All About Pocket Knives

Just got a basket case Challenge cigar jack (tang stamp Challenge Cutl Co Bridgeport) 4 1/4' closed. Bone handles, rough but no cracks. Main blade intact, 85%. Secondary broken at tang. Main has good snap, half stop, slight wobble at open. Bolsters and springs are covered in a protective coating of rust.

Question is: should i consider rebuilding this, or would someone here need it more for parts ? I'll try to get a pic up here in a bit.

Here's some pics

I'd take it apart remove the secondary and put it back together. If the scales are good just clean them up. Well worth saving.

Remove broken blade rebuild and use.............

Works for me, I just didn't know if it was sacrilege to customize such an old knife. Personally I figured it was far enough gone that it didn't matter much. Hopefully I can save the bone scales, the rest is easy. The scales have some sort of tar spots on both sides. Will be interesting.....

Lighter fluid will remove the tar easily.

Used "Goo Gone" - citrus based, worked perfect actually. Now comes the delicate part ..... getting the liners / bolster / scales off in one piece.

Cleaned her up, think I'll just leave it be. Too much history in this knife for me to go screw up. Besides, the wife threatened to beat me if I took it apart !!


Backside showed one stress fracture on the scales i hadn't seen before i got the gunk off.

Way to go TJ, looks like you breathed new life into and old soldier

Looks awesome!!

Thanks ! I feel better now that I didn't take it apart. That crack on the backside would break apart with my luck. Besides, this is the oldest knife I own now.

Just grind or file or sand the sharp edges of the broken blade so it doesn't interfere or hurt your hands if you decide to use the knife.
I tried removing bone scales from an 1840's knife without damaging them but they were so old and dry they shattered with the first attempted. Your better off leaving the knife be....

"Great cleanup job on that old knife"...


JW

Toejammer wrote:Cleaned her up, think I'll just leave it be. Too much history in this knife for me to go screw up. Besides, the wife threatened to beat me if I took it apart !!

Your wife shows very good sense

Glad you did not alter it

That would make a SWEET single blade.

I would fix up what's left of that small blade to be for lack of a better term a cable splitter.

I did a mod to the Spey blade in my Humpback Whittler for just such a reason, I can choke up and handily strip the covering off of most kinds of wire!

nice work on that old challenge i like the scales on it good jod and thanks for sharing