Repaired Western States Folding Hunter

[orvet]

I have been slow on repairs this year due to some health issues and things going on in the family. But I have been working away as I have been able.

Here is a Western States folding hunter that I put new handles on. As you can see in the before pictures the original stag handles had broken up. The knife had seen a lot of use and had evidently been in the vicinity of a celluloid knife that was off gassing. I replaced the handles without taking the knife apart. There was a lot of scratches and pitting to the bolsters and some pitting to the blades. There was no way to remove those without removing too much of the blade, so I just cleaned them up with a Scotch Brite wheel.

Here are some Before, During and After pictures.
The handle material is amber bone stag, bone that has been dyed amber and jigged to look like stag.

I hope you enjoy the pictures,
Dale


BEFORE

DURING THE REPAIR PROCESS

AFTER THE REPAIR

[glennbad]

Dang Dale!

That stag sure is nice. Great reno!

What did you do for the 2 end pins in the stag? Are they just glued into place? Otherwise, you said you didn't take the knife apart, so how did you fix thos into place?

Thanks for sharing.

Glenn

[orvet]

Glad you like it Glenn.

A large knife like the 5" folding hunter has plenty of room inside to be able to peen the inside pin against the liner by using a steady, without having to dissemble the knife. I just have cut them precisely to length to get them to peen down and not be too long.
I also glue most all of the re-handles I do. The glue helps seal up the back of the handle material and prevents moisture (water, sweat, blood , etc), from getting behind the handles and being held against the liners where it will cause damage to the liner and the handle itself. The original handles were stag. Stag is rather porous especially on the inside. The original front handle of this knife had broken & was quite porous. Moisture in the stag may have contributed to the demise of the original handle.

One of the things I like about bone stag is that the bone is denser than stag and usually lasts longer than stag does on a working knife, plus IMHO it is prettier than 90% of the stag on the market today.

Dale

[FRJ]

That is very nice work Dale. An early stamp too.
It is interesting to know about the difference in density in stag and bone.
Nice post. Thank you.

P.S. You apparently jigged the bone, eh?

[orvet]

P.S. You apparently jigged the bone, eh?

No, I can't claim that.
I bought it dyed & jigged.

Glad you liked it.

Dale

[FRJ]

I like it very much. Being a westerner at heart I always liked the name and the quality of the brand. I have some of these knives, these hunters, but my stamps are earlier. Fine knives all. I like the matchstrike.

Actually, my stamps are LATER.

[ouhunter]

Dale, Wow very nice job I love it when them old knives are brought back to life Thanks for sharing!

[gmusic]

Very nice Dale! Cullpepper bone? They make some of the best........................

[orvet]

They sure do Gary.

Dale

[Cope]

Good work Dale!! Gave that ole hunter a few more golden years!