Everyday Barlow, and Tales of tinkering and bonding with knives

traumkommode · Mar 2, 2016

ConBon said:
Two months later I was at a best friend's grad party, and my really good friend was making a run to the store, I tag along to buy some smokes and lo and behold there it is in the cupholder (that friend came on the trip.) I thanked him a million times, and cleaned and sharpened it up once I got home.

The little SAK is my first, shown with a camper and my modified case. I dropped the points on the both Case and my first SAK.

Lost it twice and found it twice, that's your knife for sure!

Similar happening - my first knife ever was (is?) a Philadelphia Eagles SAK classic. Got it when I was 7 or 8. When I was 9, I lost it over the summer, had been camping with my aunt and uncle. Well, a couple years later, my Uncle Mark was cleaning out their can, and found it wedged under one of the seats. I still have it today.

traumkommode · Mar 20, 2016

Forgive the imperfect photography on this one, but I am pleased with myself.

Nature Boy · Mar 20, 2016

traumkommode said:
Forgive the imperfect photography on this one, but I am pleased with myself.

Nice work!
Any chance of seeing what this looks like closed?

dpowers311 · Mar 20, 2016

Looks good. Was it for looks or was the mod for function?
Dave

onojoe · Mar 20, 2016

Love the story OP. I feel this way after I sharpen my knives. I got this Peanut recently and it had a burr on it that was so big you could hang your jacket on it. It would not cut anything. Well, the wife was out of town, so I pulled out a beer and a whetstone and went to work. Spent a good hour working on the blade, not because it needed it, but because it felt like we bonded. Love that little knife now.

traumkommode · Mar 20, 2016

Nature Boy said:
Nice work!
Any chance of seeing what this looks like closed?

Happy to oblige! Here it is. I took it in this light so you could see that I didn't blend the swedges. This is sort of how I have seen them on CRK Insingos. I have two more of these New Day Spey blades inbound that I scored over the weekend, and I plan on doing the same mod to them, only this time I'll probably round the spear a little more and blend the swedges. If I like how that goes, I'll come back and redo this one to match. I was pretty conservative about removing material on this one, because I took too much off from the test blade when I was learning how to use the sander.

dpowers311 said:
Looks good. Was it for looks or was the mod for function?
Dave

Mostly for function, but a little for looks, I suppose...? I actually like the way the spey blade looks on these, the way it rides in the handle and how classy it appears. I didn't grind off any of the bottom and left all that original factory belly because it slices somethin' spectacular, but I did want to be able to do some piercing if the task called for it, hence the spear. It goes right through standard box cardboard with ease now.

onojoe said:
Love the story OP. I feel this way after I sharpen my knives...

Oh man, especially when they get soooooo sharp... Having a useable tool that doubles as a toy (read: fondling piece) is kinda where its at when it comes to being a man who likes to honor the inner 8 year old. Heck, sharpening is a good meditation, too.

Nature Boy · Mar 20, 2016

traumkommode said:
Happy to oblige! Here it is. I took it in this light so you could see that I didn't blend the swedges. This is sort of how I have seen them on CRK Insingos. I have two more of these New Day Spey blades inbound that I scored over the weekend, and I plan on doing the same mod to them, only this time I'll probably round the spear a little more and blend the swedges. If I like how that goes, I'll come back and redo this one to match. I was pretty conservative about removing material on this one, because I took too much off from the test blade when I was learning how to use the sander.

Once again, well done. I've been toying with the idea of modifying a Spey, and a one arm, but I'm still working up the nerve.
Keep us posted on your future mods!

GasMan1 · Mar 20, 2016

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Found this a few years ago with the tip broke off. So I "fixed" it. I know it does not compare with some the beautiful knives in this thread but Its become like an old friend, with me all the time. Its just a great little knife.

ConBon · Mar 20, 2016

OP, good on you for your patience! Remeber, when treading into new territory, take it SLOW. I have worked with a fine file only on reshaping blades before, and it takes a long time, but I got exactly what I wanted and didn't screw up a nice knife.

