All About Pocket Knives

OK picked my next project but I have some questions.

What do they call this pattern? Is it a camp knife?

What is the small notch in the screwdriver used for?

The springs were really loose and the blades have no snap at all. There doesn't seem to be excessive wear on the springs or the blades so I clamped the spring in a vice to see if I could bend them a bit (see picture.) Has anyone tried this? Will it work or am I just wasting my time?

Bending the springs will put more tension in them, but if the end of the tang is rounded off, it still won't have snap.
If the tangs are still good, that should add more snap.

it's a camp/utility knife, the notch i believe is for stripping wire. if the parts dont have extensive wear bending the spring usually works, be careful as German knives were famous for how hard they tempered blade/springs if you're not careful you may get a crash course in making a new backspring. don't ask me how I know this. worn/bent pins can sometimes cause sloppy blades too

Thanks guys. The bending didn't work so I decided to make new liners & move the pivot holes for the springs closer to the blades. I made test liners out of steel and it seemed to work. Now for the brass liners.

Coming along nicely.

I do have a suggestion though. It may not be necessary to make new liners to adjust the blade pivot holes. When I need to do that, I usually do one of 2 things; either fill the hole with solder, file it down and re-drill where you need the new hole to be or just use a NS pin and peen it to fill the existing hole, then file it down and re-drill.

That could save you some time...

Glenn

E.T.A - That would only work at the bolster ends...

glennbad wrote:Coming along nicely.

I do have a suggestion though. It may not be necessary to make new liners to adjust the blade pivot holes. When I need to do that, I usually do one of 2 things; either fill the hole with solder, file it down and re-drill where you need the new hole to be or just use a NS pin and peen it to fill the existing hole, then file it down and re-drill.

That could save you some time...

Glenn

E.T.A - That would only work at the bolster ends...

Now you tell me!

I wanted thicker liners anyway. Done with the liners and the snap is good on all blades. The smaller pen is a bit weaker than the others but still better than it was. On to the bolsters.

Well, it looks great. Keep it up!

glennbad wrote:Well, it looks great. Keep it up!

Thanks Glenn. I appreciate the words of encouragement especially from someone who has done a few. I like that TL-29 mod that you did. I've got a couple of those lying around. Might try one meself.

Made some progress. Last pic is scales soaking in olive oil. I've read that this helps to wick the dye in.

Your making very good progress

I love the hand jigging!

Well. I realized that just soaking in olive oil wasn't going to create good permeation so I decided to make a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump. The following pictures document my failures along with the final simplistic version.

Plan D: NEVER GIVE UP! Glad you finally got it! I have watched the Youtube
videos on doing this. Looks like it's easier than it apparently is...

Are you just gonna use the olive oil or are you planning on dying it? I like the way your posting pics
along the way. You could make this a trial and error tutoring session.

Can't wait to see the final product! Great job on your success with this knife so far!

... Joe

rexstubbins wrote: Last pic is scales soaking in olive oil. I've read that this helps to wick the dye in.

Should the dye be mixed in with the oil?

I plan on dying them. I'm going to use a combination of Fieblings leather dye and stain. I've read that a pre-soak in the olive oil or Gasoline until the scales turn translucent helps when you dye them. I'll only use the dye and throw out the olive oil.

What does olive oil do that veggie won't do---was it Extra Virgin?? or Light Olvie Oil

PigSticker wrote:What does olive oil do that veggie won't do---was it Extra Virgin?? or Light Olvie Oil

I don't know? I just used regular olive oil because that's what I had read somewhere.

I can't think of a reason to use any food oils on a knife, unless you use olive oil on wood handles as a way of finishing the wood (a little) without using harmful finishes.
When we made cutting boards in shop class that was why our teacher told us to use olive oil.

Food oils can all get rancid I think. If that happens with the bone handles, it may not be pleasant to use your knife.
Mineral oil might have been a better choice; at least it does not get rancid.

Well. I guess we'll all learn from trial & error. I'm kind of hoping that when I put the dye in at vacuum the oil will leach out. I'll keep you posted. I'm supposed to get the dye today. Not sure if I'll be able to put it in the dye today because one of the scales still looks white as opposed to translucent in some areas.

not sure what type of dye you're using but it seems to me oil would keep any kind of dye from penetrating into the bone because, well.......................it's oil.

muskrat man wrote:not sure what type of dye you're using but it seems to me oil would keep any kind of dye from penetrating into the bone because, well.......................it's oil.

I'm using Fiebing's oil dye. It seems like it would be OK because it's the same medium. Trust me. I had all of the same questions before I started but figured the only way to know for sure is just try it. I'm hoping that by tomorrow the one stingy scale will have penetrated completely with the olive oil.

Of all of the knives you have done have you dyed any muskrat man?

Part of the attraction to me of bone is that it is natural & each piece is different.
When they look slightly different I think it is a good thing.
If a guy wants perfectly matching handles plastic is usually quite consistent from piece to piece.

Well I think I soaked & sucked the scales as much as I could in the olive oil so I moved on to the stain. I'm going to soak them in golden oak stain first under vacuum and then run a small amount of the mahogany dye down the center of the scale. I put the scales in the stain this morning.

A bit of advice.

1) Don't drink coffee before working with stain or dye. See spill.
2) Wear rubber gloves. I actually did this thank god.
3) Have lots of paper towels within reach. (Within reach is the key.)
4) Make sure that everyone in your household is ALREADY awake. If not. Well you'll probably be banished to the garage for the rest of the day.

I am enjoying this thread very much. Thanks for the detailed pics and description of your progress, hoping it comes out well for you.

IM

Yeah, me too

Rex, have you ever tried Potassium permanganate? I have used this in the past and had great results with it, no vacuum pump, olive oil, stain, etc.