All About Pocket Knives

Hi forgive my complete naiviety when it comes to knife repair/restoration. I was thinking of dabbling a little purely for recreational purposes. Maybe replace a broken blade or handle just for fun. I have neither the space nor the inclination to buy a set of power tools. I imagine, as in the old days, one could do this with a hammer, punch, hacksaw, file etc. Maybe one of those dremel tools would be handy. A) is this realistic? B) Can you recommend a good reference source? I can buy The Complete Book Of Pocket Knife Repair by Kelley over here. Is that a good starting point? Plus I will likely bother you with lots of silly questions. Any advice appreciated Thanks in advance s-k

the first repairs i completed were with simple hand tools. it just takes longer. ask away, someone will have an answer or two. kelley's is a good primer. adrian harris' as well.

Thanks Johnnie. I am keen to give it a try. I'll let you know what develops. s-k

S-M,

I've just started some retrofits/restoration too and it's been lots of fun so far. I do have a small drill press and a 4x36 sander which helps a lot, but you could do it all with a dremel, elbow grease and patience. You might even be able to pick up a cheap electric hand drill with a small drill press attachment for a few bucks at a pawn shop/second hand store.

Read MuskratMan's sticky tutorial - it's very helpful. Also, check out the slip-joint Tutorial section on Chris Crawford's site. I found it quite interesting too, but it relates to building from scratch. http://www.chriscrawfordknives.com/

I'm sure that with some ingenuity, all problems related to not using power tools can be over-come.

J

Thanks very much for the advice and the link Diligence. Much appreciated s-k

S-K, all that is actually needed for a bare bones reapir, is the parts you need, a hammer, hacksaw, file, rasp, sandpaper, and a vice is a must. With those tools you can pull off simple repairs, more tools just means to make the job faster and sometimes easier.