All About Pocket Knives

Well, I got out there in my shop yesterday..... Had plenty of time..... so these screw-ups are on me!
I took the covers off my knife.... I decided I was going to try something I saw in one of kaleb's videos. I decided to clean it up and put on some new covers WITHOUT a complete disassembly.
SO.... I got my covers to the point to where I was ready to pin them onto the liners. Well, all went well for this part but that was about it.

Number 1...... I didn't glue the bone to the liners SO..... that means the back side of the bone absorbed some oil and discolored a big spot in the bone on the pile side.....
Number 2 .... ONCE AGAIN.... I cracked the hole where the rocker pin goes in on the pile side. Dang it!!!!!!

Number 3..... The bone I am fitting to the liners must be too thick to start with for the bolster thickness (maybe...???). When I finish down the bone I wanted a smooth taper down to where the bone meets the bolster. I don't think the thickness is too much over-all. I like a little bit of "heft" to a knife. Maybe not for this knife? What do y'all think?
Anyway....
Here is my poor picture of the final result on the mark side. The blades are polished to a fair-thee-well so if it looks like there is anything on them... it is a shadow.
Tips, scolding and over-all teaching is welcome.

I think it looks great Mike!
As far as the oil getting into the bone, it happens. There were some suggestions posted for removing the oil in a post awhile ago. I tried some of them but didn’t have any luck removing the oil stains from one of my knives. I’d try a few minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner with some Dawn dishwashing soap and see if it removes any of it.
Bolsters on some knives can be really thin and it makes it a bit challenging to fit the bone to them especially if you’re working with thicker slabs.
Jeff

Thanks Jeff!
I think the oil has wicked up into the haversian canals (SP?) so I don't think I can get it out. That was why I was thinking the epoxy would have sealed the back and ends of the bone and prevented it.

That and cracking the rocked pin hole sent me to the dumps on this one....

Yeah, the epoxy would’ve definitely sealed up the back. But I’ve had oil leech in around the pins and stain the bone that way too. And some bone seems more susceptible than others.
As far as the pin crack, A little Zap a Gap in that handle, some light sanding and some minor repolishing and you’ll be good to go.
Do you taper the pin before you install it? Doing that and making the hole in the bone a few thousandths larger than the pin along with counter-sinking the hole a bit might help prevent some cracks.
Jeff

Mike, I'm with Jeff, I think it looks great. I like thicker scales on all my knives, I guess because I like to be able to feel them in my thick paws. I was doing a knife in smooth undyed white bone a while back, it looked great, almost like ivory and the last step was spinning the rocker pin heads. I always put a tiny drop of cutting oil on the spinner. And guess what happened? The bone on that whole side absorbed the oil. I tried everything and never did get it out. It bothered me so much that I redid the whole knife, and I guess I was rushing and cracked the bone next to the rocker pin. After that I make sure I have a good coat of wax on the new scales before oil goes anywhere near the knife. And yes, I epoxy everything on first no matter what material I am using. Dale turned me on the 5 minute epoxy. Great stuff for gluing on knife scales. Live and learn. Herb

Thanks for the instructional words Jeff!
I do need to refine my methods a little to TRY to prevent these boo-boos.....
My troubles seem to THRIVE in the rocker pin area. I will try your suggestions for sure!

Thanks for the kind words Herb.
The "live and learn" thing is definitely what I am doing a lot of lately.
I know I have to "pay my dues" and hopefully my dues will all add up to some success soon.

Mike

I think it looks great also. As far as the problems you mention, you win a few and you lose a few. Been there done that!

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 4:00 pm I think it looks great also. As far as the problems you mention, you win a few and you lose a few. Been there done that!

Thanks!
AND, I recon so! My problem is, I am about ready for a winner!
LOL.....

Mike, those of us who customized knives are often are our own worst critics. The work you did on that knife looks good. You did a nice job of hafting the handles and making them taper back to the center. The only problem with that is you lose a lot of the color and the jigging in the process. I prefer to have more of the jigging show and have the handle a little bit thicker, some people don't like that as much and would rather have a thinner handle. It's very subjective and up to individual taste.
The Camillus Streamline has very thin bolsters. They did not come with bone handles, they came with thin celluloid handles, it is rare to find bone thin enough to fit those bolsters and when you do it is usually pretty brittle. Celluloid has some flexibility so they can get away with using such thin handle material but even if you could get the bone as thin as the bolsters you would probably break it several times in the process of installing it.
If you look in my store you will see the Streamline that I put the stag handles on. Although I did not post a top view of the knife here in this forum, there are top views of that knife in my store. You will see that my handles are much thicker than yours, in part because it's stag and uneven, but also because it is very difficult to get natural material as thin as those bolsters and have it still retain its strength.

If you can find a spinner that works I would suggest learning to spin pins instead of peening them, that will save a few cracks to handles.

All in all, it looks good, much better than it did.
Give yourself a break, it looks great!

Thanks for talking me down off the ledge Dale.
Yep, I am my own worst critic. Seems like here lately I can't get satisfied with what I do. I do want to try a spinner. THEN... I just might not like those results either....LOL.
Anyway, I do gather all the suggestions and try to add those things to my work habits. Maybe one day, I will like one of the knives I do. Until then..... ONWARD!!
LOL.....

I also thought the knife looked good. I have some knives with the scales too thick, but yours look just right for my big hands. (And you know what they say about guys with big fingers - we also have big nostrils).
Anyway, if you can Zap-a-Gap the crack and get that looking okay, I wonder if you can fix the oil discoloration by oiling the entire handles? I haven't tried it for this, but I have soaked some older knives in Mineral Oil and it seemed to improve the look of old bone. I might try that if the Sonic cleaner trick doesn't work.

Yep, I am going to try to dress up that crack a bit.... That Zap-a-gap stuff sounds like the bomb.
I guess if I make a big mess while trying I can always try a "do-over" on the scales....

I can't add anything to what has already been offered. I think the knife looks good though!

Thanks Glenn.

The knife looks good to me as well. We have all made mistakes, pin cracks and such, don’t beat yourself up over it. Dale is right we are our own worse enemy. I am extremely hard on my work. I guess as long as we feel like we can do better then we will never be satisfied or out of the knife restoration business.

Yep, I guess I will just strive to get "better".... I don't think I will ever be "perfect".....

I gonna give it the "thumbs up". I'd be happy to put it in my pocket, any day!

Meridian_Mike wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:09 pm Yep, I guess I will just strive to get "better".... I don't think I will ever be "perfect".....

Looks great to me!

Where's the "before" picture for comparison?

1967redrider wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:37 am

Meridian_Mike wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:09 pm Yep, I guess I will just strive to get "better".... I don't think I will ever be "perfect".....

Looks great to me!

Where's the "before" picture for comparison?

OOPS.... forgot to put the before in this thread. I guess I was too frustrated to think about that....LOL.

Here is the before....
And the after.....
I guess the bone is a big improvement over a set of gassy covers even if I did do it....LOL.

I'll agree with everyone else Mike. Looks good from here! Especially when you post the before and after pics.

Byrd wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:47 pm I'll agree with everyone else Mike. Looks good from here! Especially when you post the before and after pics.

Thanks.... I guess it will eventually grow on me.... LOL.

Mike the before and after pics tell the real story. Wonderful improvement.

doglegg wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:52 pm Mike the before and after pics tell the real story. Wonderful improvement.

Thanks!!
I'm toteing it today and it feels good in my pocket.
I guess that is what really counts