All About Pocket Knives

I've got a new project, and could use some sage wisdom before I wreck things. My sister in law is a rancher, and this year her and her hubby gifted us a cow, all we had to do is pay processing. (filled two freezers) So I was trying to figure a way to show the gratitude, when I thought "his and hers stockmans" ! Since I already had the 1st Boker, all I had to do was snag another, and I got lucky. Two nearly identical Boker Stockmans. Funny though, one clearly has celluloid scales, but the other passes the camphor sniff test.

I want to re-handle them both (culpepper smooth bone on the way) and use her family's brand on the bone itself. I was going to make a scale brand out of wire and literally brand it, but the wife suggested a wood burner tool. (or even a very tiny Dremel bit, then ink in the design for depth) But heres the snag ... both knives are so tight and clean, that I'm having a hard time justifying busting them down just to put nice handles on them.

I know some of you wizards here have posted re-handles without pinning, so is there any extra special method I can use to attach bone handles without tearing the whole thing down ? 5min epoxy is great stuff, but these are ranchers, and they WILL use the knives ! I just don't want the scales popping off, especially in cold weather here in Nebraska. I can always do faux pins to make them look good, but one extra bonus to not having pins, is that I have more surface to put the brand, and larger scale too.

One crazy idea was to find something I can slide inside the cavity, behind the liners, that would work like old school rivets were done.
Thanks in advance !

Mike

I see some mechanics re-cover knives without taking the knife apart. I've also seen manufacturers in the past pin covers with no glue/epoxy. When I started out modding, I went the easy route without taking the knife apart. That method with epoxy will probably work just fine, but I go with the tough road of taking everything apart. It let's me get at everything, and clean up any imperfections along the way. Also peace of mind that even if the epoxy fails, it's still pinned.

Mike, I almost always disassemble knives completely before pinning on new scales, just because I want to make sure the pin heads are spread properly on the inside and the new scales aren't going to come off. (I also epoxy first, then pin.) But, I have on occasion, on larger knives, used the stiddy approach to pin on new scales and it has worked, but I'm not crazy about doing it. I'm still hunting for a good stiddy, but have something that I rigged up on my own. I hope this works, here's a link to Muskratman's video on doing this. Good luck. He makes it look so easy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s43vAbvSSGQ

I don't think I'd trust the epoxy on a hard working knife. If they do any kind of twisting or something else that will put just the slightest torque on those liners the handles will pop right off. Especially with 5 min epoxy. For a show knife or lightly used I'd say fine but for a working knife I think at some point you'll be sorry you didn't take the extra step of pinning them. Also I think it's WAY easier to fit and finish handles on a knife that's been taken apart.

Eric

Thanks all !

I kinda figured I was chasing my own tail on this one lol ! But normally I take apart TL-29's and turn them into single blades. I think the only multi blade I've customized was a Utica jack, and I've never attempted to re pin a stockman. I'm going to have to take pictures, and mark the springs so I don't mix things up. (did that once on a TL-29, used the screwdriver spring by mistake,... doesn't work)

I've got to find one of those spring compressor thingies, because I've been doing it, for years now,........ using a nickel. Put the nickel inside the frame, put the frame in the vise (teeth are covered with leather) then crank on it and adjust until the holes line up. I know,.. I'm a redneck

Ya know Mike, in the end, it's what ever works for you.

I think that this sounds like a fun project! I vote for cutting the brand in with a Dremel, then fill in with colored epoxy.

As for the scales, I epoxy (or sometimes use Gorilla glue), then pin.
If you want to pin scales but don't have a stiddy? Cut a piece of angle iron about 1-1/2 to 2" long, grind or sand one side thinner (to fit inside the blade well), and clamp the other side in a vice.
It works great.

Personally I like the idea of burning the brand into the wood. It will be a real brand. And it won’t come off or fall off like epoxy filler most likely will. Especially on a work knife.

JMO

Ken

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:20 am Personally I like the idea of burning the brand into the wood. It will be a real brand. And it won’t come off or fall off like epoxy filler most likely will. Especially on a work knife.

JMO

Ken

Yeah, I still like the real brand too. Gonna stink to high heaven (I'm using bone handles) but worth it. My wife hates the smell of bone dust, and this will be 10x worse.

jerryd6818 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:51 am Ya know Mike, in the end, it's what ever works for you.

True, can't get any worse. Seems I've been doing this the hard way for 10yrs lol. I've been pinning the rocker and the back pins, and then compressing the pivot and attaching the blade(s). Guess that's why I figured out the trick with using a nickel to compress the pivot at the end.

I bought a nice big stockman on Ebay for $15 with one scale totally gone, otherwise knife was new. I made a new scale, epoxied it on, and it's been there for a couple years. I took a small file and crosshatched the brass liner surface real good to give the epoxy something to grip. So far so good.