Well, I might as well be the first to get the ball rollin'. I finished this just in time for the new forum addition. I recieved it with some other parts knives from a fellow forum member. It was pretty gunked up and rusty when I got it. I cleaned it all up as best as I could. Tuning a splitback whittler is tricky! This was my first and it was a challenge, but I'm not complaining! After cleaning the handles up a bit I realized they were ivory. It's my second I-XL, but my first splitback. It will be a great knife to carry, give me somethin' to show off . Needless to say, I'm tickled pink with it, not only with the knife, but proving to myself that I could tune a splitback , no matter how many tries it took . And as usual, here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure. Let me hear your comments
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IXL splitback comparison.jpg (79.25 KiB) Viewed 5238 times
IXL 048.jpg (43.82 KiB) Viewed 5238 times
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Rusty, gunked up and in pieces, just the way I like'em
IXL splitback b4.jpg (44.08 KiB) Viewed 5239 times
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Question- How do you 'tune' a knife? I'm guessing that it's to make the blades lie straight when folded and not rub against anything. But how exactly do you do this?
Mumbly, tuning a multi blade knife to make the blades lie where they need to be and not rub against one another or the liners when closing. It has to do with the ammount of pressure applied by one or both bolsters from the pivot pin's tension on the tang, if too much pressure is applied from one bolster the blade will close to one side, if both bolsters apply too much pressure it will not snap open and/or closed. It mainly has to do with how much you peen on either side of the pin when reassembling the knife. You peen too much on say, the left bolster the blade will close at an angle and rub one of the liners. I still haven't quite gotten the whole "formula" for tuning figured out yet, but I'm working on it. You can use a slackener between the tang and bolster and peen the pin on the correct side to cause the blade to close where you need it to go. Splitbacks are especially tricky because the small blades need to lay right next to the liners without rubbing them, and the master blade has to lie perfectly center when closed. Most times on a stockman pattern knife, the blades them selves will actually be bent a little so they will close without rubbing, this is particularly true for the later Schrade uncle henry and old timer knives. Many were bent at the tang, so the cutting edge was not warped to impede sharpening. I'll take some photos later to help explain. Also, some problems I have encountered in the past was when rehandling a knife the epoxy would actually twist or warp the liners, so the blade would no longer lie center, I have since solved that problem. I'm no expert, just my observations.
You did a great job as far as I can see. Would you mind listing the tools you used in disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. You can keep it in just a list form if you don't want to list your steps.
That knife looks great.
To understand the history of Man, study the tools he uses.
Here's a list of my tools that I used on this particular knife:
-belt sander with varying grit belts
-buffer
-sandpaper in varrying grits.
-ball peen hammer
-homemade punch (I have tried a few factory made ones and I break every one of them)
-slackener
-3/32" nickle silver pin stock
Just curious MM. What did you make the punch from? Nice work on that whittler.
Nick
"A good cook changes his knife once a year-because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month-because he hacks."
[An excerpt from the Chuang Tzu]
an old phillips screwdriver did the trick well, I tapered it and flattened the point, I can knock out 1/16" up to 1/8" pins with it no problem. I haven't had it break once and only bent it on one occasion, I think the factories temper the punch too hard and they are brittle, plus the small 1/16" rod they make the punch from is so skinny all the way up to the large handle it makes a weak spot.
Hi ya'll...
I think it would be nice if some of these like MM, that are already repairing knives to show the rest of us, pictures of their work areas and also show some pictures of tools and "specialty tools", that they seem to feel are the most effective to do knife repair. What do you think? I know there are several knife repairmen(maybe some knife repair Ladies, too), out there and I think a look at their tools and set-ups would benefit all of us. What are the main tools that you need to get started? What tools would be nice to have in addition? Where can you buy a "slackener", or do you have to make your own? I feel like most everybody has questions they would like answers to. I have always felt that the only "stupid" question is the one you didn't ask.
...CCBill...
Only two things are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein...
Thanks MM...
Even you guys that are already proficient at repairing knives might benefit from it. I'm sure that everybody has their own ideas about how things should be done and if you, agteacher, Huuk or any of the rest can show a way to do something differently, it might just be "news you can use" to refine your own techniques. As far as "specialty" tools go, your tip on the modified phillips screwdriver to remove pins is great, but I'd like to see a picture of the tool, itself. I'm sure that all knife repairmen, and knifemakers have some nifty little shop-made tools that are a big help to them that nobody makes, but probably should. We don't want to interrupt anybody's "patent" ideas but we would all appreciate and possibly benefit from your knowledge of the subject.
As far as work areas go, I would like to see what the top of your work bench looks like, the tools on it,etc. I would like to see the different work stations that you use, grinder, buffer, etc.
Any kind of step by step dis-assembly and re-assembly work, crinking, slackeneing, hafting, etc.
All of it would be greatly enjoyed and appreciated by all, I believe.
Of course, these are just my opinions. What do the rest of you think?
...CCBill...
Only two things are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein...
That's what I'm subtly working up to CCBill, making them spill the beans and tell us all the secrets.
I think there comes a time when we have to do a little on our own and then come back for more help. Right about the point when we've messed everything up and are about to pull the last hairs out of our head.
Uhmm, if you have any hair left that is.
What would be better is if any of our friends here have websites where they have pictures of their workshops, or benches, that we can visit. It's always nice to see where other people are and what influences their work.
I'm still trying to figure out how to get a bench to roll up to my chair. Maybe I need to draw up a few plans and see how they look.
To understand the history of Man, study the tools he uses.
Very Nice Kaleb......... Were Will the Knife go from Here if you Don't Mind Me Asking? E-Bay? Nices Restored I+XL I Seen in a Millenium . Looks like a Saxon ,My all Time Favorite
KleenCut61 wrote:Very Nice Kaleb......... Were Will the Knife go from Here if you Don't Mind Me Asking? E-Bay? Nices Restored I+XL I Seen in a Millenium . Looks like a Saxon ,My all Time Favorite
I'm not sure where it got off to. It may have been in a small batch of my knives that got stolen several years ago . I sure don't ever remember selling it, I EDC'd it often
Thx Kaleb , Bummer About the Whittler,,,, There Aren't to Many left like them ..Appreciate The Reality Check .. I Say this Because you just never Know when A Cool Pocket Knife is going to Just Show Up , My Latest Purchase Described as a 2 Blade , One Might be missing But I Don't Think So I*XL 3 Blade ($ 10.00 ) .. Rock On !!..........Joe
. Needless to say, I'm tickled pink with it, not only with the knife, but proving to myself that I could tune a splitback 
, no matter how many tries it took 
. And as usual, here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure. Let me hear your comments 
Nices Restored I+XL I Seen in a Millenium . Looks like a Saxon ,My all Time Favorite 
. I sure don't ever remember selling it, I EDC'd it often
