Camillus Easy open

[Rossr]

So I have this camillus easy open. The small lade has no walk and talk left and the spring is not springy. The big blade has nice walk and talk bit the blade has some minor pitting but is useable. So I'm thinking about taking part and making it a single blade EDC. Thoughts?

[Jeffinn]

That’ll make a nice single blade edc!
Jeff

[New_Windsor_NY]

So.....

I like your idea, but what about taking the small blade down,
to just above the tang and make it a "knife pick" or "nail nick
pick." Just a thought.

[herbva]

Rossr, the answer to your question depends entirely on what you want to do with the knife and what will make you happy. It is a Cammy 4- liner with a long pull on the primary blade, so a very nice collectible knife. I agree with Jeff that it would make a nice single blade edc, but I would wait until you have it apart to decide. Almost always, the lack of snap is caused by a divot worn in the spring where the blade tang rubs on the spring and/or metal worn off the round end of the tang. For both of these issues, steel can be welded back on, and the snap will be back. You can send these parts out to have steel welded back on or learn to do it yourself with a small, inexpensive, wire (flux core) welder if you want to get into that. Good luck!

[Rossr]

Rossr, the answer to your question depends entirely on what you want to do with the knife and what will make you happy. It is a Cammy 4- liner with a long pull on the primary blade, so a very nice collectible knife. I agree with Jeff that it would make a nice single blade edc, but I would wait until you have it apart to decide. Almost always, the lack of snap is caused by a divot worn in the spring where the blade tang rubs on the spring and/or metal worn off the round end of the tang. For both of these issues, steel can be welded back on, and the snap will be back. You can send these parts out to have steel welded back on or learn to do it yourself with a small, inexpensive, wire (flux core) welder if you want to get into that. Good luck!

Now you see what you did there Herb. Now I'm thinking huh maybe I should learn the welding part hmmm lol.

It's been sitting on the bench for a while now. My Son and I picked it up at an auction with some others. I am liking the thoughts so far folks. I almost want to leave it alone cause it has a nice feel . But that one blade issue hmmm.

[kootenay joe]

To me it looks like the master blade opens a bit too far. Usually when fully open the blade is not quite in a straight line with the spine of the knife, i.e. it lies at about 175 degrees rather than 180 degrees. This knife looks like blade might be just over 180 degrees.
If this is the case, does it matter as long as blade has good snap ?
Does 'hyper-extension' indicate that tang/spring meeting is worn and with more use the snap will soon be lost ?
I have owned quite a few old 2 blade jacks with good snap on master blade and no snap on secondary even though it is not loose and does not show much blade loss from repeated sharpening. Does this indicate that secondary was the one used much more than master blade ? It seems odd that it nearly always is the secondary with no snap.
I am not in any way a knife 'mechanic' so i don't know what the reasons might be, but i am interested to learn about this topic.
kj

[Doc B]

It certainly would make a nice single blade knife. You always have to weigh the risk / benefits. That bone is beautiful and getting it apart and back together certainly entails the risk of breaking it.

[TPK]

Herb & Jim both have good points.

Glad that's your decision.

It is a Beauty!

[Rossr]

It certainly would make a nice single blade knife. You always have to weigh the risk / benefits. That bone is beautiful and getting it apart and back together certainly entails the risk of breaking it.

I like the look of this bone too and breaking ig.does worry me. Hmmmmm

[herbva]

It certainly would make a nice single blade knife. You always have to weigh the risk / benefits. That bone is beautiful and getting it apart and back together certainly entails the risk of breaking it.

I like the look of this bone too and breaking ig.does worry me. Hmmmmm

There are several approaches to disassembling a knife, and all of them do put some stress on the parts. I always remove the rocker (middle) pin first. Grind off one head with a small bur in my rotary tool and tap the pin out. If I am not trying to save the scales, or they are already toast, I usually use the "Orvet" method of cutting the pins. If I do want to save the scales and want be very gentle with the knife, I drill a very small hole in the center of each pivot pin and gently pry the knife apart. You are certainly correct that no matter how you proceed, there is a risk of cracking the old, brittle bone scales. If I am really worried, and it is a really old, valuable knife, I just punt and fix or improve whatever I can without disassembly.

[Reverand]

It certainly would make a nice single blade knife. You always have to weigh the risk / benefits. That bone is beautiful and getting it apart and back together certainly entails the risk of breaking it.

I like the look of this bone too and breaking ig.does worry me. Hmmmmm

There are several approaches to disassembling a knife, and all of them do put some stress on the parts. I always remove the rocker (middle) pin first. Grind off one head with a small bur in my rotary tool and tap the pin out. If I am not trying to save the scales, or they are already toast, I usually use the "Orvet" method of cutting the pins. If I do want to save the scales and want be very gentle with the knife, I drill a very small hole in the center of each pivot pin and gently pry the knife apart. You are certainly correct that no matter how you proceed, there is a risk of cracking the old, brittle bone scales. If I am really worried, and it is a really old, valuable knife, I just punt and fix or improve whatever I can without disassembly.

+1 to Herb's post here. I think that it would be a beautiful single-blade knife, though that does lower the value. But my, those do feel good in the pocket!
I may even have a small Camillus pen blade lying around, but chances are that it would need a spring as well.
Whatever you decide to do, just take care and don't rush things. That knife is a beauty!