All About Pocket Knives

Okay, you guys must know by now I've never made a knife in my life. So I decided it might be fun
just to order a knife kit when I saw this one advertised. Now I know a bunch of you are very
good at knife restorations and making new knives and that this is like comparing a real jet to
just gluing a toy model together, but no laughing, alright.

I haven't done anything like this since I made wooden toys for the kids back in the late 70's.

I've been thinking about getting such a kit myself to teach myself knife repair.


While I wouldn't call it easy, the hard part of having to harden and heat treat a blade (as well as cut it out from bar/sheet stock) isn't an issue, since that's already done.

I have managed to screw up every model kit I've ever built (aside from those that just snap together without paint or glue, and I always get the decals crooked), and quite often end up with small parts glued to me. Thus, I don't have faith in myself being able to complete something like this; but it's better making a severe error in one of these cheap RR kits as opposed to an old, somewhat valuable knife, even if it is beaten up. And, I can afford to buy these and keep making them until I can do it right consistently.

dlr110 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:43 pm Okay, you guys must know by now I've never made a knife in my life. So I decided it might be fun
just to order a knife kit when I saw this one advertised. Now I know a bunch of you are very
good at knife restorations and making new knives and that this is like comparing a real jet to
just gluing a toy model together, but no laughing, alright.

I haven't done anything like this since I made wooden toys for the kids back in the late 70's.

David! Good on you for trying! Just like Cody and yourself I've been entertaining the idea of buying and building a knife from a kit. The one you posted is one I've been watching, as well as a kit for an automatic that is currently in a member's store, the only thing stopping me is, for the automatic, it would have to go through Customs, and even though it's a kit and not an actual knife, I fear that Customs will just make-up some new rule in order to seize it. As for the manual, I really don't need another knife in that style, and, I haven't had much luck with peening rivets either! Please keep us posted with your build's progress!

dlr110 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:43 pm Okay, you guys must know by now I've never made a knife in my life. So I decided it might be fun
just to order a knife kit when I saw this one advertised. Now I know a bunch of you are very
good at knife restorations and making new knives and that this is like comparing a real jet to
just gluing a toy model together, but no laughing, alright.

I haven't done anything like this since I made wooden toys for the kids back in the late 70's.

Those kits are pretty cool.
I bought a few of the RR LB7 clone kits. The parts all fit together well and the knives function as expected. On the LB7 clones the wooden handles were cut a bit too small so I replaced them with some Micarta.
Have fun with your kit!
Jeff

Good for you David!
I am living proof that an old dog can learn new tricks!
I was medically retired in 2004 and ended up on B/F in the Schrade forum. There was a young fellow on there who is wondering about learning how to fix knives and I have been kind of wondering about it also. I sent this young fellow named Kaleb a handful of old beat up pocket knives I had picked up at yard sales.

I was amazed with what he was doing with some of those knives and with some he had as well. You seem to have no fear a failure and he was very good at what he was doing. As I recall he was 14 or 15 years old at the time. Being in my 50s I was a bit more cautious but he was an inspiration to me I always figured that if I own the knife and I screwed up, I can throw it away. That was really very freeing to me and allowed me to experiment.
3 things I would advise anybody who wants to start repairing knives-
1- Start with an expensive Parts knives or inexpensive kits.
2- You don't have to keep your mistakes forever. If they're helpful or you might be able to use the parts great, but you're not stuck with them forever, this is a growing/learning process.
3- If you think you've made a mistake because things don't look like the way you had envisioned them in your mind before you started the project, don't despair work with whatever the challenge or the problem is. Often you your mistakes become some of your nicest work when you finish it out. Some handle materials look terrible until you finish them, a little extra sanding and a little extra polishing goes a long way to make up for what you see as a flaw. Sometimes you can shine that flaw and make it a diamond.

One last thing have fun! That's why you're doing this.
To me repairing and working on knives is more fun then collecting them. It's far more addicting, so don't be surprised when you start selling your safe Queens to buy parts knives to work on!

Yes, you can build a knife. All it takes is a few basic hand tools and maybe a basic understanding of how knives go together and function. I have picked up several Jantz knife kits at our local gun show from time to time, but as far as I can tell, Jantz no longer offers many of the kits that I have used. Here are a few photos of some of the finished work, many of which could use a bit more polishing and final finishing. An interesting hobby without a doubt.

