All About Pocket Knives

I got this knife (among some others) and it is in pretty bad shape.
There is 2 or 3 Camillus folders in the bunch but I figured I would start with the Boker. The scales have gassed and broken to pieces. The liners are steel so it looks like no brass in this knife. Here is a couple of befores.....
This poor knife was COVERED with crap. Looks like maybe old oil mixed in with the dirt and old scale material.
I had a busy weekend, so I didn't have a chance to do much. I did get it apart and fitted one scale. I chose Culpepper's Catalina Crimson for this rescue. I filed and sanded a piece of the scrap so I could see what it should look like when finished.
I like that red..... it shore does clean up purdy!

Mike

Hurry! Save the Camillus knives!

New_Windsor_NY wrote:Hurry! Save the Camillus knives!

LOL.... yep, I am throwing life preservers as fast as I can throw....

Anything will be a save on that one, Mike!

Poor old knives.
I hope you can make them worth carrying again, Mike.

glennbad wrote:Anything will be a save on that one, Mike!

Well, I am going to give it the "old high school try".....LOL.
So far, it has cleaned up pretty good. The gassing of the cell had destroyed the shield. It was so thin that it cracked badly while I was taking it out. SO, no shield on this old guy.
The blades evened out pretty well. Not a lot of blade loss after I got a good shape back to them.

SO..... Onward!

FRJ wrote:Poor old knives.
I hope you can make them worth carrying again, Mike.

I sure hope so.... I think it will make a good 'un to tote.

Old Boker USA knives have some of the best steel I've used. 1085 sharpens up easily, and is very tough. I currently tote a 3588 Serpentine Penknife, and even though the blades are very thin; it will handle large tasks like a big knife.Should really look at getting myself some more Boker USA users; at present I have only four.


Can't wait to see the finished result. Thankfully, unlike the similar one from the '70s my Granddad had, it didn't self-destruct. When I became knowledgeable about how dangerous celluloid can be, I became worried abut it in Granddad's collection--we opened the toolbox up, and as expected, the Boker had outgassed, destroying it; and another knife next to it. Several others ended up with rust, putting, and tarnished bolsters. At least I got a few Case, Schrade, and Camillus users out of the deal when I cleaned them all up.

cody6268 wrote:
...... When I became knowledgeable about how dangerous celluloid can be, I became worried abut it in Granddad's collection--we opened the toolbox up, and as expected, the Boker had outgassed, destroying it; and another knife next to it. Several others ended up with rust, putting, and tarnished bolsters. At least I got a few Case, Schrade, and Camillus users out of the deal when I cleaned them all up.

Yep, I really had no idea how dangerous that stuff was when I first started collecting knives. But, I have had a few lessons and the knives I have that have cell scales are NOW in a separate spot....... where they can't do harm unto others.
It's a shame sometimes to look at a real beauty that is still intact and just think that one day it will self destruct. What a shame!

Meridian_Mike wrote:

glennbad wrote:Anything will be a save on that one, Mike!

Well, I am going to give it the "old high school try".....LOL.
So far, it has cleaned up pretty good. The gassing of the cell had destroyed the shield. It was so thin that it cracked badly while I was taking it out. SO, no shield on this old guy.
The blades evened out pretty well. Not a lot of blade loss after I got a good shape back to them.

SO..... Onward!

FRJ wrote:Poor old knives.
I hope you can make them worth carrying again, Mike.

I sure hope so.... I think it will make a good 'un to tote.

Mike, I thought Bokers were suppose to loose their shield. I that was an identifying characteristic of a Boker.

doglegg wrote: Mike, I thought Bokers were suppose to loose their shield. I that was an identifying characteristic of a Boker.

LOL.... you may be right. I have several that have lost their shield.
Only problem with this one was, it was pinned on and the dog gone shield was HOLDING what was left of the scale on....LOL.

You've found some nice red bone...for the last couple. Can't wait to see this one finished!

Part 2 of the Boker rescue.......
It was a HOT day Saturday so it was a good day to be in my shop.
I got the scales glued on earlier in the week, so they had over 24 hours to dry. I started filing one side and sanding some so I could see what the finished product would look like. Here is what the blades and springs looked like after a basic clean-up. I also had to re-shape all the blades. I worked on the blades for an hour or 2 before I decided I didn't need to take any more metal off.
This is getting close to re-assembly time. Well, no pics of getting the shape like I wanted. I had to continue to take off scale material to thin it out like it needed to be. SO..... boo-boo #1, I started with scale material that was to thick. That was among a few other things I didn't like....BUT, I am still learning. Here is the final pic of my latest restore attempt. Onward!

Mike

Before and after...... Thanks for looking everyone!

Meridian_Mike wrote:Before and after......
IMG_5130.JPG
IMG_5162.JPG

Thanks for looking everyone!

Very nice!!!

Well done Mike. I'm particularly impressed with the reprofiling you did on the main blade. Excellent work all around.

philco wrote:Well done Mike. I'm particularly impressed with the reprofiling you did on the main blade. Excellent work all around.

Thanks Phil.... I was another learning experience and once again..... I learned a lot.

Mike

Congratulations. That is a thoroughly impressive restoration.

Very nice, Mike!!! She's got a whole new life ahead of her

That after shot shows a great looking Boker, ready for some EDC! Another one saved while having one foot in the grave.

Quite the transformation, great job!

Good work Mike.
The reprofile and rescale looks nice.

Nice! I like the before and after pictures. It doesn't look like the same knife.

Thanks everyone!
I am having fun fixing these old guys. If I can at least make one a carry knife, I am tickled! It don't have to be a show piece....LOL.

Mike

Super job, Mike.
I like that one!!

Mike you did good. Glad I got to see 1st to last in the process. Great job.