All About Pocket Knives

Another rescue from the ebay pile. Started off as a TL-29 pattern, probably made by Cammillus. I tore it down, and slapped some marigold scales from Culpepper. (bargain bin.....again)

I didn't notice until I tried close it the first time, but the locking mechanism on this is backwards, compared to other TL-29's. Unless I re-assembled it wrong....... I dunno.

Take it back apart and dump the locking mechanism. Then polish the blade to match the rest of the knife.

You're right Mike. You have the lock on the wrong side of the blade. Of course I've never done anything like that.

I'm with Robert. Unless you're really in love with those locks, dump it when you tear it back down. Show us what you have when you finish.

Mike, did you grind the back of the blade tang to match the profile of the screwdriver blade?
If you didn't it won't work anyway most likely. Compare the rear part of the blade tang to the that of the S/D blade. Notice how different they are.

I knew something wasn't quite right with it. But I was trying to be fancy and use the locking bar. I'd much rather have it without the lock myself.

Dale - I've never noticed a difference between the main and the S/D blade tangs, but I'll give it a look when I tear this bad boy apart.

It's incidents like this that make me glad I didn't try to rebuild that old Challenge I found.

Mike,
if you don't see a difference let me know. I will do a quick scan of a Camillus blade and screwdriver blade.
It's pretty easy to see the difference there.

On the bright side, you get to practice taking apart the knife and putting it back together!
And we all know practice makes perfect!

(sorry, I couldn't help myself)

orvet wrote:Mike,
if you don't see a difference let me know. I will do a quick scan of a Camillus blade and screwdriver blade.
It's pretty easy to see the difference there.

^^^What Dale said. The screwdriver blade almost always has a notch cut into the tang where the liner slips into place upon opening. On all the conversions I have done, I have had to make a notch in the spear balde to fit the liner lock bar. I tend to like them without the liner lock, but I guess that is personal preference.

BTW, nice job. It sucks to have to take it apart again. Like that Marigold too. I think I have a bargain set of that as well, just have to find a project to use it on.

Thanks for sharing.

Glenn

Tearing it down right now.......

Dale - now that I actually LOOK at the tangs, I see the difference. The screwdriver tang has almost a keystone shape to it. Since I just toss em in a bin after I tear em down, I never noticed.

Toejammer wrote:Tearing it down right now.......

Dale - now that I actually LOOK at the tangs, I see the difference. The screwdriver tang has almost a keystone shape to it. Since I just toss em in a bin after I tear em down, I never noticed.

That is why I don't tear apart a knife unless I am going to use it right then. You can miss subtle changes in production and design. Sometimes a later version of the same pattern will have such significant changes that the parts are not interchangeable.
I had that happen with a Camillus #48; parts from a 1970 knife would not fit the 1950s knife I was repairing.

I have never been a fan of tearing apart a bunch of knives and throwing the parts in bins. I dissemble the knife, measuring the pins and make a drawing of the knife. In my notes I include the pin sizes, and all the dimensions I can get off the knife for future reference. It becomes a most valuable resource book for me, especially with a pattern/brand I don’t work on frequently.

Fixed it, looks alot better without the locking mech. Went with slightly bigger pins on the backspring too.

Mission accomplished jammer!
Sweeeeet knife.

.... Joe

Nice work Mike!
It is always a learning experience to get a knife together then have to take it apart to fix my mistake.
It has happened to me more than I would care to admit.

Nice job!! Cool!! John

Thanks guys ! I hated taking it back apart, but I was glad I did. I'm still trying to get good at this, so all the comments and feedback help alot !

Looks good

How strong is the snap?

I really love those handles! Those knives are like a blank canvas...the possibilities are endless. Well done!

Miller Bro`s wrote:Looks good

How strong is the snap?

This one is surprisingly snappy. I was worried I'd get it too tight, but I finally found the sweet spot.