Connor

traumkommode · Mar 20, 2016

ConBon said:
OP, good on you for your patience! Remeber, when treading into new territory, take it SLOW. I have worked with a fine file only on reshaping blades before, and it takes a long time, but I got exactly what I wanted and didn't screw up a nice knife.

Connor

- you mean a hand file? How long did that take you?

GasMan1 said:
I know it does not compare with some the beautiful knives in this thread but Its become like an old friend, with me all the time. Its just a great little knife.

- looks pretty good to my eye. Exceptionally fine tip and a nice gradual slope.

Nature Boy said:
Once again, well done. I've been toying with the idea of modifying a Spey, and a one arm, but I'm still working up the nerve.
Keep us posted on your future mods!

- Thanks man! Will do. I have a one arm that I turned in to a clip point. It was my test subject. I ended up removing too much material and so I had to come up with a fix... Will post pictures of that one with the next batch of spears, probably later in the week. I hope you make the leap and try it out so we can see what you come up with!

r redden · Mar 20, 2016

Okay you've convinced me to give modding a knife a try. I have been thinking about this for a while now and I think it's time. I need to pick up a few tools I don't have as most of my tools are for general carpentry. I also have a couple of rolls of Rough Riders I can experiment with. Guess I will head to Lowe's in the morning pick up a few new tools and get started. I hate to have to buy new tools.

. Going to take a few days but I will post pictures success or fail when I finish the first one.

traumkommode · Mar 20, 2016

r redden said:
Okay you've convinced me to give modding a knife a try. I have been thinking about this for a while now and I think it's time. I need to pick up a few tools I don't have as most of my tools are for general carpentry. I also have a couple of rolls of Rough Riders I can experiment with. Guess I will head to Lowe's in the morning pick up a few new tools and get started. I hate to have to buy new tools. . Going to take a few days but I will post pictures success or fail when I finish the first one.

That's the spirit! Harbor Freight has inexpensive tools 😉

ConBon · Mar 21, 2016

Traum,

It takes less than an hour to reshape a tip, but if I wanted to say convert a spear or clip into a sheepsfoot I would certainly use the grinder, very slowly, to remove the bulk, then finish with files, sandpaper, etc.
I NEVER use a dremel with a cut off wheel on a blade, because if it jumps out and hits the edge it will ruin a good 1/16" or so of usable blade with one nick, and all that needs to be honed out. I do sometimes use an abrasive stone on it though, but only if the blade is clamped in a vice or otherwise protected from a runaway tool

Dr-Mabuse · Mar 22, 2016

Stopped by a yard sale the other day. At the bottom of an old tackle box filled with broken and forgotten tools I found an old pen knife enjoying a rusty retirement. I was intrigued by the fact that the nail nick on the secondary blade was missing. I wanted to know who made a knife blade with no nick but the knife was frozen shut.

The woman behind the card table saw me CE/CF the knife. "Just give me a quarter and take it!"

I took it home and threw it in a cup of diluted vinegar to get the rust off. I figured if I could get the thing open I'd consider it a small victory, if not well it was just quarter. After twelve hours of soaking it still wouldn't budge. I forgot about and left it in my kitchen for another day. After 36 hours I pulled it out. I managed to get the tip of a nail file under the strange nickless pen blade, the rust began to give. I pried it open and found my nail nick.

Someone had forced the main blade down on the wrong side!

So I finished cleaning off the crud and gave it a hot coconut oil bath to put some life back in the bone handles. After a little time on the stones it's shaving hair and ready for action. It's a bit shorter than a Peanut and a little lighter due to the single spring. The pen blade has some up/down play when open but the clip is solid. I've been carrying it non-stop since then, it's my first time bringing a knife back to life and it's the best quarter I ever spent.

traumkommode · Mar 22, 2016

ConBon said:
Traum,

It takes less than an hour to reshape a tip, but if I wanted to say convert a spear or clip into a sheepsfoot I would certainly use the grinder, very slowly, to remove the bulk, then finish with files, sandpaper, etc.
I NEVER use a dremel with a cut off wheel on a blade, because if it jumps out and hits the edge it will ruin a good 1/16" or so of usable blade with one nick, and all that needs to be honed out. I do sometimes use an abrasive stone on it though, but only if the blade is clamped in a vice or otherwise protected from a runaway tool

- Ah, I read too hastily and missed the part about just filing the tip. And yes, after seeing what happens when taking a blade to a belt sander, I agree that a Dremel would just be too treacherous...

