Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

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BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks glennbad, I had to go really slow; partly because I was nervous. I’m sure everyone here has boogered something up at one time or another; and I’ve had my fair share in the past, and even though I have learned from my mistakes, I honesty was shaking on some of the more treacherous parts. ::paranoid::
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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edge213
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by edge213 »

BFORSE wrote:Thanks glennbad, I had to go really slow; partly because I was nervous. I’m sure everyone here has boogered something up at one time or another; and I’ve had my fair share in the past, and even though I have learned from my mistakes, I honesty was shaking on some of the more treacherous parts. ::paranoid::
Great fix.
David
"Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife" Meat Loaf
BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks edge213! I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It also gives me another throwaway knife I can piddle with.
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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bighomer
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by bighomer »

WOW, great job. ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu::
BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks, bighomer!
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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Doc B
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by Doc B »

Nice job! Looks good! ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu::
Heretical Refurb / Mods of cheap old folders, since late 2018
BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

If anyone is wondering whatever happened to the schrade double switchblade; right now he is on the back burner. I have been volunteered to design and build a 12’x6’ chicken coop and run with all the bells and whistles. The motivation for completing this project first is the chirping box of chicks in my kitchen. :roll: Some friendly advice: build the coop BEFORE you take your kids to Tractor Supply. :mrgreen:
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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Byrd
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by Byrd »

That's OK! We're a patient bunch! I hate it when other projects interrupt the important stuff though!
If the thunder don't get you then the lightening will!
BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks Byrd! Well, I’ve pretty much finished the chicken coop and painted a cat portrait by the time I started my week long thanksgiving break.
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So, originally I had decided to go back with faux ivory, then it was suggested that I go back with bone. I liked the bone idea better. I knew this would be a massive undertaking but I also knew that I would learn a lot in the process... this was definitely not a plug and play project and I didn’t have much to work with.
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I decided to use one bone slab as a test piece and use the other nicer looking bone as my slabs. I had just enough width to cut two pieces from one slab. My thinking was that the two slabs would be, for the most part, identical in grain and color.
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Of course I took my time and sawed it but hand so I wouldn’t be in a hurry and make a mistake with the band saw. So that took some time. I also had some mineral spirits left over from painting so I through the knife in to loosen up any old grease oil and lint.
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80+ years and you could make soup of what settled out from that old pocket knife.
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So while the knife cooking in the mineral spirits I tried my best to compensate for the shrinkage and tape together the remnants of the celluloid handle for a template.
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I then taped the template to the bone slabs and use a one-sixteenths bit to drill the pin holes.
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I noticed that one of the tiny pins fell out that was holding one of the buttons in place. I had originally decided not to disassemble the knife more than was absolutely necessary but I decided to carefully drive out the pin on the other side as well to clean everything a bit more thoroughly than the spirits could do alone.
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Now, I knew that the odds of the bone being the correct thickness from the manufacturer was highly unlikely. But I don’t own another knife like this and don’t know anyone who does so I stilled a YouTube video and estimated the thickness.
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I just want to mention that if you don’t own calipers, do yourself a favor and go pick up a set. Also for a project like this you will probably want a dremel set, a portable drill press, bench sander, band saw, pliers, wet/dry sandpaper and a ball peen hammer... for when you need to hit something because your bone slab split in half while drilling a pin hole. Yes, that happened to me. Fortunately, I had that test piece of bone left.
Next comes the hours of thinning the slabs and routing the holes for the buttons and locks.
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I would periodically hold the scales to the light to see my thin spots.
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

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It is important to test fit your button and lock with the bone slab as you take material away.
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While test fitting one of the slabs I found the reason why one side originally split and fell off. The dimensions were slightly off from the factory; the spring and button were putting excess pressure on the scale. I notice that the curvature of the spring did not match the other.
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So.... i knew the odds of success going in, and for me personally bending a spring had been about 50/50... but not this day.
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100% fail... WHERE’S MY BALL PEEN! Obviously there must be something wrong with my head that needs fixing. So now what? Where do you go to buy a NOS spring for a 80 or 90+ year old schrade double switchblade??? To the best of my knowledge you don’t....You pull yourself together and start thinking of a solution. This popped into my head, but would it work? It had to!
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A little dremel and hand file work and you have yourself a replacement spring! Make sure you go slow and constantly cool the metal before it gets hot.
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Now I think I had originally said I would do a pick bone but I don’t think that would be an accurate jigging pattern for the particular date of this knife so I tried replicating the pattern that might fit it the best. It turned out alright but not as close as I would have liked, partially because of the thickness of the bone and me not wanting to jig as deep Incase it broke.
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Time to DYE!!!
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All I had was a water based leather dye and by this time I was ready for this project to come to and end so I dyed it several time till it dried, wiping off what would come off in between coats. It was finally done. A good EDC that may hold up for another 80+ years.
07C57AF5-8C2A-429D-8E56-1497A7C29B4E.jpeg
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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danno50
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by danno50 »

Wow BFORSE, beautiful work! ::tu:: ::tu:: Excellent job on the jigging, I would say, also on the spring rebuild!
Dan
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks danno50!
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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bestgear
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by bestgear »

I’m digging the cat portrait, great eye!
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stockman
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by stockman »

Nice Job, looks like you do his everyday. Beautiful knife.

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edge213
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by edge213 »

Great job on the rehandle.
David
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Thanks guys, I hope this post might be able to help someone working on this same type of project, and as far as this and any other project is concerned (including pet portraits) there’s more than one way to skin a cat. :wink:
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by doglegg »

BFORSE, an absolutely amazing job. Thanks for the pics and the walk along. That turned out wonderful and without all the tools you needed. Excellent!!! ::nod:: ::nod:: ::tu:: ::tu::
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Great job, and some ingenious work to create a new spring. ::tu::

Now, where is the picture of the chicken house? ::sotb::

Ken
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by Reverand »

Way to keep going, and overcome all obstacles!
That is a sweet knife now!
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Everything else is just a hobby.

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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by 1967redrider »

Excellent!!! ::ds:: ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by glennbad »

Wow, nice rebuild!
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by Landersknives »

Very nice! Awesome job! Your spring solution is great. Standing ovation. Beautiful job on the bone. What more could I say....wow.
Ed
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BFORSE
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

Mumbleypeg wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:00 am Great job, and some ingenious work to create a new spring. ::tu::

Now, where is the picture of the chicken house? ::sotb::

Ken
This is what has been done so far. It still needs a few more things.
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St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by TPK »

Wow! Knives, paintings, chicken coops. You have many talents Sir! ::tu:: :D
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Re: Schrade switchblade celluloid - repair, remold, or replace with a different material

Post by BFORSE »

TPK wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:54 pm Wow! Knives, paintings, chicken coops. You have many talents Sir! ::tu:: :D
That is kind of you to say TPK; I thank God for what He has given and what He has withheld in my life!
St. John Chapter 1
...12 But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God...
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