Scale replacement 1st time

[Nev52]

This old Imperial was my Dad's. The tip was broken and the scales were crushed into the liners so it was hard to open. As you can see it is not worth anything to anyone but me. It has been in his tool box since his death 24 years ago. Last week when I was down at my Mothers to cut grass I took the knife with me. After reading the tutorials on this web site I decided to try and repair this old knife. The bolsters were just thin metal with the scales clamped on. so I decided to replace them with some G-10 scales from Smokey Mountain Knife works. I don't think it turned out to bad. He would have been 103 years old next week so I will drop it in my pocket for his Birthday.

[Jeffinn]

It turned out nice and now you have a great keepsake!
Jeff

[edge213]

Cool!

[Meridian_Mike]

Good job!
Definitely a beautiful keepsake / reminder of your Dad.

[doglegg]

Nev52 now there is some of him and you in the knife. Use it with pleasure.

[Doc B]

Very nice! I know it will hold a special place and mean a lot to you, when you carry it!

[herbva]

Great work and a great heirloom to have riding along in your pocket! My Dad would be 106 now, and I have a few of his tools, which I treasure every time I pick one up. Be careful - the knife "tinkering" hobby can be very addictive (and fun)!

[Nev52]

Thank you all for your comments. Old knives and guns used by family members and handed down mean a lot. That all have a story if only they could talk.
Thanks again for the kind words.
Nev 52 (Rod)

[glennbad]

That's great, now when you carry it your dad can be with you!

[Reverand]

I'll bet he would be proud of how his knife looks now!

[Rossr]

Hard to beat something that was family. Even. Better when you can breathe new life into it. Nice job enjoy the new carry!

Ross

[TripleF]

Very cool!!!

[Nev52]

Thank you all again for your comments. Does any one have an idea on how to give the blade a better profile? As you can see I just rounded the broken tip.
Thanks
Nev52 ( Rod )

[herbva]

Thank you all again for your comments. Does any one have an idea on how to give the blade a better profile? As you can see I just rounded the broken tip.
Thanks
Nev52 ( Rod )

I'm sure that there are many opinions on this. This is what I would do, and have done to many, many knives with broken tips. The clip (primary) blade came to a point. So if it is your intent to reprofile it back to as close to original shape as you can, you need to restore that point. I would first grind or file the back of the blade from where it starts downward (just forward of the pull) so that it is a straight or slightly curved line (depending on the orignal shape) from that point to where it meets the lower part of the blade. Then, if necessary, bring the lower part of the blade up so that the tip resembles the original shape. If you use a grinder (which I do for the rough shaping), go slow with frequent stops so that you don't overheat the blade and kill the temper. After you are happy with the new shape, sand out your grinder or file marks. Start with very course sandpaper (like 80 grit), and work your way down to very fine sandpaper. If your reshaping has resulted in the point sitting outside of the blade well when the blade is closed, you can lower it by very carefully, AND SLOWLY, filing a tiny bit off the kick, frequently rechecking, until it sits where you want it just inside of the well. A little bit of adjusting the kick goes a long way, and if you overdo it, well, just don't overdo it. I hope this isn't too confusing. Another good approach is to forget all this and do nothing more to it than what you have already done.

[Meridian_Mike]

What I do sometimes......
One way is to mark a spot on the end of the blade (white arrow) and use that as a reference for the tip.
.
This point will need to be just inside the liner (so the tip will be down inside the handles).
.
Once you have established this reference point, you can shape the blade to a pleasing shape. If you shape the blade from the start so you will know that the tip will be inside the liners then you won't need to adjust the kick.
.

Does this make sense ??
Good luck!

[Doc B]

Wow, Mike! You nailed it with those computer skills!

[Meridian_Mike]

Wow, Mike! You nailed it with those computer skills!

LOL..... awwwww, twern't nothin'.

[herbva]

What I do sometimes......
One way is to mark a spot on the end of the blade (white arrow) and use that as a reference for the tip.
.
This point will need to be just inside the liner (so the tip will be down inside the handles).
.
Once you have established this reference point, you can shape the blade to a pleasing shape. If you shape the blade from the start so you will know that the tip will be inside the liners then you won't need to adjust the kick.
.
DSCF2341.JPG

Does this make sense ??
Good luck!

Very good point Mike, and very impressive illustrative skills! Once in a while, depending on where the tip is broken, when I take off enough metal go get the new tip to look right, I find it sits a bit outside of the well and have to mess with the kick. But I try to avoid having to do that for obvious reasons.

[Meridian_Mike]

Once in a while, depending on where the tip is broken, when I take off enough metal go get the new tip to look right, I find it sits a bit outside of the well and have to mess with the kick. But I try to avoid having to do that for obvious reasons.

Yep..... I know what you mean. I have done the same thing too.

[Nev52]

What I do sometimes......
One way is to mark a spot on the end of the blade (white arrow) and use that as a reference for the tip.
.
This point will need to be just inside the liner (so the tip will be down inside the handles).
.
Once you have established this reference point, you can shape the blade to a pleasing shape. If you shape the blade from the start so you will know that the tip will be inside the liners then you won't need to adjust the kick.
.
DSCF2341.JPG

Does this make sense ??
Good luck!

Thanks Meridian_Mike!! That picture helps a lot.

[Nev52]

Thank you all again for your comments. Does any one have an idea on how to give the blade a better profile? As you can see I just rounded the broken tip.
Thanks
Nev52 ( Rod )

I'm sure that there are many opinions on this. This is what I would do, and have done to many, many knives with broken tips. The clip (primary) blade came to a point. So if it is your intent to reprofile it back to as close to original shape as you can, you need to restore that point. I would first grind or file the back of the blade from where it starts downward (just forward of the pull) so that it is a straight or slightly curved line (depending on the orignal shape) from that point to where it meets the lower part of the blade. Then, if necessary, bring the lower part of the blade up so that the tip resembles the original shape. If you use a grinder (which I do for the rough shaping), go slow with frequent stops so that you don't overheat the blade and kill the temper. After you are happy with the new shape, sand out your grinder or file marks. Start with very course sandpaper (like 80 grit), and work your way down to very fine sandpaper. If your reshaping has resulted in the point sitting outside of the blade well when the blade is closed, you can lower it by very carefully, AND SLOWLY, filing a tiny bit off the kick, frequently rechecking, until it sits where you want it just inside of the well. A little bit of adjusting the kick goes a long way, and if you overdo it, well, just don't overdo it. I hope this isn't too confusing. Another good approach is to forget all this and do nothing more to it than what you have already done.

Thanks herbva. I will give it a try.

[Nev52]

Reprofiled blade. Thank you all for your help on this. I don't think it looks to bad. Better than the rounded blade.

[Doc B]

[Meridian_Mike]

Not bad at all...
You have a very usable knife now that you saved!
Good work!

[doglegg]

100% better. Now that is a great save.