My Next Projects-Autos

[whitebuffalo58]

Welp, it's about time to start gettin' serious about getting some of these "junk lot" autos up and running again. I've got about 15 or so to do. Not sure which one i'll actually start with, but these are the top choices.

First is a Hubertus style. I say Hubertus style, because it's tang stamped "Solingen Cutlery Germany" and has the "SPRINGER" stamp on the bolster, but doesn't actually have the Hubertus name anywhere. Back of blade is stamped 25 1/2. Any thoughts? Not a lot to start with, but I gotta try. My biggest problem will be a total lack of knowledge in the workings of this knife. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The other is this Remington R2403. The spine is broke and the lock switch, bolsters and handles need to be replaced. All other parts are in great shape and fully functioning.

Obviously, i'd like to get both put back together as close to original as possible. But barring the already unlikely possibility of locating (and affording) vintage replacement parts, i'll probably have to settle for modern versions of steel and handle materials to get 'em going again.
I do have access to a machine shop if neccesary, so fabricating the parts wouldn't be too far of a stretch. I also have some good pics of how the knives are supposed to look. The main hurdle will be the "how" of the inner workings.
I'll post pics and info as I progress. Wish me luck.
WB

[Joe Dirt]

I have a Springer that has a broken spring, WB.
Also someone has re-profiled the blade to match
that of a butter knife!

I'll disassemble it and take pics along the way.
I'll just ask you for a tracing of the blade (a tracing of the spring form also) in yours if you could, Please!

..... Joe

[muskrat man]

The solingen knife was a B. Svoboda trademark. Which was in turn probably made for Svoboda by Bonsa. It will be much more straight forward than the Remington most likely. American button autos are a PITA if you have to completely disassemble them.

[whitebuffalo58]

I have a Springer that has a broken spring, WB.
Also someone has re-profiled the blade to match
that of a butter knife!

I'll disassemble it and take pics along the way.
I'll just ask you for a tracing of the blade (a tracing of the spring form also) in yours if you could, Please!

..... Joe

Thanks Joe and no problem on the blade profile. Will need mailing info. However, mine is missing the spine and thrust spring too, so can't help much there.
Which brings me to a question I need to ask, is there a seperate thrust spring or was the spine and thrust spring a one piece unit? MM, thanks for the info, maybe you could help on this last question?
Although the Remington is reasonably complete, I guess it will have to be totally disassembled in order to pin the handles and bolsters.(?) To me, it's kind of a scenario where i'm gonna have to make it worse, before I can make it better. If my info's right, it was built by Schrade for Remington. Therefore, the mechanics are basically the same as the other Schrade autos.
I pretty much knew when I bought this mess, I was gonna have my hands full. At first I was tempted to bail and just sell off the parts. But as I started sorting through the pieces, it dawned on me, "I CAN do this". I have a long row to hoe and appreciate any help I can get, and even though i'm a total greenhorn in this area, i'm more then happy to help others any way I can. I just wanna see as many of these old knives rehabilitated as possible.
WB

[Joe Dirt]

I'll mic the back spine and make a drawing for ya, WB.
As for the spring... I don't know (yet). But we'll find out!
Hopefully it just slides into a notch in the spine.
(mine appears to be the same knife as yours)

..... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Sounds good Joe, i've got a profile of the blade drawn out if you need it, PM your mailing address and i'll send it off.
WB

[whitebuffalo58]

Reply sent Joe, thanks!
WB

[Joe Dirt]

Here we go..... lets have a look!

Lots of pics - will have to make another post.

....... Joe

[Joe Dirt]

more, more, more...

The last pic is at 150x magnification.
Can someone please tell me how they got that pin through the spring????
.... Joe

[Joe Dirt]

More at 150x

My brain hurts

..... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Looks to me like the seer pin and lever tab are 2 seperate pieces, Joe. One welded from top, the other from bottom. Seer may have had a hole drilled in the center for a pin on the tab to go into for alignment. Excellent pics, i've sure learned alot.
WB

[Joe Dirt]

Think that bottom pin might be threaded onto the top piece?

...... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Sure looks to me like it's been welded. They did a nice job cleaning it up though. Is that a touch of braize weld that i'm seeing along the base of the upper piece?
Overall, i'd think they'd want that seer pin locked down solid. If it came loose and spun in the hole, it could cause problems. Seems like with a threaded assembly, you'd be constantly having to maintain it.
WB

[Joe Dirt]

Brazing would be a practical way of attaching it, however the heat generated would cause
the part to loose its temper. I would imagine that the pin is much harder than the temper in
the spring steel.

I'd say each piece is of a different hardness - the spring would snap if it were as hard as the
pin.

...... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Yah, that's all getting into technical stuff that I have no clue of. I did think that I remembered from another thread, that the seer pin was spring tempered. But, how you would achieve and/or hold that during the fabrication process is a mystery to me. I have a small wire feed welder that I believe I could weld the assembly and not take the temper out of the seer pin. Atleast not at the crucial rub area of the pin. The upper tab would be no problem at all. The seer spring itself wouldn't neccesarily have to maintain temper that far forward. Heat transfer with this small welder would be minimal. Not sure what they would've done back then.
Any possibility that the seer pin and spring are forged from one piece of metal? How about the idea of the heat generated to weld the pieces, coincides with the temp at which the metal tempers to the proper hardness. Sort of killing 2 birds with one stone, so to speak?
It's all speculation on my part. I'm just grasping for straws when it comes to this one.
WB

[muskrat man]

Joe is our new official knife dissector picture taker!

kick spring clips into slot in backspring

on the sear the sear spring is notched or has a square hole the sear is all one piece and silver soldered or brazed into the notch. I've done several with silver solder and while logically it would soften they still function perfectly. If you're worried about temper soft solder will also work if done correctly. I've had to make many new sear assemblies for old worn out knives.

I sell replacement kicksprings for the old leverlock knives if anyone needs any.

[whitebuffalo58]

Well my methods are a little unorthodoxed, but I made some progress today. I actually managed to fabricate a sear assembly for the Springer. I made the springs from an L6 sawmill bandsaw blade. I've made several fillet knives from this stuff and the spine of the blade is as spring tempered as it gets. In other words, no heat treating neccesary. Drilling requires Cobalt bits, but with a good cutting oil, it will drill without loosing the temper. I did have to use three pieces to get the desired thickness.
The sear pin is the end off a HSS drill bit. I simply used one the same size as the cobalt bit I used to drill the spring and perfectly sized to fit the blade holes. After locating the depth of the pin, (roughly 2/3 the thickness of the tang) I marked it along the top side of the spring. Then removed it from the spring and ground a shallow v-groove around the diameter of the pin to get better penetration with the weld. A small wirefeed welder worked perfect for spot welding the pin to the spring without over heating the assembly. I made spot welds around the full perimeter. I may have lost temper right at the weld, but as you'll see, the second spring takes away any problem that might cause. After filing the weld area smooth, I filed flats on both sides of the top protrusion. (I left it long for fine tuning later) The flats will be drilled to accept the release lever. I was careful to make sure and file the flats parallel to the spring edges. These flats also create a second benefit by making shoulders on the top side of the sear pin. I carefully cut and filed a notch in the second spring to fit around the flats and seat down against the shoulders. In essence, when deploying the release, the stress will be at the shoulders and not against the weld itself. The slot in the second spring also allows the 2 sear springs to slide past each other the slight amount neccesary to operate smoothly.
The top spring is notched just like the second, but bent upwards to apply preasure to the release lever. I'm going to fashion a release lever from 3/8" micarta to use as a model before making one from nickel silver. I also started the new backspring, (spine) but hope to get accurate demensions or profile drawings before going much farther on it.
Here's a few pics of the progress.

The fit up so far is perfect and this knife is one step closer to making a pretty cool EDC.
More later, WB

[Joe Dirt]

Caleb, I could kiss you square on the lips for that information!!! hummm, we don't have a kissie smiley to put here...
So, guess I'll just shake your hand instead.

My headache has subsided and not a minute too soon. All the useless info I was absorbing was starting to push important
stuff out.... like " brush my tooth" and, ummm.... what comes next???

I'll definitely be hitting you up for a spring or two! Thanks, Man!

WB, you don't wast any time, do ya! That's GREAT work!
I already have an envelope with your addy and a stamp on it just lying on the table.
I'll get a drawing of the spine in the mail tomorrow.

