78 Queen Plainsman Sodbuster

[Reverand]

I don't believe that I took a Before picture, but I bought this Queen Sodbuster that had a badly scratched blade, and a lot of strange blade wobble. Once I got it apart, I saw that the blade had slipped down beside the spring and had worn the spring out.

Spring damage

The blade was fine, so I soldered in a piece from another spring to restore this.

After that, I decided to recover the knife in Walnut, with light green G10 spacers. The etch is almost gone after cleaning up most of the scratches, and there are still a few small details to polish up, but overall I am happy with it!

[orvet]

Nice job!
That wear in the spring is not uncommon. I think that happens as the pivot pin begins to wear, or if there has been some sideways motion on the blade, such as prying, that causes looseness at the pivot joint.
Several guys have had good results by building up the end of the spring with a TIG welder and then filing it back down. I've never tried soldering a piece into the spring. Please let us know how that holds up over time, I am really curious.

Nice transformation of the knife. That liner really sets it off! Nice eye appeal!

[doglegg]

Looks good.

[Reverand]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen!
I do want to invest in a welder some day, Dale. I believe that it could make a much better repair. Especially for tangs.
I have soldered metal onto several springs now, and so far have had none that have come loose.
Well, I did at first because I bought a cheap combo pack of silver solder and liquid flux. But once I got paste flux and good silver solder from a plumbing supplier, they have all held up great.
I have mainly tried this on EDC knives, so I will let you know if any cannot hold up to normal use.

[Meridian_Mike]

Great job!
What a wonderful learning experience!