TL-29 mods thread... Let's put 'em here

[orvet]

I'm cooking up a little surprise for y'all
I hope to have it done this week, but I keep hitting snags and have to go back a few steps and re-engineer things.


Stay tuned.

[Meridian_Mike]

I'm cooking up a little surprise for y'all
I hope to have it done this week, but I keep hitting snags and have to go back a few steps and re-engineer things.


Stay tuned.

Man... I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS SURPRISE!
NOW... stop all this teasin' and go get that joker DONE!
LOL.....

[royal0014]

I have neglected to add my own to this thread. ...
Long-line Camillus that glennbad did his screwdriver mod to,
and new pants. Sorry, but I can not remember what the scales are ....

Perhaps Glenn can recall .....

[jerryd6818]

Chris, the handles are pretty. That's what they are.

[Meridian_Mike]

Very nice looking TL you have there Chris. And, I agree, what ever they are made of, the handles are NICE!!

[royal0014]

Aw, shucks fellers .... Thanks ...
But Mr Glenn deserves all the praise !

[orvet]

I posted a while back that I was doing another TL-29; I have a box full of TL-29 parts and I went through them and selected the parts I needed to make a TL-29 mod. In the box was one liner with a long bolster soldered to it. I used it and made another one. That gave me the idea of working the bolsters and grooving them and doing some fancy work on them. I also wanted to make it a Wharncliffe blade and I have parts and pieces of two or three M Klein Hawkbill Lineman’s knives.

I made the second bolster, soldered it on the liner and did all the file work except for the front groove. As I was sanding it down I found a pit in the front bolster right below the pen hole. It was close enough in line with the pin hole that I didn’t worry about it. When the knife was assembled, the pin was peened and the knife ready for the final touches. Then I started a new groove that remove the hole beneath the pin and went on up through the pin itself, very similar to the rat tail bolsters often found on old Hawkbill pruning knives. Since these bolsters are much thinner than the old style Hawkbill I didn’t make the groove nearly as deep, but it was strategically placed and deep enough to remove the pit as if it never existed. I had not planned on doing another groove there but I think it worked out nicely.

This is a practice knife and there were many problems associated with it.
When you mix up a box of random TL-29 parts from various makers and you grab the parts you need and put together a knife, don’t be surprised at some of the parts to fit!

I ran into a problem with the back spring; there are some, which have different rocker pin hole placement, some of the springs are taller than others, and some were so short they wouldn’t reach the edge of the liners.

Another problem was the blade. It’s used up far enough that it’s thick, so I had to thin it down. I think the blade dynamics on this one leaves little bit to be desired.

The third thing I don’t like about this knife is that the first two grooves are not parallel to the edge of the bolster.

I may put a regular spear blade in this or I may reprofile a spear blade into a Wharncliffe.

One of these days I will probably finish this knife or use of myself in the shop. I’m not fond of the blade that is in it, so that I will probably change.

Just thought you guys might like to see what I had attempted.
Maybe this will give you guys an idea.

[Reverand]

I agree about the blade profile - it looks to have been worn down too far, but I love the rest of it. Those bolsters and handles are gorgeous!

[Meridian_Mike]

GREAT job Dale! I LOVE the color of the stag..... That is right there in what I really like!! BEAUTIFUL.

These TL-29s are the perfect platform for a one blade design.
A+++ on the bolster treatment.
Man.... she sure did turn out nice and thin too......

Top notch!! Strictly TOP NOTCH!!

Your surprise was well worth the wait!!

2 thumbs up my friend!

[doglegg]

I'm with you on the blade but on all the rest I think it looks awfully good.

[glennbad]

The blade looks great when it's closed...

Seriously though, I liked how you stuck with the project in spite of all the hurdles. We all have projects like this one that challenge us all the way, and we hate to give up on them.

Over all, a nice result!

[Jeffinn]

Just finished this one with charcoal black handles and nickel silver rear bolsters. Shield inlay wasn't quite as smooth as I would have liked but its acceptable.
I'm still working on inlaying shields. It feels like I'm getting better but still have room to improve.

[Meridian_Mike]

WOW Jeff... That is a VERY NICE looking knife! A real beauty!!
Excellent execution all around.

2 thumbs up my friend!!

[doglegg]

Very classic clean lines on that one Jeff, Very slender. A touch of elegance to it.

[rustyoldknife]

Great Looking Knife! Your skills continue to impress.

[Reverand]

I love the look of that knife, Jeff! So classic!

