As some of you may know, recently I have caught the 110 bug. I've been buying older used 110's on eBay out of curiosity. 

Well, I love these knives. They're easy to re-furbish, re-task and the variations of handles are countless. 

This project will consist of a complete tear down, cleaning, New Damascus blade and scales. Plus, re-tasking the old blade into a usable fixed blade. This blog will be updated as the project progresses. 

2/12/13 The Spanish Lace Damascus blade arrived from Idaho, so I was in a hurry to get the existing blade out of it's home of 30+ years. The bushing insert was a breeze with an Arbor Press. Mr. Leavitt's tolerances are exacting to Buck's Mfg.

2/13/13 After further inspection of the frame the day before, I decided a full tear down was necessary to accommodate the new blade and scales. This photo is complete with every part except the pivot bushing.

Right now I have the brass parts soaking in hot water to break up the 30+ years of dirt and grime. Times like this I wish I had a blast cabinet.

2/14/13  Well today I found a little time to clean up the brass and rough cut a couple of set of scales. I have a set of Redheart wood and a set of Cocobolo.

Which set do you think I like?

2/21/2013  Well I didn't like the Cocobolo Set picture above, so I made some new ones and these are much better I think.

I will try and pin the frame together if time permits

2/22/2013  I loosely pinned the frame together this morning and did something I shouldn't have. I took another look at my handle options. Big mistake, I really like both options. The Cocobolo pictured above is great, but how dark will it get over time. Will it end up looking like the original scales? Now the Redheart wood is another story, I am unfamiliar with the aging characteristics of this wood. But it looks really good with blade, it doesn't overpower the damascus. These are good problems to have. Changed the picture to show the Red heart wood with Mineral oil application, plus I am adding a pic of the Cocobolo with the same treatment.

I will delay pinning the frame together until this is resolved.

2/28/2013  Finally had some time to get this part done. I had used a technique to re-pin this knife together that involves Wax paper being placed between the bolsters and rotating parts. It is still really tight on the opening and closing, but as soon as that wax paper surrenders itself from the pivot points, it will be fine. I didn't get pics of the wax paper before I set the brass pins. Maybe next time.

As you can see, I have decided to hide the Lockbar pin under the scales. A steel pin in the middle of that piece of natural art would have been an abomination.

I also had time to weld a Stainless steel tang blank on the original blade.  I have already had the cutting edge repaired by Luke at the Knife Gallery in the Orange Mall.I left the pivot hole to use for pinning whatever handle I decide to use later

I would like to use Elk antler/bone, as this blade was beat to hell for 40 years dressing that kind of game. I was thinking of gifting it back to the gentleman who sold me the 110 for $8.00. I'll wait and see how it turns out first.

3/2/2013  Putzing around the shop this morning & I decided to get some more of this done. Polished out the bolsters and got the scales closer to the frame profile. This is as far as I got.

I am going to love this knife when I am done. I may sell/donate my next effort though.

3/22/2013  Jan was so right about the Redheart wood, it turned out beautiful. Not to mention it was easier to work with than Cocobolo. My next 110 custom will have the Cocobolo, I figured out the fine tuning of the scale fitting technique.

Here is the finished product of my 1st Custom/Modified Buck 110:

As soon as my Bro-n-law in Colorado sends me some of the Elk antler, I can get a handle on the original blade and call this project finished.