All About Pocket Knives

So I picked up this old Fabril shell puller for a change of pace and because I don't have one. (I can come up with some more excuses if necessary.) It is also the first shell puller I have seen that is not an automatic knife. I also like the 2 different "pullers" - one for 12 gauge and one for 16 gauge. As you can see from the first 3 pictures, it looks to have been "rode hard and put away wet", and the original horn scales were parting company with the knife. It has been sitting in my project box for some time now, and every time I pull out another knife to work on it yells at me "MY TURN!", but I couldn't decide what scales to put on it. Then a serendipity moment - Culpepper called me to tell me they had "Impala jigged" water buffalo horn on sale and I better order some before they run out. (Actually, the knife never yelled at me and Culpepper never called me, but I did see the "impala jigged" horn on sale in this month's flyer and realized I had to try it on the shell puller that had been gathering dust.) So, I think it turned out OK, but I may redo the front pivot pin. If you look at the second picture, you will see that the original pivot pin heads sit rather proud and have not been filed flush with the bolsters. Well, I guess there's a reason for that. If you look at the last picture, you will see that the color of my nickel sliver pin doesn't blend in with the bolster, and after I filed the peened head flush, it didn't "disappear" the way we like to see them do. The bolsters on this knife are apparently solid carbon steel and the nickel silver pins aren't welcome there. So I think someday I may have to find a steel nail of the right size to re-pin the blade end. Also, as you can see in the second picture, the blade on this knife had apparently been badly abused by a coarse grinder. I tried to get out all the marks, but didn't want to remove any more metal. Finally, if you are ever looking for a material that gives good traction for your hand to hold onto, the "impala jigging" feels that way. Sorry for the extra long story.

Oops, please make that "Frabil"

That turned out nice Herb!
I saw the impala jigged water buffalo horn in Culpeppers flier but didn’t have a use for it currently. It’s definitely a different look.
Let me know how stable the buffalo horn is. I’ve seen some post in the past where buffalo horn tried to resume its original curve and shape and pulled out handle pins etc. It might have something to do with how the horn is processed so hopefully yours retains its shape.
The steel bolster/pin thing is hit or miss. Sometimes the nail used is the correct type of steel and blends in, other times it’s obvious that the pin steel material doesn’t match the bolster steel at all. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it. If it matches that’s great, if not, that’s okay too.
Jeff

That looks good. I enjoy working with horn and it's a good stable material. Keep it away from beetles and it's really nice. There are a lot of nice colors in horn too.
Nice job of fitting repair!

The bolsters on those are nickel plated carbon steel. You have removed the nickel down to the steel.

Bill, I think you are right about them being nickel plated carbon steel. It all makes sense now. If you look closely at the first picture, the steel was starting to rust under the nickel plating, or in spots where it was damaged and when I started cleaning the crud and rust off the knife, the plating was already flaking off.

Great one to restore and it turned out great looking as well. A shell puller is on my list but haven't pulled the trigger yes. You did well on that one. There are a couple for sale now in the AAPK store that are not auto's.

That's a great knife I was fortunate enough to handle yesterday, sans bail. Turned out awesome, Herb.

Herb, you made that a great looking knife!!!

Definitely looks right with that Impala-jigged horn!
Great selection. I love seeing these old junkers turned into beauties, and you did it again!

Yes that does make some nice handle material. I did that same material on a trapper a while back. Great job.

Good job! Love the look of the jigged horn!

Very nice Herb!
That pattern on the handles seems to complement the style of knife perfectly! Great choice!
Very nice execution! Great job!!

Mike