Vintage lockbacks -- #1 of 3

[Mario]

These are very cool! I asked about the Frank B humpbacks not that long ago. Cool to see the inner workings on these rare coil spring fired stilettos!

[jerryk25]

I love Snappys . . . my first auto was a brown swirl snappy.

I wouldn't worry about the spring. . . . It's a fine collectible as a folder.
But. . . if you are brave, and want to risk it, . . .
Look for the right size Bobby Pin (hair pin)
it can be found in bronze, and is a pre-tempered spring already.
you just have to bend it correct using the existing bend, to fit in the socket on the back-spine.
and you must "cold cut" it slow, don't let the friction of cutting it to size heat it up
and ruin the temper. . . .if the spring is not powerful enough , find a different bobby pin size.

And save yourself a headache. . .don't take apart the pivot pin for the blade/body folding joint.
It's actually a hollow shaft rivet, not a regular solid pin.

[button_man]

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jerry ~ I love the idea of jury-rigging a bobby pin to use as a switchblade spring! The whole concept is so "1950s" --
I can just picture some kid doing this back in the day, with a bobby pin that he swiped out of his sister's room....!

If it's not too much trouble, could you post another photo and show the two cut lines in the pin so that I will be sure to do it right?

(um, why would I have to remove the pivot pin for this job? I'm not sure I understand....
--and anyhow, I don't have the skills / tools to disassemble and reassemble folders.....)

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[jerryk25]

Don't listen to me for step by step instructions. . .

Ask Bill DeShivs, or go to his website and read Knife 101 . . ..(if it's still up.)

I'm a mangler. . .or was a mangler. . . .

[jerryk25]

In the above illustration - - is a rude semi accurate list of parts.
I said NOT to take apart the blade pivot, to separate the liners.
The blade pivot is actually a hollow rivet,
the pin head on the outside only holds on the bolster and the plastic scale.
If you "wreck" that rivet. . . you'll never find a replacement. . .Least I never did.
Do not grind off the top bolster pin.
but if you did. . you would find the pin falls out, and the liners and blade are still held together by the rivet.

IT IS POSSIBLE TO SLIP IN A BOBBY PIN WITHOUT ANY KNIFE DIS-ASSEMBLY.
You can pry up the little tab just a bit . . . and wiggle a kickspring into place.

If you break the tab off, there are alternate techniques. .
One is to glue the spring into place. . . a drop of cigarette ash or baking powder, and a drop of super glue.

Or if you break off the tab. . .you can pin the bobby pin into place.
BUT . . . only take apart the tail pin, and "fan out" the liners.
If you wreck the tail, it can be camouflaged to cover your error.

If you look down into the blade well, you will see a divot in the back-spine
and a tab folded out of the liner, . . .that holds the kickspring in place.

It is possible to partially fold the tab to allow a small "slip-space".
and cheat in a bobby pin spring.

However . . . A WARNING. . . .
Do not repeatedly fold the tab. . .it will snap off. . . . to not fold it too far. . .it will snap off.

Do not try and refold the tab back into the original position after inserting the replacement spring.
Use instead a drop of epoxy.

If you DO BREAK the tab. . . . you can improvise a "thru the liners pin" . .
but this requires separating the outer plastic scales away from the liners.
The one side liner has a folded tab and square thru hole,
but the other liner must be drilled for the pin . . .
I have started to use copper wire instead of brass wire, as I am not "restoring it"
and I find the copper is easily removed, (by better restoration manglers than me, , ,in the future)

When bending the bobby pin, you may find your spring is too weak to "kick-out" the blade correctly.
I have knives that only pop out enough to grab the blade and open it manually.
but at least they are not "stuck shut."
I subsequently found bigger, better bobby pins, , , some are nice "Bronze" color.
but I'm finished with operating on Shure-snaps.
I'm not going to go back and retro-fit better kicksprings in some of my knives.
It was a passing fancy. . and I have enough examples now in my personal collection.

If you look at the drawing, you will see there is a natural end loop in the bobby pin.
When you bend it open, it fits the divot in the back-spine . . . . .
When you cut the spring with a dremel cut-off wheel. . .do not "go fast"
keep the metal as cold as possible and not "wreck the spring temper.

Do not refold the bobby pin too much. . . it will break.
It's better to practice on a dozen, and "fold it once" and let it stand.
Repeated bending means once it's installed. it will break. . an you'll become angry.

