Camillus Pilot R&R Help

[Thirsty]

I have a Camillus Pilot Survival Knife, circa 1967. (For ID purposes, it looks most like the #5733 on the Camillus website.) It has some wear, minor rust, and the guard is just a little bit loose. I would like to take it apart, clean it up, and put it back together with the idea of treating the steel and leather separately, and ending up with a tighter fit in the handle/guard area when I'm finished. My question is: how do I get it apart? Is the "hex nut" style butt really threaded onto the shaft? Can I put it in a vise and torque on it with a wrench? Or is that nub at the end actually the end of the shaft, through and swaged to the "nut"? Please keep in mind: this is not a knife that I ever want to sell. I am not a collector. I'm going to keep this knife, use it forever, and don't care if it's in original condition. I'm even willing to shorten or lengthen (slightly) the handle if necessary. All I want is to improve it's condition and feel... Please pardon my ignorance, and thanks for any help!

 

[Keith]

On mine the pommell apears to be screwed on and then the end of the tang peened to prevent it from loosening. Of course mine was made around 2000 so in the intervening 32 years they might have changed it.

 

[Thirsty]

Thanks for the response, Keith. I got some info via email from a very helpful Camillus representative named Tom Williams. He told me there's no threads, and I verified that tonight by grinding the peened end of the tang down to the butt of the pommel and then drifting it out. Perhaps your tang is threaded, but mine was not. Now I can clean things up, and put it back together. My plan, based on Tom's advice and now looking at it, is to grind down the handle side of the pommel so that the tang will extend 3/16ths to a 1/4 inch beyond the pommel again. Then I think I will drill and pin through two opposing hex faces, and try peening the tang again. I always thought the thing was a bit bulky anyway, so perhaps I will actually improve balance, heft, etc... at least for me. Having fun, anyway, and might just end up with a nice, working tool.

 

[Keith]

As I read your reply I got to thinking, mine isn't threaded either, I wasn't thinking when I typed that. I should have said mortised. I not getting enough sleep for some reason lately.