Free To A Good Home: An Imperial Scout Knife In Need Of Surgery

Jack Black

Jack Black

Seize the Lambsfoot! Seize the Day!
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On my birthday trip to a local flea-market the other day (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ome-new-Sodbusters-and-a-few-fleamarket-finds) I was very pleased to find an Imperial Scout knife, not least since old US knives are rarely found here. The knife was in reasonable condition too, with the scales and shield intact. However, there was a slight flaring of one of the bolsters at one end. I figured I might be able to sort this out with the help of a vice.

I took the knife home, along with the others I’d found, and photographed it for the thread above. The next day I gave it a good spray with WD40 and started to clean off some rust that had formed on the backs of the springs. I’d obviously worked the blades a few times while applying the WD40, and when I came to give the knife an oil bath I noticed that the tang of the awl had moved from under the spring, where the bolster was flared (it’s now a lot MORE flared).

I don’t have the skill or the tools required to rebuild this knife, so I contacted one of our resident tinkerers to see if he’d like the knife. He already had a stripped down Scout knife however, and doesn’t have the time to take on another as the Swinden Key construction is complicated. Another forum member I asked was similarly wary of the SK. The result is this thread.

It seems a shame to waste this knife, which I understand dates from the 1950’s. So if you have some experience of the Swinden Key construction and have the time and inclination to fix up this little feller, I’ll be more than happy to send it to you. If you can post pics of the job so much the better. After that, it’s your knife, you can keep it, give it away, even sell it, I just don’t want to see it go to waste.

What do you think fellers, will someone take on this possibly arduous mission? Step forward brave sirs, this knife can live to fight another day

Some pics below of the knife and the task at hand.

Jack














 
I hope I'm not going to have to start quoting the St Crispin's Day speech guys! :D
 
I'd be happy to give that a try. My Grandpa's Imperial humidor knife was in a similar state, and I fixed that, though I don't remember exactly how.
I'll even trade you a similar one.
 
OK SP, PM me your address and I'll get it off to you. No need for a trade. Good luck in getting it fixed.

If you feel like doing a 'how to' thread, I'm sure there'd be plenty who'd be interested.

Jack
 
OK- I believe I just e-mailed you, so let me know if it didn't take.
I'll do a "how to" or a "how not to" thread. We'll see.

Jer
 
Great stuff Jer, will get that off to you over the next couple of days :)
 
Excellent!, good to see the knife has new adventures ahead of it, scrtreened porch well done, it would be great to see the photo's!

Edit, I will go further and say, that s/porch if you do fix it, I will pay for our awesome fix-it member here ( if ok with him first of course ) Glennbad to rescale the knife in scales of your choice! So please let us know, I think its really neat of Jack to do this!
 
Shame it turned out to be a bit of a lemon Jack, but glad to see that one of our fellows is man enough to wrestle it back into shape!

Best of luck SP.

Great gestures Jack and Cambellclanman.
 
The phrase, "ridden hard and put away wet" springs to mind when looking at that one.
 
Campbellclanman said:
Excellent!, good to see the knife has new adventures ahead of it, scrtreened porch well done, it would be great to see the photo's!

Edit, I will go further and say, that s/porch if you do fix it, I will pay for our awesome fix-it member here ( if ok with him first of course ) Glennbad to rescale the knife in scales of your choice! So please let us know, I think its really neat of Jack to do this!
Click to expand...

Very generous of you Duncan - as always :) Glennbad does wonderful work. It's up to Jer, but I think he'll find when he receives the knife that the original scales are actually in reasonable shape. The knife should go off in the post today, but I anticipate it'll take at least a couple of weeks (maybe more) to reach its destination.
 
Hi Jack, I thought about this later and wondered if it was ok to post that, I was only thinking that this was so good of you to do, if I could only add and make it a double whammy, but then it could look as though I was trying to steal your thunder - of which I would never do - so I do apologise if anyone took this wrong.
 
Campbellclanman said:
Hi Jack, I thought about this later and wondered if it was ok to post that, I was only thinking that this was so good of you to do, if I could only add and make it a double whammy, but then it could look as though I was trying to steal your thunder - of which I would never do - so I do apologise if anyone took this wrong.
Click to expand...

:D There's certainly no need to apologise Duncan! :D It's a very generous offer, and I'm sure Glennbad would do a fantastic job. Let's see what Jer thinks, but I just parcelled up the knife and the covers seem in very good condition. Great, as always, to hear from you anyway my friend :)
 
Pre-1956 knife. It was my first Boy Scout knife. Bolster moved out/apart along friction-fit pivot pin. Perhaps rust was all that was holding the "sandwich" of parts together. A vise or similar tool can skruntch [term of art] them back in place slowly and carefully. A center punch can be used to flare/mushroom end of pin so it holds in place. I am far from a knife mechanic, but I have repaired several that way - some have been in use for a couple of years since. You need a good sharp punch. Best of luck.
 
Thanks for the advice and info Thomas. Not sure how this old knife came to find itself on a market stall in a small West Yorkshire town, but I hope it can be resurrected to live out some more years :)
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks for the advice and info Thomas. Not sure how this old knife came to find itself on a market stall in a small West Yorkshire town, but I hope it can be resurrected to live out some more years :)
Click to expand...

Maybe it belonged to Tyrone Power, when he was a Yank in the RAF.
Duncan, that is very generous with the handle offer, on top of Jack's original generosity. I don't know how I'm going to respond to it all.
I think Thomas is right that I can fix this without chopping the pins, but I think new covers can be fitted without chopping the pins too, so I'll go ahead with my bit.
So in about a week I'll start to lend my eye a terrible aspect and let it pry through the portage of my head toward the mailman, to continue my earlier mis-quote.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement, and I'll keep you posted.
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks for the advice and info Thomas. Not sure how this old knife came to find itself on a market stall in a small West Yorkshire town, but I hope it can be resurrected to live out some more years :)
Click to expand...

Post-War knife.

GI ?

2/3 of all Scout-aged boys in the 1950's were registered in the Boy Scouts for some period. As close to a universal boyhood experience as there was.

We had a draft system. Some draftee stationed in the UK or passing through to (esp.) Germany could have brought a pocket knife. Not all things that arrive in a place with someone depart with that one when he leaves. Sell. Trade. Misplace. Gift.
 
Jack Black said:
:D There's certainly no need to apologise Duncan! :D It's a very generous offer, and I'm sure Glennbad would do a fantastic job. Let's see what Jer thinks, but I just parcelled up the knife and the covers seem in very good condition. Great, as always, to hear from you anyway my friend :)
Click to expand...

Thank you Jack, and always Likewise, it will be a good outcome if the knife gets to work another day!!
 
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