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View Full Version : Antique Manual Open Picklock Stiletto....Rebuild Before And After.



Arnulf
08-10-2010, 06:35 PM
This is an old 11 "GC CO. Italy" marked stiletto from the 40s or 50s.....I bought it as a fixer upper....I will put new horn scales on it and polish the blade.....its fully brass lined and has nickel silver bolsters.
I ordered some Brazilian horn from old Bill DeShivs today....it should look pretty cool when I get done.

Before...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/DSC_0002-6.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/DSC_0001-8.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/DSC_0003-9.jpg[/QUOTE]

After...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/Rebuilt%20manual%20Picklock%20Stiletto/DSC_0008-2-1.jpg


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/Rebuilt%20manual%20Picklock%20Stiletto/DSC_0006-2.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/Rebuilt%20manual%20Picklock%20Stiletto/DSC_0010-5.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/Rebuilt%20manual%20Picklock%20Stiletto/DSC_0013-4.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/nordland/Rebuilt%20manual%20Picklock%20Stiletto/DSC_0012-7.jpg

AKTexas
08-10-2010, 06:37 PM
Nice job,it turned out real good.

Arnulf
08-10-2010, 06:41 PM
Nice job,it turned out real good.

Thanks Shawn. :)

AKTexas
08-10-2010, 06:41 PM
Thanks Shawn. :)

Anytime.

Arnulf
08-10-2010, 07:10 PM
Its got a carbon steel blade which has not been sharpened.....a Stiletto with a carbon steel blade tells you it is very old. :)

L1A1Rocker
08-10-2010, 10:23 PM
Very nice work.

Arnulf
08-10-2010, 10:55 PM
I wish I had the cash to buy that Brazilian horn in bulk...that stuff is awesome.

Richard Simmons
08-11-2010, 10:05 AM
Nicely done. Congrats on giving a nice old blade a new life. How do you remove and replace the pins? Is horn hard to drill as in, is it prone to cracking or chipping?

Arnulf
08-11-2010, 12:38 PM
Nicely done. Congrats on giving a nice old blade a new life. How do you remove and replace the pins? Is horn hard to drill as in, is it prone to cracking or chipping?

You carefully grind the head off the blade pivot pin and the pin in the rear bolster and tap the pins out with a punch....then on the inside of the liners you can use a dremel to lightly grind the pins until they will come out...in the case of this knife the scales were no good and I just clipped the pin heads and pry the scales off with a screw driver...then tapped the pins out.
The horn comes in 5x 1 1/2 flat blocks and when you have the knife taken apart I lay the liner on the horn block and trace the outside with a pencil then tape it in place then take it over to the drill press and drill the holes where the pins go......then comes the hard part....fashioning the scales to fit....I use a bench belt sander for that...bone and horn stink when you sand them....I used the cheap masks but it still gets in.....when I get the scales shaped right...then I wet sand the horn scales with 400 grit then 600 grit sand paper until I get a smooth as glass finish...its very cool how the colors come out that were not there before.....when I am done with the scales....then its time to pin them on the liners....and that is a very delicate job that takes some experience....nothing worse than having made a beautiful set of scales and have them crack while you are pinning them on.
I use brass pin stock...I have a special little hammer I use to pin scales....and I also have a spinner that fits in the DP to make the pins have nice round heads....but on these old knives they did not do that...they just peened them....so you put the pins through the handles and the liners and clip them to size...then peen them on...the part of the pin that is on the inside of the liner has to be ground down smooth....once you get both scales pinned on....then you put the blade pivot pin back in the front bolster and the pin in the rear bolster and you are done....if I have not forgot anything.......oh yeah....polishing the blade....that is done with wet sanding and compound on a special wheel that fits on your bench wheel grinder.

This knife is fully lined...even under the ears.

Richard Simmons
08-11-2010, 07:25 PM
Thank you very much for the detailed account. I had no idea how it was done. Sounds like a good bit of work and attention to detail.

Arnulf
08-11-2010, 08:02 PM
Thank you very much for the detailed account. I had no idea how it was done. Sounds like a good bit of work and attention to detail.

My pleasure......I enjoy talking about my hobby....it must have been something I was born with...back when I was a kid living in the country...farms always had junk piles....I liked to go and find a nice piece of steel to make into a primitive knife or a tomahawk.:smiley20: :)