[Doc B]

Nice knives guys!
I've got a couple to play with...just haven't decided what to do with them. Enjoying seeing you guys inventiveness and results!

[glennbad]

That's pretty darn sexy!

[orvet]

Nice work Jeff. I love the clean lines!

[Meridian_Mike]

I'm not at all happy with this one. It does work.... BUT
It was a bigger POS than I thought. The rust went DEEP!
I ruined ANOTHER set of Culpepper scales trying to get them to meet the bolsters better.
I noticed that the mark side rear bolster has a crooked edge.
I took a piece of deer antler and made myself some "it will have to do" covers.
(The problem with deer is Mississippi is this..... the antlers are so crooked that it it HARD to find a place straight enough to cut out a slab.
After that episode, the scales didn't fit like I wanted.
I have learned one thing while doing this knife..... P..A..T..I..E..N..C..E.
(You don't know how many times I had to count to TEN to keep from throwing this one across the room.)
This isn't my last TL-29....
One important lesson here. Start with one that has better BONES!

tada

[Jeffinn]

It actually turned out nice Mike!
Getting the handle slabs fitting tight against the bolster isn’t always possible. Some bolsters are machined poorly or fitted poorly to the liners and you can end up with a gap or poor fitting handles no matter how hard you try to fix it. Other times bolsters are just badly beat up or severely worn.
I do agree with you on starting with a knife with better bones. I’ve bought my share of basket cases and they take a lot of work that doesn’t always pay off.
But I think I think this one looks pretty darn nice considering what you started with!
Jeff

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks for those good words Jeff.
I made all the bolsters so the bad edge is on me.
Once again, this was a good learning experience for me. I ruined 2 sets of Culpepper slabs during the process. I need to be more careful dealing with those guys!!
I have some better looking TL-29s and I do want to make me a couple of English Jacks in the future.

I did a little bit of bolster dressing by filing the lines into the front bolsters. By the time I got that far along, I wasn't too worried about messing up.....LOL.

[Jeffinn]

Thanks for those good words Jeff.
I made all the bolsters so the bad edge is on me.
Once again, this was a good learning experience for me. I ruined 2 sets of Culpepper slabs during the process. I need to be more careful dealing with those guys!!
I have some better looking TL-29s and I do want to make me a couple of English Jacks in the future.

I did a little bit of bolster dressing by filing the lines into the front bolsters. By the time I got that far along, I wasn't too worried about messing up.....LOL.

Adding new bolsters adds a few other challenges to the mix. Getting clean edges on the bolster edge that meets the handle can be as easy as squaring them up on whatever sander/grinder you’re using.
Then getting the bolsters soldered in the right location can also be tricky. I start by getting the front one into position and soldered into place. Once I’m happy with that, I use a small acrylic (soon to be changed to metal) perfectly square rectangle piece that I’ve cut to 2 3/4” to help square everything up. I lay the rectangle on the liner, push it up against the front bolster then clamp it in place. Then I score a line on the liner for the rear bolster. I remove the acrylic piece the tin the liner with solder (you can put pencil lead up to the line to keep the solder from flowing out of the area where you want it). I tin the bolster piece as well. Once everything cooled down, I place my acrylic piece back on the knife, clamp it in place then position the bolster up tight against it. I clamp the bolster in place, remove the acrylic piece and reheat everything until the solder flows.
Once I make a few rectangular metal pieces in various sizes, I can leave them in place during the soldering to ensure nothing shifts out of position. But for now the acrylic piece works okay.
I’m sure there are other, better ways of doing this but I’m self taught so I create certain processes as I go.
And just so you know, I still crack a bone piece from time to time (and it still ticks me off!)

[Jeffinn]

Here’s a Schrade Walden Electricians knife with a modified screwdriver blade. This was posted elsewhere but since it fits here I posted it here as well.
The blade was already modified when I got it but since it looked pretty good I decided to use it. The bones were smooth black but they do have a slightly bluish tint to them. I left the bone pretty thick and for this knife that seems to work well.

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks for those words of instruction and encouragement Jeff.
Some of my operations & procedures still need a LOT of refining.
I can really use advice from others. Sometime... my pride keeps me from posting up my mistakes along side the work of the other fine mechanics here (such as yourself).
Maybe, one day I will learn......

One observation.... parallel bolster faces have to be one of the hardest applications for adding on new handles. One bolster alone at the forward end is a piece of cake and even bolsters beveled in opposite directions can be handled with minimal effort.
NOW.... beveled and parallel is another animal all together.....YIKES!