1970's Old Timer Knife Repair | Restoration

In this week's repair and restoration video, I work on a project sent to me by a subscriber - a rusty, corroded, broken 1970's Schrade "Old Timer" folding hunting knife that arrived in several pieces.

The first step was disassembling the pieces that were still attached to each other by a steel pin that was not original to the knife. It proved to be difficult as it was rusty and bent. I ended up having to cut the pin and pull each piece apart separately but in the process I also pulled one of the nickel silver bolsters free from a brass liner. After cleaning the liners and bolsters in a flour, vinegar, and salt mixture, I reattached the bolster by re-peening the original pins.

The blades and springs were covered in rust but it was mostly surface damage and did not cause heavy corrosion of the metal. I first scrubbed the loose rust off and then soaked each piece in a high concentration vinegar overnight before cleaning with a wire wheel. I heat treated, cleaned, and blued the steel blades and I nickel plated the springs.

The knife was missing one of the original Delrin plastic scales but I was able to find one online. I cleaned each handle, repaired a hole in the replacement piece and reattached it by pinning it to the liner. The knife was reassembled, pinned, and filed and polished. The last step was sharpening each blade.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and review of knife pieces
00:24 Disassembly
01:22 Cleaning the liners and bolsters
02:29 Reattaching a bolster
02:47 Cleaning and attaching the handle
04:09 Cleaning the rusty steel blades
05:34 Heat treating the blades
06:35 Bluing the blades
07:44 Nickel plating the springs
08:04 Repairing the handle
09:01 Assembly
11:58 Sharpening
12:13 Final reveal

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