Old Solingen Spacers Deteriorating--What to Do?

[Return of the J.D.]

I've got an apparently-a-few-decades-old Solingen knife of the kind where there's a stick tang all the way through a stag handle, secured by a nut apparently threaded onto the tang in the very back.

Over the years, apparently it's gotten a little loose. Part of the problem may be in the spacers, which may have shrunk with age. At least one of the spacers has cracked, but it's still in place. The knife still holds together okay, but the spacers (and staghorn handle, and aluminum guard/pommel) are all now a little bit out of alignment with each other; one can move them around, wiggling each spacer right or left, up or down.

I'm wondering what the best way(s) is/are to deal with this. One option might be to replace the spacers, if that's not too difficult a thing to do. That would involve fully unscrewing the nut on the back (with what tool? a pair of needle-nosed pliers kind of roughly fits into the two notches in the nut, but I'm sure there used to be some other tool that fit more exactly and did this better). Probably one ends up grinding off a little excess width on the spacers after installation to make them even with the handle and guard and pommel. What kind does one get? Where? Any substitute materials that work just as well?

Another option might be just to try to repair the spacers in place (maybe oozing some epoxy into the crack in the cracked spacer?), aligning everything as best I can, tightening the nut, and then maybe Dremeling the spacers' protruding portions so as to make everything smooth again.

Comments? Warnings? Other ideas?

 

[Kiwi303]

can you make a new spacer in two pieces of sufficient thickness to wedge everything together, slip one piece in from one side and tap home, then wedge the other in on the other side?two fat crescent shaped bits could possibly do it.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The tool is called a spanner wrench. The needle nose trick works,too.
Take it apart, clean it up, make new spacers, reassemble and re-shape the spacers to fit. I would run some thin CA in the spacer joints after assembly and before grinding the excess down.
Stacy

 

[SteelSlaver]

You can make a wrench that fits correctly by taking a small piece of flat bar and drilling 2 small holes about the diameter and spacing of the notches in the nut, then take an old bit and cut the shank into 2 pieces, insert in holes and tack weld back side. it the notches are not round pregrind the drill pins to fit and place in notches, then place bar on pins and tack or just turn it nut with them as is, but the welding heat will also draw back the drill rod a bit and help keep the "pins" from snapping

 

[Return of the J.D.]

Thanks, guys! Does it matter what I make the replacement spacers out of? Any good or bad materials to use for this? (If flexibility is not of the essence, I may opt for something other than, say, leather--where I live, that would dry out and shrink.) Ideas?

 

[DC KNIVES]

I just refurbished one for a customer last week, same problem.I just made up some new leather spacers and got everything cleaned and sinched back up tight.Then made him a replacement sheath.Any spacer material will work, but my customer wanted it as original as possible, hence the leather and that style of sheath. Good Luck.Dave