And so it begins.... (My adventures into Alox!)

[Syph007]

I've been buying knives and gathering tools for some alox modding for a couple months now.  I did not even bother to post my first attempt at disassembling an alox solo, I messed it up so bad.   

Well today I bought a 3 directional vice and bolted that to my drill press so I could precisely position the SAK and get the rivets drilled dead center.







This worked PERFECTLY!! I was finally able to pop off those rivet heads with a center drill (thanks to tattoosteve for that tip).  The 3 mm pins I found I had to drill a bit further down into to weaken the pin enough to pop it out.





Once you get the center pin out, the springs fall away and getting the rest apart is easier.



Here is what I ended up with after ripping apart a solo, pioneer and farmer.  I'm very proud to say I didn't scratch or otherwise mess up a single part!



I have also tried to peen and OMG that is so hard to get it to look nice.  Mad respect to all fellow modders who have mastered that skill, as I have not.  Mr. bushidomosquito's method with the threaded pivots looks so nice I decided to try that for my first mod test.







That's all I've got for now.  This first mod is simply going to be a farmer + scissors, something I've been wanting for awhile now.  I will be making quite a few of these, in black, red and silver alox.

Cheers and thanks to everyone I pestered with questions while learning, this forum and the people that use it are the best!

[82brutus]

Very nice.  Good pictures!  Look forward to seeing more.   

[nuphoria]

Good stuff. Where did you get the little hex/torx head pins?

[Syph007]

Good stuff. Where did you get the little hex/torx head pins?

Those were from knifekits.com  All 1/8 inch so lots of drilling out of components to do still.

These are the pivots: http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=60_83&products_id=471

And the screws: http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=60_81_230&products_id=1248

[tattoosteve99]

Can't wait to see!

[MadPlumbarian]

keep it going, keep us posted!! JR

[Mr. Whippy]

That vise is pure genius!

Your first Alox mod is short a few tools...

I'm impressed AND inspired (I have a couple of bodged up 58 mm alox tools that need their rivets drilled out... )

[Syph007]

Your first Alox mod is short a few tools...

Ya but this is the ultra lite poser version... safe to take on airplanes too!

[tattoosteve99]

Your first Alox mod is short a few tools...

Ya but this is the ultra lite poser version... safe to take on airplanes too!

Good luck on getting anything on a airplane nowadays. You can't even have nail clippers I'm getting one of those cross slides myself this year. Great pics btw. Keep up the great work!

[sparky415]

Very nice.  Good pictures!  Look forward to seeing more.   

Great job 

[bushidomosquito]

Are you drilling the back springs and center holes of the scales 1/8" too? I think it thins that bump area in the springs just a tad too much plus it's a real pain to drill compared to the blades so I'm using a floating pin (HSS drill rod) of the stock pin diameter in the center from now on. When I make scales from ti or brass I only drill center holes 2/3 of the way through from the inside of the scales. This pin is all shear, no torque so it's just there as a fulcrum for the springs. The same could be done with Alox scales if you found an attractive way to plug the center holes. Maybe drill the countersink into a counterbore and press something into it.

[Syph007]

Are you drilling the back springs and center holes of the scales 1/8" too? I think it thins that bump area in the springs just a tad too much plus it's a real pain to drill compared to the blades so I'm using a floating pin (HSS drill rod) of the stock pin diameter in the center from now on. When I make scales from ti or brass I only drill center holes 2/3 of the way through from the inside of the scales. This pin is all shear, no torque so it's just there as a fulcrum for the springs. The same could be done with Alox scales if you found an attractive way to plug the center holes. Maybe drill the countersink into a counterbore and press something into it.

Ya I was thinking something similar. Its a nicer look if the scales are all custom, but since im using the alox scales im not sure what to use in the center pin on the outside of the scale to make it look the same as the others.  I'll test it the way I have it now as I think it will be fine, there is still 1 mm of steel in the hump after I drilled it through, but ya it's tight tolerance for sure.

[Syph007]

I got some more time to work, so I kept taking pics as I went.

I ripped apart more knives.  Some red scales this time!   I can do a total teardown in about 10 minutes now that I have the technique down.



All of the springs and components have been drilled out to 1/8 inch now.   Here I show test fitting the pivot pin.



I had to countersink the scale holes a bit so the screws would sit flush.



Here is my awesome technique for hole sanding.  Roll up sandpaper, insert in drill, sand!



Test fitting the springs together with the pins.  The hump has thinned but I think there is plenty of metal left.  Time will tell.



The biggest pain for me was cutting down the pivots to the exact right length, fiddly work.  Here are the springs again with correct length pivot.



That's all for now, I got burgers on the grill, but I'm going to do a test fit together after dinner so I will post more pics of how it goes.

[Ashley]

Put me in line for a farmer with scissors in red. 

[Syph007]

Put me in line for a farmer with scissors in red. 

hehe no problem, but I have to perfect my modding first.  I'm a perfectionist and if something doesn't turn out just right it bugs me forever.  So far so good though, I'm liking the threaded pivots, since the knife can then be serviced easy, even with locktite on the threads.