help me fix this

[siguy]

long story short, i have this old (unknown model) case knife that is in pretty bad shape. i am refurbing it, and have hit a brick wall of sorts.

original condition:

out of sheath:

where i am at now:

the leather fell apart, and i have the small metal layer loose so that it can be moved up and down along the tang. my real question is, how do i get the butt cap off? is it soldered or glued on? a note; i am refurbing, which means that i would really like to be able to put the original butt cap back on once i have the new leather washers stacked. keep this in mind. also, the knife is small enough as it is, and i would really like to keep all of the original length or else it may get downright tiny. overall length is about six inches.

a pic of the butt cap:

any and all help is welcome and appreciated.

 

[rebeltf]

I cannot tell from your pics but I am going to assume the cap is either held in place by a crosspin , or was pressed on by a machine.

I am also assuming the cap is aluminum since it did not rust.

I refurbed a very similiar knife in very similiar condition for my boss about two weeks ago , I would up just cleaning and preserving the stacked leather , but this handle did not near as bad as that one , I mean non-salvagable.

Didn't answer your question though , did I ?

Perhaps an older , wiser brain can chime in.

 

[eyeeatingfish]

In place of taking the cap off you could use wood or antler or micarta cut to fit inside the handle, then drill the handle and screw them on then reshape it.

 

[siguy]

or was pressed on by a machine.

i believe this is how it is attached, because i see you evidence of a cross pin, and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of any kind of epoxy used to hold it in place

I am also assuming the cap is aluminum since it did not rust.

i have found the model through some google searching, and it does list the buttcap as aluminum

I refurbed a very similiar knife in very similiar condition for my boss about two weeks ago , I would up just cleaning and preserving the stacked leather , but this handle did not near as bad as that one , I mean non-salvagable.

yeah, i would have just cleaned it up, but the leather washers were really falling apart, and i figured this would be a good chance to practice building washer handles (i am considering birch bark in place of leather)

In place of taking the cap off you could use wood or antler or micarta cut to fit inside the handle, then drill the handle and screw them on then reshape it.

i am afraid i really can't understand what you are saying at all. perhaps you mean to cut a slot into a block and fit it on, and put a sliver of wood into the slot to cover up the tang on the spine side of the knife? that is the only thing that i could think of after reading your response

thank you guys, but i am still wondering if anyone knows of a way to get the cap off without destroying the either the cap or the end of the tang...

 

[rebeltf]

Yea , he meant you could add wood/stag/etc. scales to it instead of taking the buttcap off.

I sincerely doubt it was epoxied on , although if it was that would be your best bet because it would not be hard to get it off then without marring ir ruining the cap.

 

[Salamander42]

I don't know if this would work or not, but it may be worth a try. . . If the cap was pressed on by a machine as has been suggested, you may be able to knock it off by clamping the knife in a vice, blade up, and in a position where you can try to knock off the butt cap with a punch and hammer. It may or may not help to try heating the cap with a torch. I probably don't really have to say it, but I will anyway. . . If you try one or both of these ideas, don't overdo it with the hammer or torch or you may end up doing more harm than good.

 

[siguy]

actually i have some nice peices of wood that could work out perfectly if i decided to make scales for this...i think that is what i will do.

 

[Dr. Mudd]

The butt cap is probably pinned on. No epoxy was used. And no, the pin is not obvious, but I'll bet you it's there. Buff it just a little with 0000 steel wool and look very closely under magnification in strong light. I'll also bet you don't stand much chance of punching the pin out until you soak it in a good penetrant for many days or weeks. Heat may be needed too, but use great care and a correctly sized pin punch like a gunsmith would use. Once you locate the pin and are using a correctly sized punch use quick, "snappy" blows with a hammer of modest size and weight. Don't bludgeon it. If all else fails you may have to drill it out, but you had better know exactly what you're doing! Good luck.

 

[bikermikearchery]

You could try soaking just the but cap in vinegar, then buff it with steelwool. That mite help find if it has a pin. If you do locate the pin center punch and just start a drill of the same size to take off the Burr if it has one.
Has worked for me. Good luck.

 

[richard j]

i have refurbished quite a few stacked leather handle knives plus made a few and most pommels are pinned in place like dr mudd said. the one you have is pinned (since the tang is square) and removing it will trash the pin unless you get lucky so you will need another one. be careful not to mushroom the pin too much or it wont come out.