Welcome Home....******......This week Wed night Chat is Imperial Knives join us at 9PM EDT
Join/Renew NKCA....19.95 Membership pricing during the membership drive

The online community of knife collectors

MODIFICATIONS .. personalizing our knives !!!!

Many of us have dreamt of "improving" our knives.

Some have even implemented their improvements.

Here is a place to share and document those modifications.

Before & after pics are great .. I realize this isn't always possible .. I did some of mine years ago. A statement of design goals or modification purpose is a good place to start.

Identifying the desired changes & modifications is encouraged. As is a description of

the tools, any problems encountered, & methods used in the process.

A summary statement & pic of the final result will wrap it up !!

Also .. a place to share our mistakes.

Share what works & what doesn't.

Conquered a problem .. post a solution.

Up against a problem .. query for another's advice.

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:06

Here's one I did for my Dad .. gave it to him for Christmas 1975 ..

Buck 112
Modification goal .. form fit to the hand
Bolsters, scales, liners, back spring .. edges radiused & contoured for comfortable fit
Used a dremel tool & belt sander .. followed by hand sanding up to 600 grit
There's 25 yrs of honest wk on this knife .. still as solid as .. well .. a Buck
The lock is solid & secure, the opening/closing of the blade is smooth .. yet, the blade is not loose
I forgot how robust these were ... 1/16" solid brass liners .. 1/8 " pivot pin

Permalink Reply by Jake on April 27, 2010 at 20:15

First think I do is engrave them with my name somewhere discreet because my handwritten is bad so it won't look to nice.

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:16

... Had a whittler take a look ... this is what he saw ...

Computer modeling is available in many forms. Computer Aided Drafting & Design (CADD) systems can be prohibitively expensive & difficult to learn. Yet, readily available software can be applied to "simulate" the results before any material is whittled away.

Modification goal .. wharncliffe whittlin blade
Used a computer to simulate results

Thanks JJ !!!

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:28

... 25 yrs of honest wk on this knife ...

The mod didn't take 25 yrs .. my Dad just used this knife for 25+ yrs ...

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:36

Case Mini Copperlock
My EDC for +/- 3 yrs

Modification goal .. comfort fit
Bolsters & scales countoured for "comfort fit"
Tighter deeper radius @ front bolsters
Dremel tool .. belt sander .. hand sanding to 600 grit
I carried this for +/- 3 yrs .. just gave it to my daughter .. it's still serving as an EDC.

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:46

Here's a sort of before & after pic .. compare/contrast a modified copperlock to an original ..

I modified the bottom two ..

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 20:53

Full size Case Copperlock
Modification purpose .. my deer hunting knife (field dress)

Frame contoured .. front and rear bolsters .. tighter deeper radius .. width of scales & liners reduced & contoured
Dremel tool .. belt sander .. hand sanding to 600 grit
I like the result .. I've a brother who secretly feels I've ruined the knife .. but .. I gave him an unmodified one in stag .. sooooo .. he hasn't verbally critiqued

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 21:13

I have a serious fondness for Case's Mini Copperlock ..
Frost offers a Cooperlock in his Steel Warrior line..
I believe the same blue print was used for both ..
.. making this a wonderfully cost effective prototyping platform in my quest for that perfect Culock EDC !!!!

I added the thumbstud & a deeper tighter radius @ the front bolster .. slight radius to the scale & rear bolster edges
Dremel tool for radius @ front bolster .. hand sanding for scale & rear bolster contouring ..
Drill press, generic < $ 200, set to slowest speed, carbide drill bit ... should have used a cutting oil for lubrication and heat reduction .. NOTE: be cautious of heat buildup.
This allowed me to prototype the thumbstud mod w/o risking an actual Case Copperlock.

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 21:54

Modification purpose .. a knife for de-boning

Weidmannsheil (PKCS '97) .. folding hunter .. stag scales

contoured all edges .. blade spine, bolsters, scales .. bolsters slightly bulbous
belt sander and hand sanding

The blade tapers to a thin needle point.

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 22:03

Here's the result of a recent modification to my sharpening technique ..

Just can't find the documentation on this one ...........

Permalink Reply by D ale on April 27, 2010 at 22:44

Modification purpose .. a comfortably effective knife for de-boning.

ModeratorPermalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 27, 2010 at 23:29

Got a big fondness for Wharncliffe bladed whittlers, like the CASE Seahorse. Recently I've taken to converting other blades into wharnies.
Hate to have a $60.00-$70.00 knife in my pocket and then loose it. Took an old RR Stag dogleg and cut the blade down to a wharncliffe. Still working on the secondaries, but the general idea is here.