UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Army, Navy, and Luftwaffe Forum Gravity knife repair

i bought this smf gravity knife yesterday unfortunatly it had been used to open a tin of paint and the blade snaped
i have quite a few knives with good blades but broken springs
can anyone advise how i can open these knives up and swap blades
i know there are 2 pins through the bolster do these need to be drifted out or can a wedge the knife open enough
thanks

Due to my experiences with this kind of damadged gravity knives a sort of wedge should do the job. Try semihard plastik, hard enough to work but soft enough to do no harm.
Due to my experiences it is not necessary to remove the pins totally.
Regards,

thanks wotan
does the bolster close well or can you see its been split

I think it depends how carefully the work is done and how wide the parts are forced apart. Also it is necessary to take care that no smudge or metal splinters get in between.
Finally the fixed rivet at the end bow forces the halfes to unnatural bend if forced apart (dont force them more than absolutely necessary).
Keep in mind that nearly each repair is not the same like the original manufacturing process and the material is 60+ years old...
Regards.

here the repaired gravity knife i used a plastic handle off a paint brush to make the wedge once closed and the bolsters dressed up you cannot see that its ever been apart

Well done. Nevertheless restaurated. Why did you exchange, the one does not look bad either.
Regards.

the top one had a broken spring but a nice blade
the bottom one is the knife ,originally with the broken blade, after i fitted the blade from the one with the broken spring both were smf
you can see the rivet heads on the top one from were i forced the bolster open
you cannot see the rivet heads on the repaired knife after i dressed the bolsters up
i hope this makes sense

Gravity knives are fragile 70 years on ... probably then too. Once they bust, in my opinion, that is it.

If anyone knows of really invisible or undetectable repairs, speak up, because I do not think they exist

Dave

there is a little german fellow name is tony bauer. owns a t&d shop. i have been told he makes an undectable repair. i have not seen the finished product. other have and tell me he is good.look in last year max book his number might be there as he had a few tables.

dave
the blade swap i have just done (knife with broken blade but good spring knife with broken spring but good blade) is undetectable i opened the bolsters just enough to remove the blades , about 1/16th of an inch, closed in a vice then dressed the bolsters to make the rivet invisable which is what smf originally did.
i am happy to post more photos
nick

ok you can see one rivet head but i will blend it in better
but on some of my other knives you can see the rivets and they have not been apart

heres the knife that donated the blade i have closed the bolsters but not dressed them up so the rivets are quite visable
the fixed knife is not for sale but if anyone needs parts from the donor please send a pm

Really undetectable. Well done! At least one nearly perfect knife arose out of two damaged.
Regards,

thanks wotan
thats how i feel
i have worked on the bolster a bit more and i have nearly blended in the 2nd rivet