All About Pocket Knives

Hey guys , I have a rare knife that I need to remove the celluloid covers for a spring replacement and was wondering if (besides the obvious masking tape) is there a trick to successfully protect the covers while grinding off them pin heads without mucking up the covers? my hands not as steady as when I was younger, there was a post on this but I cant seem to find it . Thanks guys and Happy New Year ! JJ.

Are the puns ground off flush with the handles, peened or spun?

That's a difficult question to answer without seeing the knife.
Is the spring broken or does it just feel like there is no snap to the spring?

The heads are peened / domed and just need to be about flush to lift the covers off but no room for error on this rare bird so I thought I`d better check in with ya`ll first

Can you post a picture of the knife? That would be a tremendous help!
Is the spring broken and a piece of it missing?
Because if it is just that a blade lacks snap, it is more likely worn down tang or the celluloid has weakened the liner and the liners cracked beneath the handle. These are both common problems with old knives.

I'm sure the knife is an automatic, and Wiseguy is talking about a kickspring, not a backspring.

Exactly !

Bill DeShivs wrote:I'm sure the knife is an automatic, and Wiseguy is talking about a kickspring, not a backspring.

This is why a picture would have been helpful. It would have saved everyone some time.

Sorry Dale but my camera is broken, any suggestions to my question would be appreciated guys

orvet wrote:This is why a picture would have been helpful. It would have saved everyone some time.

I use 3M blue tape for protection.
Various sized small drill bits with a slow speed drill and a very steady hand is what works for me , remove just enough so the handle can be removed easily , also some penetrating fluid will help slide the handle off .

Well shoot ..... not a very responsive bunch here lately , I guess its all been talked on to death here before , I just couldn't find it i`ll try puting a hole in an old thin feeler gage and strap it over the scale go from there and see what happens .

Sorry, but I don't work on switchblades. I believe Bill is an expert on the subject, that's probably why he recognized that you were talking about a kick spring and not a back spring.

I've only worked on a couple of switchblades and the disassembly process is considerably different from working on a slip joint knife.
The construction is different and the approach is different. The old orange handled military switchblades, mostly Schrade Walden and Camillus, had such soft plastic in them that if you try to grind the head off of the pin the heat would melt the plastic.

I don't know what kind of knife you are working on or even what the handle material is.
These are all very important considerations. Analogically it's kind of like asking a mechanic if he can fix the transmission in your truck without telling him what the transmission is doing or the year, make and model of your truck.

You are giving very little information, and the most critical piece came from Bill, and yet you expect us to tell you how to fix your knife?
We don't know what model it is, we don't know what brand it is, we don't know what the handles are made of, we don't know what the pins holding the handles on are made of.

I can appreciate that your camera is broken and that you can't post a picture, but you could at least give us a decent description of the of the knife; and critical information like the brand, the handle material, the pin material, even the age of the knife would be helpful to know if the handle material is dried out.

Dale , with all due respect my post clearly states the covers as Celluloid and the question only had to do with protecting the covers while grinding off the pin head , seems like a fairly straight forward question to me that would apply to darn near any knife with a peen pinned handle so not quite sure why it went any further than just that ( removing the scalee pin sorry to bother you man ..... anyone else got a good idea.

I stand corrected, you did say celluloid, my apologies.

Nothing here just a steady hand and a dremel with a small round cutter. I usually brance my hands against my legs, knees and/ or work bench to steady things up. What make/model is the auto? Depending on construction you may be able to shear the pin and not have to mess with the head much if at all?

Unfortunately (for me )it`s a PBKC so can`t shear em ,,,, I`ll wing it and get it done , I just thought I`d ask since you guys here are the best !

I see. If it is smooth handled (you said it's celluloid, so it is) I normally file them off then press them out. You might scuff the cell a little which can be touched up easy to look unmolested. You can file a flat spot on the head then LIGHTLY center punch it so you can drill it with an undersized bit then tap/press it out.