Thread: Vintage Penknives

Turned out beautifully! do you intall the pins with a hammer (as with a SR) or is there a special tool?

Originally Posted by tintin

Turned out beautifully! do you intall the pins with a hammer (as with a SR) or is there a special tool?

I use my peening hammer but i have grinded my hammer down to a fine-ish point for razors and that is perfect for penknives.

Dealing with the pins is a whole new ball game for me....One set of pins is just from the outer to the inside of the liner..If you pin that part incorrectly it fractures the top layer of horn, in fact avoiding that on all the pinholes is an issue especially with Ox horn, washers would fix that but washers on a penknife is not correct or maybe a countersink could be the answer..

There is only one pin holding the spring , the middle pin, i think modern penknives have 3 pins in the spring.. The top pin in the bolster needs to be changed for a thicker steel rod, it needs some force holding everything together ..

Another mistake i made was just willy nilly grinding off the rust..Everything has to be straight and flush to get it all tight and centering..

As i said , i did learn a lot.. I will get better..
Cheers

seems that i saw once a special tool they use for knife scales that spins in a drill press forming the pin. Is anyone familiar with such a thing?

Oh I found it, it's called a pinhead spinner!

Originally Posted by tintin

seems that i saw once a special tool they use for knife scales that spins in a drill press forming the pin. Is anyone familiar with such a thing?

Oh I found it, it's called a pinhead spinner!

This is the best tool I've been shown in months. Thanks.

Originally Posted by WalterWombat

This is the best tool I've been shown in months. Thanks.

yeah, here's video explaining their use. Seems like the ideal tool for pocket knives.