Ernie1980
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 8,118
Until yesterday, I had not taken apart a knife for repair before with natural material scales that I have been able to save! Micarta, g10, etc are very forgiving to be pried and hammered but most other materials are definitely not...
I scored this old 3 1/2" Joseph Rodgers whittler with intact ivory scales, but it was basically rusted shut. I decided to clean it up but keep it looking original as much as possible. I spend about an hour very carefully and slowly taking the knife apart and the only damage to the covers was a very small chip near the rocker pin:thumbup:
To start, I cleaned off all the rust and grime but left most of the patina (and some pitting unfortunately) on the blades, liners, and springs. All three blades sat proud so I reground them and tried my best to match the fresh cut areas to the rest of the blades. Regrinding was the only way to go because filing the kicks would have lowered the blades too far and made opening them difficult. The bolsters got cleaned with a wire brush to keep their discoloration but get rid of the gunk and the ivory got gently cleaned and soaked in oil. The rough edges got smoothed out and everything was fitted back together. Finally, I very carefully peened it and tried to blend all of the new with the old. My goal was a knife, that despite the looking original, functions like new.
Thanks for letting me share!
I scored this old 3 1/2" Joseph Rodgers whittler with intact ivory scales, but it was basically rusted shut. I decided to clean it up but keep it looking original as much as possible. I spend about an hour very carefully and slowly taking the knife apart and the only damage to the covers was a very small chip near the rocker pin:thumbup:
To start, I cleaned off all the rust and grime but left most of the patina (and some pitting unfortunately) on the blades, liners, and springs. All three blades sat proud so I reground them and tried my best to match the fresh cut areas to the rest of the blades. Regrinding was the only way to go because filing the kicks would have lowered the blades too far and made opening them difficult. The bolsters got cleaned with a wire brush to keep their discoloration but get rid of the gunk and the ivory got gently cleaned and soaked in oil. The rough edges got smoothed out and everything was fitted back together. Finally, I very carefully peened it and tried to blend all of the new with the old. My goal was a knife, that despite the looking original, functions like new.
Thanks for letting me share!