Disclaimer. . . .
It's been over 15 years since I did this with any practice. . .I'm just remembering.
I was reckless because I have a box of maybe 30 to 40 busted sure-snaps
and toothpicks . . .(the teardrop shaped handle).
I experimented like a mad man.
I made a couple of weird bayonet blade shure-snaps, and put real stag on some.
I have a fish scaler double blade with the automatic toothpick on the front

[jerryk25]

At one time. . .I was pretty good at " Popsickle stick Switchblades"
with rubber band springs or bobby pin springs.

Back in the 1960s. . .a car radio antenna was a pretty good street weapon.
They had stiff inner wire centers and a heavy chromed steel outer tube.
I made a spring loaded Antenna once. . . Good for slashing Faces. . .

modern car antennas are cheap carbon fiber with a wire on the outside under shrink wrap.
Hardly dangerous at all. . . .

[button_man]

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"tab for kickspring" is completely missing from my 'Snappy' -- it must have busted off many years ago.

Could I maybe slide a kickspring under the pin that connects the rear bolsters...?

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[jerryk25]

It's been so long that I have accessed my shoebox of shure-snaps.
I forget what a snappy looks like in the blade well.

I don't want to tell you EXACTLY how to fix it. . .
because the probability of breaking it more is so very great.
I don't want to be blamed for your learning curve.
I would say, send it away to be fixed. . .
But this is one of those knives no-one want to deal with.
Fixing it is a labor of love.. . . hours of work, at $50 per hour, no-one wants to pay for.
It's not worth the time to accept the job.

There are multiple routes you can go with the repair.
Each choice more and more wrecks the knife.

1. Leave it alone. . . don't change or add anything.
. . . . .wax it, wire it to a replica sales card.
. . . . .These animals are getting rarer and rarer. There are more and more collectors.
. . . . .Is the thrill of flicking it more important than who owns it after you die ?

2. a functional weak spring, glued in place.
. . . .. make an epoxy glue and tissue spitball, or a balsa wood chip, tuck it into the sweet spot
. . . .. the knife "sort-of" pops open. You're not Embarrassed by picking the blade out with another knife point.
. . . .. when the spring is cycled too often, the glue falls out.
. . . .. knife is relatively un-molested. You die, Someone else fixes it in 2065

3. a superglue spitball , made of steel wool, baking powder and glue.
. . . .. this will make a secure spring. . . you'll never dig out the glue again.
. . . .. You die, a future collector thinks you're an idiot. What is that black glob in there. . .

4. a more rigid spring, attached to other places. tucking it under the tail pin.
. . . .. it's an 80 year old knife. . . you risk straining and breaking it.
. . . .. but if you already have a pile of broken ones, you can experiment.

5. restoration, take it partially apart. replace the tab with a proper pin.
. . . . .this will alter the factory original configuration, thus diminishing value
. . . . .in a manner that "you can't go back". . . But. . .it will work nice.

6. Full tilt Hog Wild . . . M A N G LE . . . .Grind off the bottom pin, re-assemble it with nickel pins.
. . . . .cram an overpowered kick spring into place. . .Crack the shrinking plastic scales.
. . . . .replace the scales with walnut wood. . . Buy fake pearl and carve a new set of scales.
. . . . .pimp it all out . . . . ( we used to call that a "Nitre Job" on a pistol . . i.e. add nitrous oxide . . burn up your engine.)

[jerryk25]

fixing snappy

You know. . .I could have drawn this from scratch. . . really . . I could. . .
But it's so much easier mangling someone else's artwork.

I didn't really mean to hijack this thread to Snappy Repair. . .
I just followed the discussion to where it led me.

We now return you to COIL SPRING knives.

[sammy the blade]

The O. G. of platform shoes.

[HLangston]

Sal- did you know that Angelo Campolin, Sr. held the Italian patent on those?
There were also mid lockbacks with leaf springs!

I did not know that grandpa Campolin held the Patent thank you for the information Bill, as far as the other mid back locks you’re referring to with leaf springs I just sold one and when you find those the majority of them are stamped INTER

I have a 23cm manual opener with a humpback stamped INTER and a 20cm one just like it stamped ALAMO.

Both have PATENT 77431 stamped on the back

[button_man]

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jerry ~ Thanks for taking the time to write out all that info.... I believe that for now I will just leave the little Snappy as it is.
"First, do no harm" and all that. Seems like a pretty good philosophy.

I grew up seeing Jack Davis art in 'Mad' Magazine..... love that stuff ~