All About Pocket Knives

My nephew came to our Christmas get-together with a "gift" for me. He works for the railroad as a foreman of a work crew. They were replacing some cross ties and when they moved one my nephew saw this Case UNDER the tie..... YES, it was a poor, sad old Case. He gave it to me and snickered. "Recon you can fix this......" I looked at it, thought a minute and figured I had to try. "Yep, I can fix it", I said.
SO, yesterday I got in my shop with a good fire in the stove and went to work.
This is it before.....
After getting a REAL GOOD look at at it, I began to wonder if I had bitten of more than I could chew. Still determined to do SOMETHING with it, I set in on cleaning it up.
One spring was missing so I turned this 2 blade into a one blade knife. The blades were DEEPLY pitted so I cleaned the main blade up as best I could.
I put it back together and dog gone if it didn't come out pretty good. It has good snap and it might look bad but it actually has an edge. I am going to carry it for a while before I put it in the box with the other Case knives. It was fun.....
Mike

Knice!!!

Wow Mike that's looks really good!! I can't believe the main blade looks as good as it does, that thing was a mess. I'd say you did a fine job getting that rusted pile of steel to look like a knife again. Well done Sir.

____________
Mike

Thanks!!

I don't know what it is, but I have this "thing" for lost causes. Like the title said, "I had to try"......LOL.

And you even cleaned up the handles and re-used them. Most excellent Mr. Mike. Are you going to give it back to your nephew?

Nicely done!
There is something about rescuing a lost cause like that one and making a useable tool out of it that satisfies the soul.

Nice work Mike. You did good.

Nice work Mike. Looks like it could be used as a great user knife. I wonder what
the previous owner thought when he lost it. That poor knife probably thought
it would be lost forever with no chance of having an owner...............

Bob

I'm impressed. Good on ya, Mike.

Awesome job, Mike!

jerryd6818 wrote: Are you going to give it back to your nephew?

You know.... That is a good idea. It has a good edge now so it is usable.
Although, I don't want him to show it to someone and let the idea get out that I repair knives. I like doing for myself but don't like the idea of doing for others...... LOL.
(I don't like trying to PLEASE other people... know what I mean?)

Mike

orvet wrote: There is something about rescuing a lost cause like that one and making a useable tool out of it that satisfies the soul.

That is it EXACTLY.... I love the satisfaction I get from rescuing an old knife.

rea1eye wrote: That poor knife probably thought
it would be lost forever with no chance of having an owner...............

Bob

I was glad my nephew didn't just kick it into the ditch.....LOL.
Maybe he will bring me more toys to play with.

Mike,
I like that, life back into a real junker! You did good.
You know the old saying, "If knives could talk", it would be interesting to know how it got under a cross tie.
Treefarmer

Say, that looks great now, nice save!

glennbad wrote:Say, that looks great now, nice save!

Thanks for the good comments everyone.
Just glad I could make it usable again.
(our "throw away" society pisses me off sometimes..... I like things that are made to last!)

Mike

Great save Mike .... it's a very rewarding pass time.

Great job, you saved it to live on for who knows how many more years.

a sight better than what it was!

Great save on the knife. Well done.

I am always in awe of someone that has the patience to take a piece of junk and make it into something I would happily buy. If I ever manage to make it to retirement, this is the kind of stuff I want to do. Not for profit - just for the simple sense of accomplishment.

Does anyone have links to any videos of guys walking you through this kind of work? I've looked for videos and I have not been successful at finding videos that were wholly satisfactory. They all tend to either be too simple (10 minutes on buffing and polishing a tarnished blade), or they are a master class in metal working involving a shop with $30K dollars worth of tools from a guy that could make a Space Shuttle from a garbage can and a blow dryer.

I need a smiley of a guy bashing his thumb with a hammer...

I have viewed a lot of videos about knives, repairing knives and making knives. I think if you you see enough, then you can use what you LEARN and apply it. The biggest thing is to know how the dynamics of a folding knife work (contact points, etc). I have also looked at a lot of google images of folders to see how and why a folder works. NOW, after that, it is all your skill because the fit and finish of a folder AFTER you disassemble it is in your lap. Get you some "junkers" and take 'em apart and then put the pins back in. If it opens and shuts with snap then you are on your way.
Every one you do will probably be better than the last.

I said that to say this.... I don't think there is one video that is a do-all end-all.

Mike

Thanks Mike!

I love how you have rescued a 'piece of junk' and made it in to a very useable knife again Mike

Awesome restoration job and I love the fact that you kept it all original.

BTW- my brother works on the CSX rail gang and he has replaced ties recently that were dated 1952. They use to use nails with the date stamped on them, now the ties are branded with the date. Your rebuild looks like a 1993 tang stamp?