fileworking spydie backspacer

[fishface5]

I've seen pics of nicely fileworked backspacers on some spydies. I'd like to do that to my SS dragonfly. But how does one take apart a SS fly in order to remove & file the backspacer? More importantly, how do you put it back together & keep it looking nice?? Has anyone tried this on their knives & have some sage advice? Tx - FF

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I've taken apart and fileworked knives that are screwed together, and a few that were pinned, there is an old book on knife repair I had when I was a kid, told you how to make a tool to cut off the pivot pins, and how to repean them with a removable spacer shim to insure that when you repean it does not bind in the pivot.

Anyone remember what the name of the book was?

 

[Vess]

Funny you should mention a Dragonfly. I recently took one apart because the blade was ruined (drilled the pivot pin and pried the rest of the handle apart with a screwdriver). I think you might be able to just pry one completely apart without drilling, and then squeeze it back together once you're done, maybe with some epoxy. I was actually thinking of taking the backspacer and the lever out of a whole new 'Fly, and replacing the scales with coloured G-10, but I'll also need to get a pivot pin from someplace. Could be a fun project...

But so far I just fileworked the spine of the blade and maybe added finger-grooves behing the Spydie-hole, and stopped at that. Lever and the backspacer on the Dragonfly are thin, so fileworking deeply might weaken them, which is also something to consider...

 

[fishface5]

Vess, that thuysa wood burl fly on your site is awesome!!! That's pretty much what I'm going for, except maybe with stag instead of wood, I dunno. Maybe I can filework the backspacer & lever, carefully, with a dremel without taking the knife apart. Could be risky though.

TE, I'll have to look for that book!