so dulling a bit isn't a problem. I might use 4 or 5 but that's OK. Yes, and I did slow down the press and used cutting oil to boot.
Back to the bits.... I have some that are tiny diameter and 6 to 8 inches long.....LOL. Hard to use at that length so I usually cut them down shorter.

Mike

[Tony_Wood]

That makes a lot of sense. I should have considered that. One other question I have is on the drilling of SS. That isn't easy to do. You can go through a lot of drill bits in a hurry. Did you slow the speed down on the drill press or did you use special bits to get all of those holes drilled?

Well... to answer that question.... I have a friend who supplies me with drill bits. He has a way of getting drill bits (from a certain business) that fail to meet certain requirements (length, diameter maybe???, I don't know).... I don't look this gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, I will dull a bit and then I make it into a tool like a punch or scribe. These bits are really nice (government) ones too. I have many plastic bags of these bits so dulling a bit isn't a problem. I might use 4 or 5 but that's OK. Yes, and I did slow down the press and used cutting oil to boot.
Back to the bits.... I have some that are tiny diameter and 6 to 8 inches long.....LOL. Hard to use at that length so I usually cut them down shorter.

Mike

Many plastic bags of 6-8” government drill bits!!
What a gig you have going there. That’s a good friend and little return on those tax payment through the years.

[Meridian_Mike]

Many plastic bags of 6-8” government drill bits!!
What a gig you have going there. That’s a good friend and little return on those tax payment through the years.

LOL..... yep.