Question About Replacing Scales on Two Knives

[Jerlin]

My Grandson recently received two pocket knives from his other grandfather. One is a Case 33092 "Birdseye" made in 1972 with composition scales. The other is a Craftsman 95044 made by Schrade in 1977-79 with Delrin scales. Both knives have damage to the scales, but the blades are all undamaged other than a lot of sharpening. I have attached photos.

My question is this. Is it worth replacing the scales on these knives, but otherwise keeping them original? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jerry Johnson

[Jeffinn]

The fact that their his grandfathers knives makes them worth repairing. On the other hand some would say to keep them as they are and enjoy them.
Me personally, I’d repair them with some new scales.
Jeff

[TPK]

My Grandson recently received two pocket knives from his other grandfather. One is a Case 33092 "Birdseye" made in 1972 with composition scales. The other is a Craftsman 95044 made by Schrade in 1977-79 with Delrin scales. Both knives have damage to the scales, but the blades are all undamaged other than a lot of sharpening. I have attached photos.

My question is this. Is it worth replacing the scales on these knives, but otherwise keeping them original? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jerry Johnson

My advice Jerry..., check out Jeff's Homepage. He can do magic with knives like that.

[OLDE CUTLER]

Can the Case be rehandle so it is repinned with birdseye as the original? I don't know if I have seen that done.

[Mumbleypeg]

IMHO it depends on what your grandson intends to do with them (and how old he is). If he wants to carry and use them, I’d replace the covers. If he wants them as a keepsake to remember his grandfather I’d leave them as-is. I have an old Case Tested Birdseye that was given to me several years ago by one of my uncles (now deceased), which has shrunken and cracked yellow covers. He wanted me to have it. It was like that when he handed it to me and I decided to leave it that way to remember him. JMO

Ken

[rea1eye]

Everyone will have an opinion based on experiences, memories, and expectations. What I would
do is see if someone can fix that missing bolster on the Schrade. I think the covers should clean
up good and as long as there is snap and no blade wobble the knife should be good. As said
previously, check with Jeff if he can replace it. He does excellent work.

The scales on the Case would bother me. If you are willing to spend the money, get it
re-handled. Case Company would possibly do it for you, including placing the shield
back on it. They might find something very similar ( but not exact) to your present scales.

There are knife mechanics on this website that could possibly do the above for you
(if Jeff did not want to take on the Schrade project)

Good luck on your decisions and let us know how it turned out.

Bob

[glennbad]

The Craftsman knife looks like it is Swinden rivet construction, as opposed to through-bolster design. However, one of the bolsters has popped off. Normally, it would be a fairly simple to swap out the covers on that to something else. It may be a little more cumbersome with the missing bolster. You know, it almost looks like that has been apart before, the blade placement looks weird, like the main is behind the other 2.

The Case doesn't look too difficult, and it looks like the birdseye pivots can be re-used with some effort.

You ask if it is worth it to replace the covers. As others have pointed out, that depends on a few things My opinion? Leave them as-is. Were they my knives, I wouldn't want to do anything to them unless leaving them as-is would be harmful (outgassing celluloid, corrosion, etc.). I would want them to be as "original" as my loved-one had them.

[Jerlin]

Mumblepeg (Ken), thanks for your opinion on this. It is appreciated. I will leave the decision up to my Grandson. I just wanted to get an idea if it was feasible and possibly the cost.

Jerry Johnson

[Jerlin]

Glennbad, thanks for the reply. You are much more observant than I am. After you indicated the blade placement looks weird, I got to looking at a photo of a new 95044. You are correct. The knife has been apart before and when it was put back together, the clip blade and sheepfoot blade were reversed. It is the file side bolster at what should be the sheepfoot end that is missing. Also, the file side scale (liner) and file side cutout scale (liner) are bent at the end where the bolster is missing. Naturally then, both blades wobble. As I told others, it will be my Grandson's decision on what to do with the knives. I'm just trying to get an idea of the feasibility of getting them repaired and the cost.

Jerry Johnson