Bolster/Pin Repair

[just bob]

Here is a knife from my collection that I really like. The handles are great and the blade has excellent snap. As you can see in the pics maybe this has been repinned and maybe this isn't even the original blade, but I still love the knife and wouldn't part with it. So do you leave it as is or attempt to repair the pin on the maker side? On the back side of the knife the pin is flush with the bolster and matches well. If you repair this do you break the knife apart to repin it and take a chance on damaging the scales? Could you put solder on the pin and buff the area out? I don't think it can be peened as it is because the pin already is slightly below the bolster. Or there other options? Comments are appreciated.

[gringo]

howdy,
is the blade loose? if not, why bother...are you going to use it?
repair can be done without dismantling the entire knife.

several of the best mechanics on AAPK have placed tutorials on the how to's...complete with photos...

[268bull]

Bob, Nice looking old Russell. I picked one up identical to yours at an estate sale. But your blade is cleaner than mine. Unless there was excessive blade play, were it me, I'd leave it just as is. Again though, great looking knife Bull

[knives-are-quiet]

The tang stamp on your knife looks somewhat suspicious.
I never saw a J Russell knife stamped just "Russell" with that type of font before.
But I could be wrong.
The original blade could have been broke and replaced with a corroded one, poorly cleaned up and re~stamped.

If you like the knife that’s all that matters.
But formost it should be safe to use.
If the blade is loose, the pin can be tapped to tighten the blade with a small hammer then the bolsters can be sanded and polished smooth. If the blade is tight and the knife operates well then just sand the bolsters being careful not to remove too much material.
If you do it right you shouldn't see the pin at all.

This is my J Russell easy open jack.
I replaced the main blade which a large piece of the tip was broke off from a beyond repair donor knife with a near full main blade.
Both the broken main and secondary blades were also very loose.
Used stainless steel pins instead of original steel ones.
A little darker in color than the bolsters but should last much longer.

(Never parting with this knife).

J W

[just bob]

Very interesting and you have a keen eye. I will post more on this tomorrow or soon as I have some more info. I thought about trying to spread that pin out in the hole and then sand it down with fine grit and that may be the best option. The blade is tight and functions fine as is. Here is my 2 blade jack with the one blade jack I laready posted. Aren't the fonts on the blade stamp the same. The 2 blade still has blade etching on so must be real?

[knives-are-quiet]

I am by far no Russell expert and have just this one 2 blade jack left in my collection.
After doing some searching around I did see that stamp on other Russell knives.
From what I read your knives are probably a couple of decades "late 1800's" older than the one I own. But I am not 100% positive.
If anyone else out there could give there 2 cents about these knives it would be appreciated.

As for your repair.
I would just sand that bolster down till it is flush with the pin.
I'd also touchup the other side to match.
You won't even notice the small amount of bolster material that you will sand away and the bolsters will look brand new. I use a belt sander with fine grit. It can also be done by hand sanding. You can also polish to a mirror finish but if the knife is going to be a user I'd go with a matte as the mirror finish will scratch up almost immediately.
I do this all the time with my cheap heavily used pocket knives when the blades become loose from say "a lot of heavy whittling". I tap the pins till the blades are just tight and sand out the scars left on the bolsters.

The only other way would be to replace the hinge pin with a new one.

I have a few knives that need tightening.
Probably have a chance to do it tomorrow.
I will post the procedure here to give you an idea of how it is done.
J W

[Elvis]

As I was reading through the posts, getting caught up, that was my guess. That Bob's knife was just an older tang stamp, but it was still just a guess until you looked it up JW. If the bolsters are steel, I'd go with what JW is telling you Bob. If they are nickel-silver, you can clean the area good, use some Stay-Clean flux and a drop of silver solder to fill that small hole and sand it down to meet the rest of the bolster. Since the knife is tight and works well, on nickel-silver, I've had this work on old knives that really didn't need taken apart otherwise. You've got good advice. I just thought I'd throw you another option.

[knives-are-quiet]

As I was reading through the posts, getting caught up, that was my guess. That Bob's knife was just an older tang stamp, but it was still just a guess until you looked it up JW. If the bolsters are steel, I'd go with what JW is telling you Bob. If they are nickel-silver, you can clean the area good, use some Stay-Clean flux and a drop of silver solder to fill that small hole and sand it down to meet the rest of the bolster. Since the knife is tight and works well, on nickel-silver, I've had this work on old knives that really didn't need taken apart otherwise. You've got good advice. I just thought I'd throw you another option.

From Bob's pictures the bolsters look to be nickel silver to me.
I see no signs of pitting or rust. But then again they could be steel and the pin is nickel. That could be the reason the pin is recessed. Nickel silver is softer than steel.
Your procedure is a good idea Elvis so you don't loose any bolster material.
Any other idea's why that pin on Bob's knife is recessed without the blade having any wobble?