You guys do know I have to put these things back together, don't ya?

I'll take a pic of the digital microscope. It's a useful TOOL and the best part is it was FREE!!!
(There only around $65 new. Probably get a used one at auction fairly cheep.)

..... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Thanks Joe, todays progress went smooth as silk. No biggy on the drawing, I know you'll get around to it when ya can. I think i'm close enough on my rough out that I can go ahead and drill the pin holes, get rid of the built in spring I had before you posted pics and refine the outer edges a bit. Still got handle replacement to consider too. Long way to go yet and if I do run out of stuff on this one, i'll start takin' a hard look at the Remington.
MM, thanks to you also! Any info or advice you put in, is always gonna be good and I appreciate it.
WB

[Joe Dirt]

Lets see if this scan is too big to load. (nope - it loaded!! )

Save this image and scale it to where the 1" scale on the print is correct.
Print it off and you'll have a working drawings.

I would use one of the liners to mark the pin holes just to be sure there exact.

The print is on its way to you, WB! Maybe you can get a head start with this!

..... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Got it Joe, thanks!!
Well I crossed another hurdle today. I got the release lever made and pre-installed. I'll wait to final install 'til after the rest of the knife is completetly assembled. It's not to factory specs, but I actually like it a bit better then the factory lever. I really couldn't see any need to refine the mounting tabs by removing material from the outer edges. The lever turned out great, it operates smoothly and stays put in both the safety and release positions. It sort of lightly clicks into the safety position and stays there until I deploy it. Not sure, but I think thats what it's supposed to do.
I did refine it a bit more after the first pic. I increased the flat area of the tab, drilled and countersunk the center hole and did a final polish on it. Not sure yet if i'll try to age it to match the bolsters or polish the bolsters to match the tab and sear spring. I also removed a last bit of the shaft that the lever mounts to and polished it up. It now sits slightly below the lever in both positions. The only other refinement I had to do, was remove a couple of thousands from the sear pin. With the lever fully deployed, the sear pin sat flush with the inside of the liner. I filed it off and tapered the edges slightly just to allow a little tolerance.
I went ahead and pinned the sear springs to the liner. I would like to have waited a bit longer, but had to have the temporary pin out of the way to make progress on the backspring/spine. I did a little more shaping on the outside of the spine and milled it to .145, which is 1/1000's thicker then the blade tang. With Joe's drawing, I should be able to finish up the spine/thrust spring assembly without too much trouble.
Beyond that is replacing the handles. I wish the original bone was in better shape, but with large chunks missing from both sides, full replacement is about the only option. Since I plan on using the knife, i'm thinking maybe Micarta handles. I've seen some dark brown listed on Ebay recently. I might try jigging it to get a little closer to the original handles.
Welp, I guess that's about it for today. Here's the pics.

WB

[whitebuffalo58]

Mission accomplished! Works perfect and it's lightning fast. All that's left is to sharpen it up and put it in my pocket. (or maybe a sheath)
Thanks for all your help on this, Joe. I couldn't have done it without ya!

WB

[Joe Dirt]

I'm doing a little "catching up" on these posts.

Gotta say GREAT JOB!!!, WB

You sure didn't wast a lick of time either! I wish I could work that efficiently (both time AND material).
You're more than welcome... I enjoyed the "mission" myself!!
I got the template for the blade you sent thanks!
I appreciate the pics of how you cut the nail nick you did on the Robeson toothpick too... I was getting ready
to PM you and ask how!!

And I have to give a BIG shout out to JWS for the calipers! Without um you would have been
using a tape measure. JWS, your the man!

...... Joe

[whitebuffalo58]

Thanks all the way around Joe and you sir are very welcome! I have to say though, from what i've seen you move right along when your in the zone too. There's been a couple of times you were postin' new info before I could absorb the first round. The only thing saved me was that it was posted here for me to go back and reference. for AAPK!!!
I came across a Schrade Cut. Co double press button in this batch. I've been setting up to do it next. A double sided throw spring, this oughta be good! I love a challenge!
I'll ditto the shout out to JWS, sounds like he saved us both alot of work. JWS

WB

[Joe Dirt]

Awww Man! A double button? Geeezzzzz

Well, I've got one... it needs one spring......

When shall we start?

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.................................................................................................................................... Joe