All About Pocket Knives

I disassembled another one of the Barlow style knives that I received in that last E-Bay lot. The blade is marked but I cant make it out even under magnification. This was another one with the shell handle and hollow bolsters. It was rusty and dirty but there was some blade life left so I decided to try and breath some new life into it.
Initial teardown showed some rust but nothing too extensive; I opted for olive wood handles. It was the first time I had worked with olive wood, its extremely hard and exhibits some nice grain patterns. This time around I just rubbed some oil into the scales as opposed to sealing them with polyurethane; It turned out okay. I'm having trouble figuring out how to finish polish the pin heads after assembly without getting black residue rubbed into the wood grain. A pin spinner is one solution I guess but I haven't had alot of luck with that approach yet.
I'm sure I'll figure it out by the time I get to the 5th or 6th knife!
Thanks for looking.
Jeff

I love Olive wood on knives. It's a classic look that never gets old. Nice choice!

I deal with a lot of polishing of metals on finished surfaces, and the first thing I can say is to use a NEW buffer with nothing on it. The fibers will grab, and hold the metal without smearing it into the other surfaces. Slower speeds or a VERY light touch are best..., and KEEP MOVING.
Keep changing the drag direction, and area used on the buffer pad. In the case of a knife I guess I would suggest rotating the knife while it is in contact with the pad. If it (the metal) is a surface that you have to use compound on the dry pad will remove almost all of the residue, and the wax pad will get the rest. Masking tape is always an option too.
When you are happy with the metal's finish you can use another pad that has nothing but wax in it. That will seal it all for you.

I specialize in classic boat restorations, and rebuilds. Old boats are crawling with bright-work in all sorts of metals from brass, stainless, chrome plated brass, bronze, nickel plating... The last thing I want to do is mar up a 10-20-50,000k paint job, or drag metals from a brass binnacle on to a finished helm.

I think bottom line is a light touch, and constant attention. If it starts going wrong... stop, and change the method.

Thanks Ken!
Jeff

Looks real good Jeff. I'd say you did a real fine job there. You seem to get a little bit better each time. Well done Sir.

___________
Mike

Thanks Mike!

Looking good! Another good finish for wood on knives is Birchwood Casey True Oil gunstock finish. Very durable stuff when you get 3 coats on, and is impervious to gun solvents so it works good on knives too.

Good to know! Thanks for the tip!
Jeff

Nice! It almost has a swiss army knife look to it, with the shaping of the covers.

Good job Jeff!

You did a fine job on it Jeff!

glennbad wrote:Nice! It almost has a swiss army knife look to it, with the shaping of the covers.

I thought the same thing Glenn. Years ago my youngest son rehandled a SAK single blade florists knife with cocobolo. Aside from the differences in the wood that to look very similar in the shape of the handles.

Nice work!

Thanks everyone!