New guy looking for some help.

N

nkante

Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
8
I recieves my grandfather's pocket knife a fews years back. It is from AmericanKnife Company Germany, but it was falling apart. I finished taking it apart to repair it, but wound up misplacing one of the lock springs. Can I find a replacement somewhere, or do I have to have one cut from hardened steel? I have some sheets of brass that I could cut to shape, but would that be hard enough to work? Thanx
 
Hi, and welcome to Bladeforums! :)
I'm not able to give you any decent answer, but others will chime in and help you. I don't think brass would do, anyway.
One advice: take some pictures and post them here. It will be of much help.

Fausto
:cool:
 
The odds of finding a replacement spring are slim. The brass won't work. Besides the difficulty of finding another knife just like that one it would still have to be fitted since the two will not be exactly the same with the same wear and all that. You can look on the exchange forums for a knife maker to make you a new one. Or the other option would be to do what I just did with my grandfathers case jack that had a broken blade. I sent it to Seals and had him turn it into a single blade. He is listed there under knifemakers market:knives & more for sale> the custom shop> services offered. I'm sure someone else will have a better idea but that's the best I could come up with. Good luck
 
Thank you gents. The spring is missing from the awl and bottle opener/screwdriver side. So I think I will just leave it with the blade and can opener.
 
If you can find someone who makes or repairs pocket knives, they should be able to cut out a new spring, then heat treat it to the proper springiness(?). Or, like you said, just don't use the awl and bottle opener.
 
As noted, you need to use spring steel to replace the missing piece. Since it's a flat spring that's not too difficult. Still, the easiest "repair" would be to make the knife thinner by removing all the parts from that side and just using the two blades off the other.
 
Slipjoint springs are usually the same steel as the blades (in this case probably a basic high carbon, 1095 or similar), hardened then tempered back to ~45 Rockwell. My blades are 61, and my springs are 48ish. Easiest to just make it a single spring, but it is possible to have someone make a spring. You just have to decide if it's worth it to you.
 
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