VorpelSword
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,445
So there I was; halfway around the world on a jack-up oil rig in the Arabian Gulf. We were so far out the fish spoke Farsi. The Saudis and Iranians were actually co-operating on drilling that oil field back then. For reasons not Germain to the story, I had a LOLT of free time to fill and nowhere else t go. for three or four weeks. Plenty of tools and such though.
So I got out my Buck 110 and figured out how to take it apart. Got the right sized punch and pushed out the pins. Took it all apart. Ground off the pins tht fasten down the scales and took off the scales. Then got some solid Oak wood from a broken tool handle, cut them up and fitted them to replace the scales, but thicker. Hand fitted them carefully. Thought about undercutting the brass bolsters with a triangle file just to be fancy . . .but didn't. Glued the wood in place with oilfield industrial epoxy. Then worked them down to fit the bolsters at each end but left the centers proud, smooth and palm-filling. Got the knife put back together without damage or marring marks, and it locked up OK. Oiled the wood and polished it all up again.
I liked it a lot, but some guy liked it better and convinced me to give it up for $50 which seemed like a lot in 1980.
So I got out my Buck 110 and figured out how to take it apart. Got the right sized punch and pushed out the pins. Took it all apart. Ground off the pins tht fasten down the scales and took off the scales. Then got some solid Oak wood from a broken tool handle, cut them up and fitted them to replace the scales, but thicker. Hand fitted them carefully. Thought about undercutting the brass bolsters with a triangle file just to be fancy . . .but didn't. Glued the wood in place with oilfield industrial epoxy. Then worked them down to fit the bolsters at each end but left the centers proud, smooth and palm-filling. Got the knife put back together without damage or marring marks, and it locked up OK. Oiled the wood and polished it all up again.
I liked it a lot, but some guy liked it better and convinced me to give it up for $50 which seemed like a lot in 1980.