Usually the knife have the broken parts of the pin still in both bolsters.
Mostly this happens on single blade folders, not so much on multiple blades, or tools knives.
The pivot pin is not a straight pin, but a rivet with flared heads, or a barbell shape that has flat heads on each end preventing the frame to spread open.
To install new pivot pin, the remainder of the riveted pin has to be punched out from the inside.
This is impossible to do from the outside of the assembled knife.
The Schrade OLD TIMER folders have the barbell pins on both ends keeping the inside assembly of the folder together.
The handle consists of hollow-shell end-caps and the scales mounted on the frame plate. The plate has keyholes for the assembly barbell pins. The master pin is the rivet that holds the knife together.
It is not possible to replace the broken barbell pins outside the factory. Wobbly blade means the barbell pin is broken. It is a total loss.
The scales simply break there immediately by the breaking the knife apart, or if by some miracle they survive this, they get broken by Master pin at the final assembly.
If that happens, then the knife has to be broken apart again, it is back to square one.
There is no point to go this way. All old scales are too brittle to waste time to rivet new Master pin through them.
New, original scales are not available on the markets. I would replace them with other handle material, mine or supplied by owner, to make the knife looking good and functional.
The pivot pin / rivet is worn out, possibly bent.
The liners are worn at pivot contact - scored by the heal of the wobbly blade. The pins / rivets have to be punched out and whole folder completely disassembled,
because Liners / frame have to be restored to a flat contact surface or blade will wobble even with a new pin.
If the liners / frame is worn too deep it has to be replaced. This is no longer restoration. It is remaking the knife from scratch without factory jigs.
Same as above. It is extremely difficult, and in many cases impossible, without taking the knife completely apart after wasting a lots of time.
Also in this case the knife can not be cleaned inside, and new blade can not be correctly fitted to spring. Therefore it is not done here.
Your perfectly good scales will not survive this, unless they are only held to scales with screws. If glued or riveted, there is no way saving them.
Your perfectly good ancient handle scales will crumble like a dry toast at the re-assembly if not already broken up by disassembly.
This is the way it is with rivets at the very edge of materials (Master pin in the middle of handle)
You are looking at extra cost of material if I have to purchase it myself.
You can purchase any scales you like, and mail them in with the knife.
The replacement folder blade needs to be fitted as to the thickness and position in opened and in closed positions to a tolerance of 0.002".
The new blade is installed, checked and measured, adjusted, and reinstalled several times to accomplish that.
Pins can't be reused and have to be replaced. I have to machine them from thicker rods.
All pins require machining from meager size selection one can purchase from Knife making supply stores.
The factory pins taken out from your folder are the size not available to public.
Most blades do require complete re-grind to be restored - the rust pits can be very small and seemingly insignificant, but also very deep.
With any pits left, good mirror polish is out of the question, as pits leave wash out lines.
Even with complete re-grind it is not always possible to get all the rust pits out, and they are usually left alone where the trademarks are stamped onto the blade's Picasso near the handle.
For most rusted blades, glass bead blasting will clean the pits and makes them less visible, looking much cleaner.
If the blade is re ground ( even 5 thousands of an inch), the back spring has to be re ground also to match the thickness of the blade - or the blade would become too sloppy sideways, and the spring too squeezed in between liners to work at all.
The only exception is the stamp or etching is deep enough in the blade, and even then the black soot etch will be wiped off, leaving the shiny mark.
It is not possible to sand and polish just around it.
So if is to be saved at the cost of leaving blade rusty, that side of blade will not be touched at all. All ugly sharpening scratches will remain.
The work takes about 8-10 hours per knife, from complete basic refinish up to the time is checked in at the Post Office
It takes longer for more extensive repairs, many took as many as 20 hours to finish.
Making, hardening and tempering a replacement blade or spring is a job requiring additional time and expensive resources.
Kitchen knives
- Even if you only have a cheap small kitchen knife needing a new handle, like the one you got at the garage sale for $2.00.
The cost of the repair is a lots more than meets the eye.
The handle material and installation is the same for $20 flee market knife, as is for $400 custom made knife.
The finishing takes as much shop resources as for the expensive knife.
It is unfortunate, but not avoidable, and the cost is the same.
All that is what average repair/restoration fee is calculated on.
Thank you for your understanding.
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Created and maintained by Tony Hnilica
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