All About Pocket Knives

Camillus Scout knife I picked up today. You can tell by the pictures that the pen knife blade is bent and it appears that the bolsters on that end of the knife are spread apart. Any suggestions to a new tinkerer would be appreciated!

I would leave it that way until I found out how it was supposed to be bent. Rarely will you ever find a multi blade pocket knife with straight blades unless they are all penned at the same end. Jack patterns are pinned at the same end usually and they generally have straight blades but any knife that has a blade at the opposite end will need to be "krinked" so the blades will fit together in the blade pocket or blade well.


Close all of the blades and see if they are hitting one another or rubbing one another when they close. If they're not rubbing, the blade is where it's supposed to be.

I agree, with Dale. Looking at the picture may not tell me the entire story; but, I'm not visually seeing the bolsters (the metal ends) spread apart. If they are, you will usually pick up side-to-side wobble of the blade. That can often be fixed with re-peening the pins (search the AAPK site for peening, using the search function, in the Quick Links, left side of page) I do see that some of the handle material is shrinking and lifting at the ends. Handles can be replaced, if that is your concern. There are some very good tutorials on repair and restoration, in this forum.

Thank you Gentlemen for your input. Perhaps I'm over thinking it. The main blade and pen blades do slightly rub though. In the top picture you can see that the main blade is overhanging the pen blade in the closed position. It's still pretty filthy so I'll clean it up and see how it comes out.

Scout /Camper patterns have a lot going on in a small space. What you're observing is not usual at all, especially on a knife that has been used pretty hard. I have even seen knives come out of the box with rub marks on the blades.

There are 4 blades and only two springs which means four blades need to fit in area not much larger than the two back springs. That is why it has extra wide liners at the side and one in the middle to give it a little more room for the blades.

That makes sense Dale. Appreciate your expertise. I'm glad to have found a knife that all I have to do is clean it up!