Boker blade issue

D

deadahead

Joined
Mar 20, 2013
Messages
45
In the mail today I received a Boker yellow bone stockman.Upon inspection, the spey blade sticks out of the handle a little bit when closed.Is this normal or should I return it?
 
I can't get a picture up at the moment.But the last 1/8" of the spey blade sticks up above the handle with the blade closed . Basically the blade tip sticks up out of the handle and just a small amount of blade behind the tip.
 
On many stockman patterns, the spey does that, depending on the maker and the model. It might be an easy fix. If you have plenty of clearance on the nail nick to get the blade out you might try grinding the kick a bit and see if that makes you happy. (Remember, it voids any warranty.)

Check out this thread and you can see what I mean. The sheepsfoot stands proud of the clip by a fair amount when this knife is closed. But I have seen others where the spey does the same thing. (Buck, I think...)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ew-arrival-UN-X-LD-66-Indian-Choffee-Jig-Bone

As I said, you might have the knife in your hands the way it was intended to be. There is also a Boker subforum here and you might check with them as well.

Robert
 
Last edited:
Does this interfere with holding /using the knife when other blades are open?
 
Yes, sounds like you need to file just a little off the kick of that Spey blade. Slowly&carefully mind.
 
willgoy said:
Yes, sounds like you need to file just a little off the kick of that Spey blade. Slowly&carefully mind.
Click to expand...

Ahem... no kidding. I didn't understand the geometry of the thing and took about 1/32 off the kick on a Boker blade of about three inches. It wound up being about 1/8" too much and buried the nick.

*slaps own forehead*

Robert
 
Just as these guys have said, file or sand a little metal off the kick of the spey blade. NO power tools! Just do a little tiny bit at a time, until it's where you want it. You can't put metal back once you remove it! ;)
 
I need to file the kick down a tiny bit on my GEC primitive bone 66 but I scared I want to practice on something else first. I wish I could find a video on youtube on how to do this then I'd feel a lot more comfortable.
 
midnight flyer said:
Ahem... no kidding. I didn't understand the geometry of the thing and took about 1/32 off the kick on a Boker blade of about three inches. It wound up being about 1/8" too much and buried the nick.

*slaps own forehead*

Robert
Click to expand...

So now is when you make a little "easy opener notch" so that you can reach the nail nick.

Take a look at how some of the old factories did it and do it yourself with a Dremel sanding drum. Practice a bit on scrap pieces of wood or brass first.

Honestly, this is not that hard. If you have enough dexterity to brush your own teeth, you can do this!

And try to get over the affliction that I call "the reverence of tools (knives)." These are not sacred objects. No laws are broken if you personally modify them, or even wreck them. They are replaceable. (I am not referring to real collector's pieces here.)

Make your knife yours.
 
Mr. Chips said:
So now is when you make a little "easy opener notch" so that you can reach the nail nick.
Click to expand...

That knife is gone, and while I didn't make it a true easy opener, I did use a 1" drum in my drill press to ease out a radius to get to the nick. I only did one side, though.

Mr. Chips said:
And try to get over the affliction that I call "the reverence of tools (knives)." These are not sacred objects. No laws are broken if you personally modify them, or even wreck them. They are replaceable. (I am not referring to real collector's pieces here.)

Make your knife yours.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement, but you are preaching to the choir! I work in the trades and have for about 40 years. Tool mods are something I do on a regular basis to make them more suitable to my needs. I grind, sand, remove parts, polish, and change out parts as needed on powered and non powered tools. I grind screwdrivers for exact fit to screw heads, and even make my own hollow ground screw drivers. Nothing is safe with me... I used a circular saw for years until it died that had a 25' cord on it that I installed when the saw cord shorted and I had that old extension cord with a bad end on it and I married them.

My latest on the knife front is a Boker cattleman that had three things wrong with it. The punch was AWFUL, the spey was in too deep to easily open, and the scale had a splintering chip in it. (This was OK actually as I bought 5 of them to give away as promos for my company and kept the worst one. They were discontinued and really affordable.)

I completely reground the punch into a great shape on a small belt sander, then put a needle point on it. Finishes sharpening with a 600 gr stone, then very light strop. Cut and folded a tiny piece of aluminum into the blade case and drove into place with a screwdriver. Took a couple of tries, but got it right. It is wedged under the kick of the spey and hasn't come yet.

As for the scale with he splinter, I sanded it a bit with a piece of 220 gr garnet and found it to be a deep crack. I forced it open with a razor blade and put some thin CA glue in it, pulled the razor blade out, and let the squeeze out flow out of the scale. I sanded it off smooth and the crack was secure. But the scales were dyed dark and the sanding showed on the jigging around the repair. I washed around the crack with some lacquer thinner, and touched up the color with a black and brown permanent marker. If you look hard, you can see the repair, but no one has ever noticed it and a lot of folks use that knife as the punch was specifically ground to be a cigar punch, and all the guys I smoke cigars with use the spey (stropped and polished) to recut their stogies as needed, and when they get stiff draw they use the punch as a reamer.

I carry that knife all the time since I smoke cigars with my buddies whenever I get a chance. I have the same feeling that you do, and that is get on these knives and get them the way you want. I have been looking around for a suitable target to remodel as I would like.

I am looking at taking a medium trapper and making the long spey into a sheepsfoot. Or maybe a copperhead, or something similar. I don't have any problems grinding the blade, but without a fly cutter I don't want to make a mess out of grinding in a new nail nick on the reprofiled blade.

I wouldn't grind away a blade on my good stuff, but for the fun of it, that is what all these Pacific Rim knives seem perfect for. I just got a few more give away knives for my company that have the most ugly bone color you can imagine. It is some of the ugliest coloration I have ever seen. But... thanks to this forum, there are great instructions on how to dye bone to the color you want. I am going to mix the color I want and dye all four at once. Should be interesting. Don't know when I will get to it, but no doubt it will happen.

Robert
 
jkulysses said:
I need to file the kick down a tiny bit on my GEC primitive bone 66 but I scared I want to practice on something else first. I wish I could find a video on youtube on how to do this then I'd feel a lot more comfortable.
Click to expand...

Yes well, a Primitive Bone knife is not something you want to mess up over.... Got a cheap knife or a rough-house beater to try on first?? Bit of advice, ensure you tape over the bolsters, you don't want to be slipping with that file and put some gashes on them. Get a small file, diamond flat, a Sharpmaker rod etc but something small and easy to grip&control and slowly file it down a bit. All that's needed is some dexterity and a fund of patience, just keep testing until you get what you need. There's no rush, so what if it takes some minutes? Then the knife will really please you/job well done.

Thanks, Will
 
ya mine had this similar issue, but mine BARELY stuck out, maybe 1/16" out. I just sharpened mine down. took a while but i got it down nicely
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top