Knife making/modding/maintenance mistakes you'll never make again

B

Balls Deep

Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
342
So I've posted some threads over the past few days about picking up a cck 1303. Awesome knife and exactly what I was looking for. I began the modding process of stripping lacquer, vinegar forced patina and boiled linseed oil on the handle. All going great, this morning I was a little tired and was allying boiled linseed oil, a second coat on the handle over the sink responsibly. Handle got slick and a dropped a brand new incredibly thin knife. There's now 2, 1 mm chips in the blade...

I will never due any non blade modding again without a blade guard on the knife; dumb dumb mistake.

Any other hard lessons folks have learned with making, modding, or just general maintenance?
 
Uncaged bearings... Good luck finding them if you drop whatever you used to hold them
 
kaozer said:
Uncaged bearings... Good luck finding them if you drop whatever you used to hold them
Click to expand...

1) Go to your local home improvement store and grab a welding clean up magnet, or a 50lb pull rare earth magnet.
2) Cover whichever you get with two zip lock bags, the outer one being inside out.
3) sweep it over your entire garage floor (or wherever you dropped them)
4) pull the outer bag right side in, and off of your magnet and seal it up.
5) go and comb through your findings in a safe place, so you don't lose them again...
 
Not taping blades when sharpening, or not taping handles when disassembling a knife with a particularly stubborn screw. I forgot to do this often and always end up annoyed when I scratch a knife due to carelessness.
 
I put too much loctite on the free spinning standoff. Was hard to loosen it later on and it was a flathead screw that didn't look quite as sharp after the whole ordeal.
 
I bought a craptastic old Spydie on the bay for cheap thinking I'd clean it up and have a great old Spydie. Took it apart and every metal part was not just gunked but rusted. After a good washing, I used some light sandpaper to remove all the rust -- including the rust on the liner lock face and the locking face of the blade. When it went back together it looked awesome but had some fun new blade play. :) Pretty sure I sanded it out of tolerances.
 
Your brandy new custom superdupersteel zirconium bolstered wonderfolder arrives at your doorstep.
You anxiously unbox and are so overwhelmed by the rabidly intoxicating new-knife aroma that safe queens be damned you just can't wait to get this one in your pocket as your new edc.
But you think that with just a few personal touches that I'll make this beauty MINE!...
So as you wipe the drool from your foaming jowls you head to the shop to grab your handy dandy torx set and your neatest new-fangled sharpening devices.
And then your neighbors suspicions that you are some sort of deviant maniac are startlingly confirmed as they hear your bellows of milk curdling cuss words right after you've slipped and gouged a 200 dollar depreciation in the aforementioned show side bolster.

Since then....
I've learned to keep my paws off of big dollar pieces until that "new knife smell" has worn off.
Then I can make a more intelligent choice as to what I want to do with it.
 
Trying to straighten a bent tip with needlenose pliers. *snap* Instant shorter knife.
 
attempt to change the usual satin finish to mirror-like effect. just not worth the effort. you remove whatever etching there is on the blade, not to mention sanding off expensive metal to no good purpose.
 
Great question!! I like to buy “project” knives that need a little love and attention to be brought back to life. I was working on a slipjoint once, using a Q-tip and flitz to clean and shine the inside of the knife. Hand slipped and my thumb dragged over the blade. Bad cut!! Lesson learned: ALWAYS cover the blade with several layers of tape, no matter how dull you think it is.

Giddyup!

Cosmo
 
NJBillK said:
1) Go to your local home improvement store and grab a welding clean up magnet, or a 50lb pull rare earth magnet.
2) Cover whichever you get with two zip lock bags, the outer one being inside out.
3) sweep it over your entire garage floor (or wherever you dropped them)
4) pull the outer bag right side in, and off of your magnet and seal it up.
5) go and comb through your findings in a safe place, so you don't lose them again...
Click to expand...

Well luckily for me i was nearly done so only about 5-6 balls got scattered. I can only imagine if i lost them all
 
I will never due any non blade modding again without a blade guard on the knife; dumb dumb mistake.
Click to expand...

Well . . . I was going to say "no . . . I NEVER make mistakes" and "every knife mod I have ever done has come out great (on schedule and under budget)" :cool::rolleyes::thumbup:
but
Your above comment reminded me of the time I was working on a knife. It was clamped in the padded vise by the handle. I didn't have a guard on the blade but it was on the side of the vise away from me. I reached past it to the bench for something and as I drew my arm back I got a little cut. Just enough to let me know what a DUMB SON OF A ______ I was being. I cover blades that are any where near pointy or even remotely sharp now. Wheeeeeuuuuee I could have really had a problem there; this thing was way silly sharp.
 
Biggest mistake I made when I got started was not having the right tools for the job. If you are going to take knives apart get yourself several Wiha Torx sets. Best in the business hands down and you want strip screws like it is your 2nd job.

Most recent mistake: We bought a laser. I set it way to high on a ZT0630. It cut so far in to the cut out that the lock no longer functions properly. Oops!
 
Trying to "fix" a lock bar face without understanding and reading about lock-bar geometry beforehand...... :o
 
Sheathmaking POST sharpening.....similar with Handle wrapping POST sharpening.

If you value your fingers...Sharpening should be the very last step in knifemaking.
 
Worst I've done is lose a spring from a CRKT that a I won on here. Took it apart to clean and lost a spring. Ordered new parts, put it back together. Within a few fishing trips after that it was lost possibly stolen.

I am not big on knife mods or alterations. Specially on production knives. If I was going that route I would just look into customs.
 
Hearing other's experiences is heartening and good to know I'm not alone. Also I can see myself doing a lot of these same things so good pieces for me to remember.
 
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