need some help with a Camillus Stockman...

Psychopomp · Jul 22, 2005

I've got an old Stockman that's in need of a little TLC. It's a beautiful little knife, the tang on the main blade is dated '67 and it has black bakelite scales. I remember whittling with this thing when I was a kid, but never really thought much about it.

Well, the traditional knife bug has been biting at me lately, so I dug it out. And it needs some help. The two small blades are just fine and still razor sharp, and the backspring is solid. But the main blade has been sharpened down so that the tip isn't in the handle (which isn't really a problem it doesn't stick above the two other blades) but the backspring doesn't spring anymore.

What should I do? I really like this knife, it feels really good in my hand. I don't mind the blade tip not being in the handle so much, but I want the knife to be usable. Sending it in for a new blade is my last choice because I've had the knife for so long. If I have to I can get a new blade on it... and I intend to make my next knife purchase a nice EDC slipjoint... but I want this Camillus to be back in top form.

Any ideas.

JD Mandrell · Jul 22, 2005

My gut tells me that to restore this one to top form would either require sending it to Camillus and seeing about them rebuilding it, or finding the few others that restore old pocketknivs, but to be honest I'll almost bet your looking at spending way more than it's worth.

You might watch Ebay for one just like it, used Camillus' are dirt cheap, heck I just got a MINT unused Cam' Trapper with Rosewood scales for 3.99.

Psychopomp · Jul 23, 2005

The Last Confederate said:
You might watch Ebay for one just like it, used Camillus' are dirt cheap, heck I just got a MINT unused Cam' Trapper with Rosewood scales for 3.99.

That may be the thing to do... and I can always buy more knives

. I don't know though, I found this thing and thought "hey, I wanna try to fix it." Which may not be possible with my limited tools. I will see what Camillus can do for me before I do anything drastic.

Thanks for the input. And I bet that rosewood trapper is purty (I love rosewood).

CAMCO · Jul 23, 2005

Contact Maureen, who handles knife repairs at Camillus, and tell her about your knife that needs work. Her e-mail address is mdrake@camillusknives.com.

Tom Williams

The Drifter · Jul 23, 2005

I have the same knife (stockman) and I bought mine for $3.00 at an antique store. It is pretty rough with some chipping of the scales and the tip of the clip blade is bent a bit. I bought it in Colorado in an area surrounded by ranches and farms, so it was probably used and abused in such work. It sharpened up pretty well. It seems like a solid knife though. You can't get a new stockman with carbon steel for $3.00!

Dijos · Jul 23, 2005

I think that you can file the kick down to put the blade back into the handle

Psychopomp · Jul 23, 2005

Dijos said:
I think that you can file the kick down to put the blade back into the handle

I decided last night that that was going to be the first thing I do to this knife. It's not horrible, and would only lose maybe 1.5mm of steel at the most (less if I didn't try to match the original clip).

Ebbtide · Jul 24, 2005

I think you may have misunderstood Dijos...
The kick is the portion at the base of the blade (under the stamped portion) that rests on the spring when the blade is in the closed position. The kick keeps the edge from hitting the spring when the blade snaps shut......
If you file that down a touch it'll lower the point and you won't loose any blade.

If you did understand originally, my apologies.

Dijos · Jul 24, 2005

pointless reply edited-I can't read, apparently. I don't know how big/pronounced the camillus kick is, but it shoudn't take much to solve the problem.

Psychopomp · Jul 25, 2005

Ebbtide said:
I think you may have misunderstood Dijos...
The kick is the portion at the base of the blade (under the stamped portion) that rests on the spring when the blade is in the closed position. The kick keeps the edge from hitting the spring when the blade snaps shut......
If you file that down a touch it'll lower the point and you won't loose any blade.

If you did understand originally, my apologies.

I did and part of that was my fault... I was in such a hurry to post it that I wasn't as clear as I'd wished to ahve been. I think this knife will require a little of both. I don't want to file to kick too much and the blade tip is rounded a bit too, so a little of both should solve the problem.

Ebbtide · Jul 26, 2005

I was in such a hurry to post it that I wasn't as clear as I'd wished to ahve been.

I know the feeling

Just go very slow and check often.
Maybe someone over in shoptalk has a trick/tip for this.