All About Pocket Knives

I just started a clean up project on an older Case stockman, nothing fancy or special but a good platform to play with.

After splitting the knife in half, I measured the pin material, they all appear to be right at 0.071" diameter. I'm no math whiz, but that doesn't seem to fit with 1/16" or 3/32". Just want to make sure I get the right pin material to put this all back together.

Anyone have any ideas?

JLaw

Buy the 3/32. Chuck it up in the drill press, and sand/ file it down to what you need. Its easy and works well.
Mark

I get .072" brass pin stock at my local Ace Hardware store.
It comes in an assortment of 3 sizes, 12" long in a plastic sleeve.
About $4.

If they don't have it in stock you can have them order it.
If they can't find the number, I think I may still have a sleeve or two with the sticker & part # still on it.
Let me know if you need the #.

Ramrod wrote:Buy the 3/32. Chuck it up in the drill press, and sand/ file it down to what you need. Its easy and works well.
Mark

I've been known to hold a piece by hand and gently turn it against my belt grinder to slim it down. That being said, it seems like the knife supply places and the knife manufacturers make sure to differ their pin sizes. It's a conspiracy I tell ya!

Great tip on Ace Hardware Dale! I've also had luck on odd size pin stock at hobby shops.

Another thing about pin stock:
Be sure to measure the diameter of the pin stock with a micrometer when you get it.
There is a lot of difference in the size of the pin stock between companies and even between batches at the same company.
Just because it is supposed to be 3/32" don't assume it is actually 3/32"! It can be off +/- 0.0015".

I bought a set of number drills so I could drill my pinholes 1 or 2 thousands over size so I don't have cracked scales. The set I bought was #1 through #60 and I made the mistake of buying them from Harbor Freight. Yep! You guessed it, Chinese drills. Now I have to measure each drill as I have found as much as 0.0025" variance in the size of the number drill from what they should be!
So if the pin is 0.001” oversize and the number drill is 0.002" undersize I have a hole that is 0.003" too small, resulting in a cracked set of scales. At $20 a set for bone scales it doesn't take long before the $30 or $40 I saved on the set of number drills has been used up and then some!

So many of the drills we find in the stores today are made off shore that I think it is wise to measure all our drills before using them now days.
A good used 1" American or Japanese micrometer can sell for as little as $15 and rarely over $25. A micrometer or a good dial caliper is a MUST for the knife repairman, OMHO!

Has anyone else run across this problem?
If you have a micrometer measure your pin stock and your drills and see what the variances are from what they should be.

Dale

Go to one of the model train stores on Ebay. They usually stock .072 and .081 brass rods in 12" lenghts.
These work great. Some of the old American made switchblades use both of these sized rods. These are actually metric sizes, but so far I haven't found a place for all metric sizes or for any nickel silver metrics. Good luck!

conslade wrote:Go to one of the model train stores on Ebay. They usually stock .072 and .081 brass rods in 12" lenghts.
These work great. Some of the old American made switchblades use both of these sized rods. These are actually metric sizes, but so far I haven't found a place for all metric sizes or for any nickel silver metrics. Good luck!

The best selection of Nickel Silver I have found is Jantz Supply.
They carry the following diameter nickel silver pin stock:
1.8mm = 0.070"
2mm = 0.078"
2.5mm = .098"
3mm = 0.118"

http://www.knifemaking.com/category_s/9 ... =10&page=2

Hope that helps.
I will check out the model train stores for the brass in the same diameter.

I love the exchange of info here on AAPK!!

Dale