Dr-Mabuse said:
Stopped by a yard sale the other day. At the bottom of an old tackle box filled with broken and forgotten tools I found an old pen knife enjoying a rusty retirement. I was intrigued by the fact that the nail nick on the secondary blade was missing. I wanted to know who made a knife blade with no nick but the knife was frozen shut. The woman behind the card table saw me CE/CF the knife. "Just give me a quarter and take it!"

I took it home and threw it in a cup of diluted vinegar to get the rust off. I figured if I could get the thing open I'd consider it a small victory, if not well it was just quarter.

Wow! What a find, and way to bring it back to life! That looks like the kind of knife that turns out to be a real prize in your collection. Can you tell what the blade stamp reads? I really like those leathery looking jigged covers.

traumkommode · Mar 22, 2016

Here's the #15 Huckleberry One Arm/Clip Point conversion. I didn't draw anything on the blade, and ended up making a mistake and removing just a bit too much from the swedge. So I recovered by rounding the whole spine and giving it this well-aged attitude. This ebony didn't seem to be finished/stabilized with much seriousness, and I noticed that after wetting the covers while dipping, they had swelled well beyond the liners and spring, much moreso than I expected. So, while they were swollen, I sanded them, too, and chamfered the edges, leaving the butt square. Now when they're dry and shrunk, they sit a little below the edges, which I rather like for this kind of "takes a lickin'" knife. After cleaning it up, I took it to the kitchen for citrus duty, and the patina it developed (rather quickly) sealed the deal. Has a tip almost as fine as a Wharncliffe.

I call it the Huckleberry Ancient Clip Point.

Dr-Mabuse · Mar 22, 2016

Thanks traum, I like the look on that 15!

HST · Mar 22, 2016

I used 1000 grit sandpaper on the blade and bolsters to give it some scuffs. I did hot vinegar baths several times. I would wipe and just redo the dip. It took a few coats of Boos Mystery Block Oil to bring back the wood. I then decided the sheath needed some patina. I used the sandpaper and Allen Edmunds Shoe Cream to restore and change the thread color.

Not so much tinkering, but my son made this patina immediately when I showed him this knife. I explained that it was his and I was just holding it for him. He immediately wanted to use it to make guacamole. I like it even more now.

I am going to do several more once I get my knife chest together. I bought a neat piece of furniture for my knife collection and there will be tinkering with it as well. Mark the drawers for knife brands, type, and etc. What I didn't realize, I was gonna put it where my recently deceased hunting terrier slept. I can barely look over there in the morning. I really needed to just say that out loud.

deltaboy · Mar 22, 2016

I carry my old OT 8 some times I got as a Graduation Present from HS back in 1984 . Mr.Brown who owned Brown Lumber Company in CLARENDON Ar gave it to me.

traumkommode · Mar 24, 2016

HST said:
I used 1000 grit sandpaper on the blade and bolsters to give it some scuffs. I did hot vinegar baths several times. I would wipe and just redo the dip. It took a few coats of Boos Mystery Block Oil to bring back the wood. I then decided the sheath needed some patina. I used the sandpaper and Allen Edmunds Shoe Cream to restore and change the thread color.

I am going to do several more once I get my knife chest together. I bought a neat piece of furniture for my knife collection and there will be tinkering with it as well. Mark the drawers for knife brands, type, and etc. What I didn't realize, I was gonna put it where my recently deceased hunting terrier slept. I can barely look over there in the morning. I really needed to just say that out loud.

- Truly hadn't thought of tinkering with accoutrements in relation to knives... This is really cool man. I LOVE how your pocket slip turned out. You don't happen to make leather goods, do you?

Sorry to hear about the doggie. I've got a hound that's getting old, and have had to confront that fact a couple times this year with some health issues she's had. Hopefully the dog's love for you will show through chest when you do place it there.