Well the kids are off at a playdate with my lovely wife and I've got the day off from work so before I get to hanging some curtain rods and a few other honey-do's I figured I'd get this done.
Well David's idea of crimping the lockbar was great, thanks you very much! I used a screwdriver bit and a hammer to get my smashy-smashy on and it didn't take much tapping to get a nice deformity going.
Not too pretty from the front but this is hidden in the handle and now it locks up perfectly.
You can see with the knife locked up that the deformation has caused a localized bulge in the lockbar above the plane of the handle spine where previously it had lain flat. This we can take care of during final sanding.
With the lockup fixed it's time to put the blade in permanently. I use a needle and red Loctite to cover the corby bolt inside threads and screw it so the pivot tension is just where the blade will gently fall closed.
While the Loctite is setting we’ll do some sanding. See how nice the lockbar spine looks again after a few passes?
Ok Loctite is set, hacksaw the excess Corby bolt off.
Now grab the 150grit and do some finishing work. We're going to leave this one somewhat rough finished to allow for a good grip as befits a working tool.
Once the flats are smooth I take a strip of sandpaper, grab both ends and them pull downward as I'm sanding to create a rounding action so the corners of the handles are not too sharp. One hand is holding the camera so you'll have to use your imagination.
See what I mean?
Then off to the diamond stone for some edgework, a soapy bath, a mineral oil rehydration and here's what we're left with:
It's about 1mm underbladed now but it looks like more because I rounded the sharp blade tang corners to save my pockets from wear and tear.
Finally a tool I can be proud to use. I like the O1 better than 1095, seems to be slightly better at holding its edge. I wish they used more of it in their regular line.
Thanks to my boy for letting me use his vehicle. I've got another son coming in December, which of them will get this knife?
Thanks all for reading along and all the great comments, I probably got this done 10x faster than planned just knowing you guys were waiting to see the end result. Thanks as well to the mods for letting it stay in my home forum here on BF.
I now return to lurker mode- until another knife pisses me off!
