WIP Half Camper?

[brets-ftw]

Not to long ago, I bought an old Kamp King from a fellow forumite. I was low on projects so I thought "hey this'll be a good experience." (On a side note, I could also use a new name for this knife, half-camper is more or less a stand-in)

Here it is from the sales thread (it's #9) Not the prettiest thing, but hopefully it will give a few more decades of good service.

Here it is, taken apart. So far the plan is to scrap the faux scales, reground can opener and awl, so just the Spearpoint and bottle opener/flat head. Also don’t know why it has two dividers, one of which was right next to a steel liner.

The intended bits:

The spring for the blade and can opener seems to be worn down a good bit, to form a channel or worm like grooves. I guess the tempering in the spring is a tad soft for the blade. The other seems to be in much better condition, the pin in the corner is also where the blade was, quite worn down and deformed.

So We’ll see how it turns out, I plan on making some pine templates for the scales, then probably use the Gaboone Ebony that has been sitting on my desk for a good 6 months as the actual scales, probably in a shadow pattern as I don't want to deal with making bolsters just yet.

Any and All advice/criticism welcome

Brets-ftw

 

[Railsplitter]

Hmmm...........an Ebony handled Shadow Half Camper?! Great idea! I can't wait to see the results!

 

[xbxb]

I love these things. Go for it - flip the switch.

 

[JC in SC]

Will the blade clear the cap lifter?

 

[brets-ftw]

Hmmm...........an Ebony handled Shadow Half Camper?! Great idea! I can't wait to see the results!

Thanks, It'll definitely be interesting I'm hoping it'll turn out well enough to become my new dress knife, (something about black and silver has always struck out to me) Also working on what to use as the Shield if any. I have also been working on this clear epoxy Abalone/Mother of Pearl concoction that can be poured into any cut-out, who knows might go crazy with the dremel and slap that in.

I love these things. Go for it - flip the switch.

Thanks for the encouragement, I know it'll be one of the toughest mods I've done to date.

Will the blade clear the cap lifter?

Thankfully yes, the cant(not sure if that's the right word) on both the blade and cap lifter were the same angle but different sides so it should mesh well. if not . . . . I'll figure something out lol

 

[brets-ftw]

the Fruits of today's labor:

Ebony is cut and curing with epoxy to the steel liners, I have them covered with a small piece of paper and under one of my 2lb dive weights. The next one is an attempt at showing the figuring of the Gaboone Ebony, Photography is not my thing.

Edit: the steel in my pic looks a lot rustier then it actually is, though I'm sure a nice silicone bath wouldn't hurt . . . .

 

[pinnah]

So, you're making something I wish GEC would make... a spear/cap lifter version of the White Owl with a single spring. I would also love to see a single spring Canoe with the same same blade combo. As much as I love my camper, I only ever really use the spear and cap lifter.

Please keep us posted and somebody nudge the folks at GEC.

 

[zippofan]

This sounds cool, good luck!

 

[brets-ftw]

double post

 

[brets-ftw]

So, you're making something I wish GEC would make... a spear/cap lifter version of the White Owl with a single spring. I would also love to see a single spring Canoe with the same same blade combo. As much as I love my camper, I only ever really use the spear and cap lifter.

Please keep us posted and somebody nudge the folks at GEC.

My sentiments exactly, I was (and still am) quite attracted to the White Owl pattern, plus the more I thought about my Dedicated camp folder (the rehandled Colonial Forest Master in the pic) I don't use the awl, except maybe to scrape my shoe, but there's normally a stick around for that job. For cans I have my p-38 or LM Micra to handle that task. but opening a nice bottle of suds or cutting something I want a little style.

This sounds cool, good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement.

So, I ran into my first few problems today (as these projects always have) . First I had to figure out how to drill straight holes so the pins will align. Sadly this did not happen but I got it as straight as I could manage with a steady hand and an undersized drill bit.

Next, the wood chipped a little around the drill exits, but this isn't a huge deal as I realized the wood is in fact a 1/2" slab so some slimming will be in order, or a palm swell, now that would be interesting on a traditional.

And thirdly, resizing the holes. the original pins and holes were around 2mm or a .079in something that no one seems to carry in pin stock, so I resized it to a 1/8" not a biggie, maybe a little more time peening but hey it'll be a new experience and isnt that what life is about?

Finally, the last problem so far is drilling the cap lifter, the steel liners, spring and blade took all of 5 min drilling and reeming with a dremel carbide bit, but that cap lifter does not like change.

I'm also considering modifying the blade into a full fledged wharncliff. There just isn't that much belly in the blade so once all said and done its just going to be a slightly recurved wharnie with a nubbed tip.

 

[glennbad]

Very cool project! You're doing alot more with less than I have in my shop. I haven't tried a mod on the shell handles yet.

You asked about the extra liner(divider)? I can't say for sure, but in the camper/utility patterns I have worked on, it appears that extra liner was put in for spacing. The main blade is usually crinked a bit to make room for the awl/punch blade, so the extra liner give things a little more room to fit properly.

I have a picture of a mod I did that was kinda similar to yours, except I used the awl blade. It was an old Imperial...if you look at the first photo, you can see where there is the extra brass liner between the awl/main blade and the outer liner of the knife.

I am not trying to thread-jack, I just wanted to show what is possible with this pattern. (I will remove my photos if you don't want them in your thread)

I can't wait to see how yours turns out!

Glenn

 

[bakerg2g]

Excellent thread! Please keep us up to date with
this project. Look forward to see how it turns out...

Jason

 

[smiling-knife]

I'm intrigued by your project. I hope you don't mind me posting this knife. I thought it may be of interest.

 

[thatotherguy]

Name idea- the Kompact King

 

[brets-ftw]

No worries guys, I always love seeing other people's work.

glennbad - I starting to take a closer look at my bits now and I think I will have to install a washer on one side of the blade to help level it out. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Thanks for the heads up on that extra liner. I didn't think about the blade hitting the other liner, was more concerned about it meshing well with the cap lifter. Also nice work on that camper mod. it's nice to see some un-jigged bone every once in a while.

bakerg2g - Thanks, I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorites.

smiling-knife - Now that would be a great find! but I also feel that I need some pen knife configurations, everything I have currently seems to be strictly jackknife stuff.

 

[brets-ftw]

Name idea- the Kompact King

I can dig it.

Here are some updates, not too much has been done, still trying to finish drilling out the cap lifter and I decided everything needed a bit of a shine, currently working on shining up the liners. Stabilized wood is a serious pain to grind down I might add.

 

[brets-ftw]

Well I've finally ground the Scales to size at least the main dimensions of the liners. Still need to trim it down in width as it will be around a 1 1/4" overall width, which is a tad over what I'd like. More drilling and reaming still needs to be done, man are those pieces stubborn.

I've decided to add the middle spacer to help compensate for the angle of the blade. The more I think about it, the more I worry it'll start clipping the steel liner, so "better safe the sorry" as they say.

To help eliminate some of the work I've been playing with the idea of a palm swell , might be interesting. any ideas on such?

Some pics: