All About Pocket Knives

I found an old pocket knife at a thrift store for $1. I was able to pull the main blade open and on the tang I could barely make out Ulster through the rust. The thing was covered in rust but I picked it up anyway in hopes of maybe restoring it.

Here it is after being soaked in mineral oil so I could open the blades up.


I soaked it in vinegar and took a fine grit sand paper to it, then covered it in WD40 and used some steel wool. I got it pretty clean, there is some pitting but what can you do. I figure it will patina up nicely form here.


I tried to get a shot of the stamp


Now I am on to the scales, as you can see they are busted up pretty good. I have never done any kind of scale work and I’m not sure how to remove them or put them back on.

I did find this website for material
http://www.knifehandles.com/

I just have to figure out what size to get, how to shape it, and how to put it on.

Any advice or perhaps tutorial would be appreciated.

If you will check out the Tutorial section here on AAPK I think you will find the information you are looking for.


I hope you will post the end results. That old scout has lots of potential.


Phil

Your knife will have to be totally taken apart to replace the scales.
You might want to practice on some really messed up knives first.
This knife you have looks to be a definite saver.
Blades look almost full.
Sort of a Camp, Utility or scout knife.
Can't tell from your pictures if the scales a plastic or a natural product.

This is a picture of my 1975 Ulster Eagle Scout knife.
Looks similar.

J W

Looks like a scout, I removed the scales last night by cutitng the pins like I saw in one of the tutorials.

They turned out to be plastic and the funny thing is one of the scales was cut short as there was a small gap between the boldster and scale. I think they had maybe been replced sometime in the past from whatever they originaly were.

The original scales on that Ulster USA scout knife were delrin and look to me to have very likely been damaged by heat which would account for the deformed shape. I collect scout knives and I've see a lot of messed up handles on them in my search. Seems like boys have a tendency to get their knives too close to the campfire for some reason now and then.
I'm glad to know the tutorials were useful.

Phil

filed down the pins tonight and sharpened up the blade. I am going to epoxy on the scales. I am looking at some right now and trying to figure out if a quanity of 1 on an order means 1 pair = 2 scales or 1 scale and figure out right sizes i need from knifehandles.com.

is there any way to figure ut around what year it was from? I am taking a liking to this restore project, may be looking for some more old beaters to save.

"Ulster USA" was first used as a tang stamp when Albert and Henry Baer bought majority interest in Ulster in 1941. The tang stamp was used until 1972 when the Ulster marking was discontinued.
The first commercial production of delrin was about 1960 so, assuming I'm correct in thinking the handles of that knife are delrin, your knife was likely made between 1960 and 1972.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyoxymethylene

Phil

Philco is right about the age of your knife.
I was awarded my Eagle Scout knife in 1975.
It was brand new when I got it and was probably from old stock.

Are you just gluing without re pinning?

J W

yes i am just going to epoxy on the new scales

May I suggest if you are only using epoxy that you use a better quality epoxy than the stuff available at your local hardware store?

I recommend Quik-Cure epoxy.
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/index.php? ... cts_id=569
It is available from most knife maker supply houses. I use it because it has more flexibility than most other epoxies and is less prone to sheer forces. Sheer forces occur when items that are glued together are subjected to sudden deceleration. This occurs when a knife is dropped (or used to hammer with) and typically the frame hits the floor and stops and the Law of Inertia kicks in to play. The handle tries to continue to move, causing sheering forces on the handle itself. Vibration adds to the equation and helps to sheer the epoxy bond. Without pins in place to hold the handle to the rest of the knife, all the stress is put on the epoxy bond itself. Now, the bond does not sheer every time, but eventually it probably will give way and the handle will fall off.

Quik-Cure is the only epoxy I would trust on a knife without pins in the handles. If the knife will be a safe queen and never used, it is probably fine and most any epoxy will work if you prepare the surfaces properly. I like the knives I make and repair to be used, so I use Quik-Cure & I pin the handles as well.


Surface Preparation-
Be sure to roughen BOTH surfaces to be glued. 36 grit sand paper works well for most things, the rougher the better in most cases. I have some ½” diameter sanding drums for use with rotary or flex shaft tools. I found some 24 grit drums that I use with my Foredom to roughen the outside of the liner to which I glue the handle. I usually use 32 grit belts on a belt sander to roughen the back side of the handle material. I have found it critical to clean the material after roughening it. For cleaning I use 99% isopropyl alcohol, available for a couple bucks at a local pharmacy. It cleans better than most cleaners, dries in seconds and leaves NO residue. Any soap product, Simple Green, Fantastic, or cleanser will leave residue that can cause the bond to fail. The same is true of petroleum-based cleaners, even ones as volatile as lacquer thinner will leave enough residue to weaken the adhesive bond.

After the surfaces are prepped, I double check the fit, mix the Quik-Cure in equal parts, coat one surface and clamp the pieces together. Watch for shifting of the pieces when you clamp them. In about 10 minutes (at room temperature) I unclamp the work and peel away the glue around the edges of the work before it sets up entirely. I wipe the edges, especially around the bolsters when I clamp it, but there is usually some that oozes out; that I peel away.


If you want a good tutorial on glue, read the “Glue Wars” at KnifeForums.com:
Glue Wars-
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showt ... hp?t=27463
I called one of the guys who did the testing in the Glue Wars, Tracy Mickley, and asked him what, in his opinion was the best all-around best adhesive for knife making. He said the best he tested was a golf shaft adhesive. The Quik-Cure is a privately labeled version of the golf shaft adhesive they tested.


I love Quik-Cure and use it for 95% of the knife gluing I do….but I still pin my handles. I don’t trust any glue 100%.

I hope this is helpful.

Good luck

i sure don't trust glue...and have messed up every time...

but i am a klutz.

That's handle material is actually an early plastic, went by swirl mahogany at the factory. It was used fairly extensively by Schrade Walden/Ulster for a time before delrin took hold, roughly the early to mid-fifties. Looked fine at first but time wasn't very friendly to it, prone to shrinkage and warping.

Here's a shot of an old Schrade hawkbill with the smooth version of that cover material, note the telltale shrinkage both at the bolster and the front and back edges:

So much for my using the delrin to date the knife then.

Eric for my future edification, are you saying you can tell the handles are swirl mahogany because of gaps at the bolsters ? If so, is the shrinkage you mentioned also the cause of the cracking of the material ? Tryin to learn me sumpin here.

Phil

Thanks for the advice orvet. Whne you say you rough up the surface, do you just mean the back of the scales? or do you rough up the knife 2wall as well witha file of something?


And ea42 that is exactly what the gap between the bolsters on the one side looke dlike. I thought it was maybe cut out wrong and just didn't fit.

Ordering some sacles today, I am going to get some smooth and jigged bone and then decide which I want to use.

Both surfaces Hugh. Rough up the back of the bone, that goes against the liner, with 36-grit or other coarse sandpaper. You can use the same sandpaper to rough up the liner as well. Basically you are roughening the two surfaces where the glue touches.

It allows the glue to adhere better especially (when cleaned with the alcohol), than a smooth surface. Roughening the surface increases the surface area where the glue goes; the greater the surface areas with glue the stronger the bond. It may not seem like a great difference, but the difference is substantial. It you have ever painted much or sold paint, (I have done both) you know that it takes considerably more paint to paint a textured wall or ceiling than it takes to paint a smooth one. We are using the same principal on a microscopic level to use more glue for a better bond.

Got my scale material in and I am trying to decide which to use.

The first is amber stag bone, I know it's black but when i buff it I expect some of the amber to show through. The second is Autom Gold dyed smooth bone.

Right now I am leaning towards the stag bone.

If it were mine, I'd go with the jigged amber.

hummm...do the stag and send me the bone????

You are right the color will show up as you sand down and polish the bone.
You will be surprised at the change. It is my favorite part about working with bone handles.

shaped the stag tonight and put the epoxy on. It is setting now.

Well all done. I know it isn't as nice as many on this site would do and it isn't any beauty queen, but I took an old busted, rusted shut, throw away from the 50's and made it usable again.

It is going into my EDC choices to rotate around and will live out its life with me.

Before


After

Nice rescue. Nothing to be ashamed of at all.

That will make a nice user!

Glenn