J W

[Elvis]

Taking it apart might just show enough build-up to compensate for the space left from a minor separation and the pin is probably wedged in tight by now. On a knife that old, that would be my first guess. You could very well be right about the NS pin and the steel bolsters. A magnet will tell the tale on that one real quick. If it's steel, silver solder may not stick and may not match that well either. Got a magnet Bob?

[knives-are-quiet]

I am by far no Russell expert and have just this one 2 blade jack left in my collection.
After doing some searching around I did see that stamp on other Russell knives.
From what I read your knives are probably a couple of decades "late 1800's" older than the one I own. But I am not 100% positive.
If anyone else out there could give there 2 cents about these knives it would be appreciated.

As for your repair.
I would just sand that bolster down till it is flush with the pin.
I'd also touchup the other side to match.
You won't even notice the small amount of bolster material that you will sand away and the bolsters will look brand new. I use a belt sander with fine grit. It can also be done by hand sanding. You can also polish to a mirror finish but if the knife is going to be a user I'd go with a matte as the mirror finish will scratch up almost immediately.
I do this all the time with my cheap heavily used pocket knives when the blades become loose from say "a lot of heavy whittling". I tap the pins till the blades are just tight and sand out the scars left on the bolsters.

The only other way would be to replace the hinge pin with a new one.

I have a few knives that need tightening.
Probably have a chance to do it tomorrow.
I will post the procedure here to give you an idea of how it is done.
J W

_____________________________________________________________________
:BLADE TIGHTENING:
_____________________________________________________________________
This is a cheap China Schrade I purchased new for whittling or stripping bark.
Main blade was a little wobbly right out of the box.
Got a little worse after using it on a few projects.

The important thing in this procedure is to use a lot of gentle taps with the opposite side flat on a metal surface at all times with a very light weight hammer. I use a 4oz ball pein.

First you’ll want to find the pin by lightly tapping the bolster till the pin shows through trying to only leave shallow hammer marks.
When you find the pin concentrate tapping in this area checking the play in the blade every few taps till the blade just loses it’s wobble and is just tight with no play.
If you tighten too much you will have a tight action.
After the blade is tight sand the bolsters smooth with a belt sander or by hand using progressively fine grit paper 400 up to 1500.
I leave bolsters on user knives with a matte finish but you can continue to use a buffer to get a mirror finish.
I have tried other methods to get the wobble out of a blades from using a vise, C clamps and plastic mallet so not to scar up the bolsters.
None of them work as well as this one.
I know it looks damaging but the little dings can be sanded out.

After tightening the blade and sanded the dings out I also gave the rest of the bolsters a matte finish to match.

:BEFORE TIGHTENING:


:AFTER FINDING PIN:


:AFTER HAMMERING TILL WOBBLE IS GONE:


:AFTER SANDING TO A MATTE FINISH:


:KNIFE COMPLETE:

[just bob]

I appreciate all of the comments and help that has been posted on this problem. I went back and looked at the knife and I think it does have n/s bolsters. I also think that someone has been into the knife. There are file or grinding marks inside the body of the knife. Don't know why, but maybe they changed blade in it? The handles appear original and match the book. I also think what happened on this has happened to me and that is turning down a pin to fit a hole. If you put a pin in a drill and try to turn it down on a belt sander it is so easy to taper the pin. If the pin is tapered when you tap it in you get a good, flush fit on one side and a sloppy fit on the other. That gap around this pin is deep. It may be possible to tap it enough and spread it out and then sand it down? It might also be better to put a drop of solder on it and then just clean that up. I like this knife and hate to screw it up. The blade has a tight fit with excellent snap. Who was it that said "leave well enough alone" ? That may be the best option of all. I know there are a lot of really good knife tutorials on here but have never seen one that addresses this specific problem. If that does exist could someone point it out to me. Thanks.

[knives-are-quiet]

Like you said Bob, "If it isn’t broke don't fix it.
She don't need to be perfect to do the job the knife was intended for.

J W

[knifemaker3]

Another tip.....place some shim stock on each side of the blade up tight against the pivot pin before starting to peen the pin. This helps to keep from locking the knife up when peening. A locked up blade can be fixed by driving a wedge into the pivot area to loosen but can result in unwanted damage to the knife.

Feeler gauges from your local auto supply store work great for this. Been awhile since I've done it so I'd have to look to see which thickness gauge I use....I think .001 or .002....

[just bob]

Look at this when you get a chance. On this it looks like the original hole in the bolster has been filled and a new hole and pin have been put in. Not a quality repair either. I don't think the blades are Russell and the scales are awful looking.
It's ebay item number - 290641740786 - if the below link doesn't work.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Russell-Bar ... 43ab9903f2

[knives-are-quiet]

That's a total re~due and a poor one at that.
Or the best the person could do with what was left of the knife.
Everything looks original except the scales.
The blades and bolsters were sanded to hell.
Huge pins replacing the originals.
What a mess. Would have been worth more if left alone.


Wow~someone actually bid on it.
25 bucks. Not worth a penny to me....
Someone's got more money than they know what to do with.
J W