Most of the kits didn't have handle materials included so I had to scrounge up something that would work. The lock-backs have handles of birch, walnut and purple heart. The slip-joints have black Delrin and cattle horn. The little stockman pattern kit shown is still waiting for a handle material idea to hit me. The final three are old knives on which I replaced the handles using deer antler, Delrin and an unknown material from an old kit. It looks and smells like horn when it is being worked, but I believe it is a phenolic of some sort.

Just go for it, you will learn more about knives and what have you got to lose.

David...you can also check YouTube for videos of "building a knife kit". They can provide lots of insight and give you an 'informed decision' on how to proceed. It may give you more confidence in this endeavor. Good Luck! Be sure to let us see your completed project.

Don't be ashamed at whatever you make, you should see some of our first attempts!

You Can Build a Knife! I built this one from a Kit. Made the Stag handles myself from a piece of Whitetail Antler. Thw whole project took one day. This knife is my EDC!

David, I would only add that you might want to check out some of the very good tutorials you can access here on AAPK under the "Custom and Customized" forum. I am still learning every day, but I keep a box of some of my early attempts just for laughs.

I'm a knife maker!!!
You can all stop laughing now, I know I'm not a knife maker, but I had fun putting this knife kit together.
I should have taken pictures as I went, but I just got all wrapped up in what I was doing. I can honestly
say it's the best I've ever done...because it's the only one I've ever done! The wood handles had square
edges so I had to smooth them down and blend them into the bolsters and liners. The bolsters were still
rough, so I smoothed and polished them and I got the pins pretty smooth and flush. The blade was finished,
but had no edge, so it took me some doing to get an edge on it, and not draw blood. I'm rather proud of
my first attempt and I plan on doing a few more.

Excellent!
Way to go, David

Told ya. There will be no stopping you now.

Very well done David! Looks quite professional, and finished nicely! Can hardly wait to see the next one! Now you can say that you have a one-of-a-kind Rough Rider!

That turned out nice David!!!

Wow, that turned out great!

Looks fine from here!

David ,it sounds like you had fun, and didn’t draw any blood.
Looks nice , be careful though, like others have said , it’s kind of addicting
Take care , Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Ripster wrote: ↑Thu Dec 24, 2020 2:55 am David ,it sounds like you had fun, and didn’t draw any blood.
Looks nice , be careful though, like others have said , it’s kind of addicting
Take care , Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Your right JP I already have 3 more ordered, but they won't be here
until after New Years. Merry Christmas to you too.

It looks good!
I bought a Rough Rider stockman knife kit last year and have it to my Dad.
We had fun working on it together.
They are fun!

Reverand wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:09 am It looks good!
I bought a Rough Rider stockman knife kit last year and have it to my Dad.
We had fun working on it together.
They are a lot of fun!

Wow. I was trying to edit my post and accidentally quoted it instead.
Maybe I am not coordinated enough to play with knives!

Here are the 3 knife kits that I’ve done so far.
The first one you’ve seen already, a single blade lockback 3 3/8” closed.
The second one is also a single blade lockback with bolsters on both ends. 3 ½” closed.
The third one is a 2 blade trapper, nickel silver bolsters, brass liners and pins. All 3 have wood scales.

On all 3 knives the blades are tight, with no wobble. When opened all blades are secure with no movement and when closed the alignment is near perfect except for the second lockback.

There are still some small scratches in the wood and a small crack near a pin on the trapper.

All blades are still unpolished and have no edge. My youngest son has some professional equipment for sharping knives and I will have him do that task. He sharpens knives for several restaurant and hotel chefs in the local area.

If you’ve never done one of these knife kits, they come with all parts separated. You shape and glue the wood to the liners, cut the pins and when the knife is assembled you grind, shape and polish all the metal, wood and pins to the finished product.
Overall I would give myself a B+ and move on to replacing the scales on a couple of old knives. However I do intend to keep doing some more knife kits.

I have a metal stamp kit that I’m ordering with letters and numbers along with one that has the shape of Texas. I plan on marking my knife kits with my initials and the state of Texas on the tang.

I welcome any and all feedback on my little adventure in knife kits.

Those look great, David
I'm liking the wood on that trapper.

Nice job, David!!!