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- Feb 10, 2014
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In my knife modification tutorial thread, I had a request to show a knife modification using hand tools that most people have in their toolbox. Well, ask and you shall receive!
I hope this will simplify the process enough for anyone interested in modding a knife to be able to do it. If anyone has questions along the way in my process, please feel free to ask me, and I'll do my best to clear anything up for you.
Enough of my chit chat, you guys came here for a tutorial!
Here are most of the tools I used to mod this knife. I forgot some in this pic, but I will list those as I move along:
First things first, tape up the blades to they aren't damaged in the process, and so you do not cut yourself:
Here I use an old knife I had laying around to disassemble the TL. An old chef's knife works well for this too. You want to make sure that the blade is thin enough so that it can slip between the blades and the liners to cut the pins:
I always like to start with the pivot pin, as that is usually the toughest one, and the blade tangs help in wedging the knife in to cut the pins. Once that one is cut, I move on to the others. It is important to use a rubber mallet for this because if you miss and hit the blade or spring, it will not cause any damage.
After you cut through all 3 pins, you use a 1/16th pin punch to knock out the remaining pins. I used an old weight as an anvil for this thread, and, as you can see, I used the hole in the center to knock the pin out while supporting the bolster and liners on the weight. Repeat this process for both liners, and the knife will come apart.
The old plastic scales were attached to the liners with these two molded rivets, so I just popped them off with my disassembly knife:
Voila
Now to trace out the scales. I used a piece of jatoba I had in my shop for the scales that was about as thick as I wanted it for use on this knife. Place the liner on the wood with the bolster facing down and up against the edge of the wood. I do a preliminary trace here to get a general idea of the scale size before I cut the wood.
Using a coping saw, cut the scale size based off of the outline.
Since the original scales were not held on using a pin, I had to make some scale pin holes. After drilling through one liner, I put the two scales together and drilled through the second liner using the first hole as a pilot. This way, the scale pins will match on both sides.
Remove the burr using a small file, and sand it smooth.
Now to glue the scales to the liners. First I score the liners with my disassembly knife for the glue to adhere better to the liners. Then I superglue the scales to the liners, and clamp to dry.
Once the superglue dries, clamp the scales in your vice and cut the excess scale material off with your coping saw. Then while its in the clamp, rasp or file the scale to get it close to the shape of the liner.
Repeat this until you have removed the excess material on both scales.
Now things are starting to take shape!
Stay tuned for an update tomorrow!!
I hope this will simplify the process enough for anyone interested in modding a knife to be able to do it. If anyone has questions along the way in my process, please feel free to ask me, and I'll do my best to clear anything up for you.
Enough of my chit chat, you guys came here for a tutorial!
Here are most of the tools I used to mod this knife. I forgot some in this pic, but I will list those as I move along:
First things first, tape up the blades to they aren't damaged in the process, and so you do not cut yourself:
Here I use an old knife I had laying around to disassemble the TL. An old chef's knife works well for this too. You want to make sure that the blade is thin enough so that it can slip between the blades and the liners to cut the pins:
I always like to start with the pivot pin, as that is usually the toughest one, and the blade tangs help in wedging the knife in to cut the pins. Once that one is cut, I move on to the others. It is important to use a rubber mallet for this because if you miss and hit the blade or spring, it will not cause any damage.
After you cut through all 3 pins, you use a 1/16th pin punch to knock out the remaining pins. I used an old weight as an anvil for this thread, and, as you can see, I used the hole in the center to knock the pin out while supporting the bolster and liners on the weight. Repeat this process for both liners, and the knife will come apart.
The old plastic scales were attached to the liners with these two molded rivets, so I just popped them off with my disassembly knife:
Voila
Now to trace out the scales. I used a piece of jatoba I had in my shop for the scales that was about as thick as I wanted it for use on this knife. Place the liner on the wood with the bolster facing down and up against the edge of the wood. I do a preliminary trace here to get a general idea of the scale size before I cut the wood.
Using a coping saw, cut the scale size based off of the outline.
Since the original scales were not held on using a pin, I had to make some scale pin holes. After drilling through one liner, I put the two scales together and drilled through the second liner using the first hole as a pilot. This way, the scale pins will match on both sides.
Remove the burr using a small file, and sand it smooth.
Now to glue the scales to the liners. First I score the liners with my disassembly knife for the glue to adhere better to the liners. Then I superglue the scales to the liners, and clamp to dry.
Once the superglue dries, clamp the scales in your vice and cut the excess scale material off with your coping saw. Then while its in the clamp, rasp or file the scale to get it close to the shape of the liner.
Repeat this until you have removed the excess material on both scales.
Now things are starting to take shape!
Stay tuned for an update tomorrow!!
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