All About Pocket Knives

Oh my goodness, I´ve never thought of switchblades! As it seems they were pretty common in Germany in the last 100 years. Thinking of switchblades one only thinks of gangmembers wielding cheap italian daggers but there is so much more to them as I found out. Quite a tradition to explore!

Anyhow, this "Weidmannsheil Springer König" is a classic and came at a price where I couldn´t say no. Pushing the lever it flicks out so fast and hard that it seems to good to be original. The protruding tip of the blade is another indicator. Could it be that the spring is not original and too much bent to the outside for this knife? Is there anything I could do about it myself? It will receive the usual polishing but I would love to fix the mechanism too. The seller wrote that it is from the sixties.

Frank..that is a real beauty and a hard one to find these days.


Here is a thread that you may enjoy...

Tim

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 86&t=22450

I Agree____very nice!!!!!

From what I can tell the spring on that model is part of the frame so to replace it you would have to replace the whole knife frame. I think more likely someone pulled the spring up with a tool to give it more kick and just bent it to far. You may be able to use some kind of tool and push it down enough to loosen up the action yourself. I would look to have Muskrateman maybe take a crack at it just to be on the safe side.
It is a real nice old knife very good grab.
Hear are 2 more made in modern times that have that same lever lock that was original to the old German blades.1 from Italy and 1 from Czech Republic both great knives and well made. Hope to see some more switchblades posted.

Thank you Gentlemen!

@knifetime: I would love to have Muskratman have a go at this knife but it would have to go through customs twice and shippiung from and to Germany would add to that.
Looking into the handle it is hards to say if the spring is attached to the frame or not. Maybe if I feel lucky I have a go at it myself, if not I may find someone here in Germany
who knows what to do. I wonder if the guys at Hubertus would do it. After all "Weidmannsheil" is no longer in existence.

What I will do is to reshape the tip of the blade, give it a polishing all over and sharpen it.

BTW: Your auto look awesome! Regarding your hopes for more switchblades.... well, I am afraid but there might be following some more....
You might want to take a look here: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 02#p368402

@Tim: Don´t you wonder from where I´ve got this new itch.....

Here is my only one

Nice stag on this one Gino, is it a Hubertus?

Thanks Frank, yep she is I had a bit of trouble getting a pic of the etch.

Check this link, Cap'n Farrel.
Muskrat Man may still have the springs for them!????
I hear they can be a bi@#h to put in though.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 46&start=0

..... Joe

Thank you for the pointer Joe! I am not sure if I feel skilled enough to put new spring inside this baby!
I still have to fix some simple slip joints....

The Mikov is a great design because you can remove and replace the springs yourself. There is 2 and you can use the new springs or just about any small screwdriver to remove the old spring's and then you just shove the new ones in place. This video is how it works.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CTY_tTLrm1 ... TY_tTLrm1k

Those Mikovs look soooooo sweet, I really need one (or two?) of them!
I found out that I can order them directly in the Czech Republic which is in the European Union so there are not even customs duties for me to pay.
At last I am sitting at the on the propper side of this ocean to get me some cool knives......

You will like them I'm sure. They come in very well made sheath also.

I did a bit of thinking about my Weidmannsheil blade not sitting accurately inside the handle.

If I am not mistaken the position of the blade inside the handle is defined by the locking-hole in the tang.
So it shouldn´t matter if the spring is too long or bent too much upwards. The locking-position is all the same.
My idea is that the locking hole has got too wide or the locking-pin has worn / thinned out so that the blade
sticks out of the handle when locked.

Or am I wrong?

Pretty good assessment, Frank!
Either of those issues is tough to fix. You'll have to make a new sear pin
or have the hole in the blade welded up and re-drilled. (maybe both!!)

Re-profiling the blade just may be the simplest (definitely the cheapest) of all the possible repairs.
I wouldn't do it unless it's your last resort.

But hay! You still have that cool Hubertus to carry while looking for someone to repair the Springer!

...... Joe

Thank you Joe! I guess you summed it up pretty well. Maybe I jut keep it like that as a collectors piece. After all it is meanwhile illegal to carry such a knife in public so all I can do is play with
it at home. If I am lucky there will be another Widmannheil on the way soon. Maybe this one is better.....
Aah, there are still so many switchblades to consider....

Capt. Farrel wrote: Maybe I jut keep it like that as a collectors piece.

Good idea!

It looks good just the same

Capt. Farrel wrote:I did a bit of thinking about my Weidmannsheil blade not sitting accurately inside the handle.

If I am not mistaken the position of the blade inside the handle is defined by the locking-hole in the tang.
So it shouldn´t matter if the spring is too long or bent too much upwards. The locking-position is all the same.
My idea is that the locking hole has got too wide or the locking-pin has worn / thinned out so that the blade
sticks out of the handle when locked.

Or am I wrong?

You are right. I thought the same thing after I had a chance to look at one of mine. I hope you can git it fixed,good luck.

The question is who could fix it and and how much would it be? If it was a Hubertus I would ask them directly but Weidmannheil is long gone. Well, maybe I have more luck with other vintage Springers....

The spring in your knife is replaceable, but it has nothing to do with the blade peeking.
Try this: hold the blade shut all the way. With the lever in the "closed" position, gently tap the sear pin down with a very small hammer.
Also, tightening or replacing a worn blade pivot can have a dramatic effect on blade peeking.

Thank you 'Bill for the hints! I suppose this knife would be a good candidate for trying a repair. I am not sure if I feel able enough right now to do this job so the kjnife has to wait.
In the meantime I think I will get me one of your too nice looking Leverlettos. Fortunately there is a source in Europe for them!

So here´s the line-up of the vintage springers I amassed so far. All have a strong snap which is the good news. Starting from the bottom the Weidmannsheil has a peeking blade and the tip of the blade could use a little reshaping. The second Weidmannsheil is a spear point and apart from a scratched blade it is fine. Number three is quite nice. It has jigged bone handles and the blade tang is stamped "Solingen Germany" and the rear bolster "Springer". 'To keep productions costs down the rear bolsters are made from steel/sheet metal and the front bolsters seem to be made from nickel-silver coated die-cast metal. The lever looks like nickel-silver.
Number four (top) has "ROSTFREI" (stainless) on it´s tang, bolsters are from steel/sheet metal and handles are imitation stag.

I will give all of them a slight polish in the next days.....

Nice collection Capt., I'm glad you didn't try jacking with the spring. You know, If you are considering reshaping the tip you might as well do so to where the tip rests inside the blade well. Or was that your plan
I just sold a Solingen Germany Marked Springer like knife #3 but in stag. It was old and all original and still hit hard although it had blade wobble and the blade was peeking as well. I figured I would let the next guy decide how he wanted to go about fixing the peeking issue. I've seen them priced around $700 in mint condition. Nice knives

:EDIT: Looking at the Konig again it looks like you will lose a lot of the blade getting it to rest below the liner

Thank you RDK! You´re right about reshaping the blade. It would make a very short blade in the end. I guess I will keep it like it is for now, maybe sell it later for a better example. Still have to find one of those shell pullers...

The top knife was made in Italy.
The rear bolsters on the 3rd knife were originally nickel plated.