<Cheap Imperial Barlow Conversion Upgrade >

[knives are quiet]

I used to carry this Imperial Barlow around with me when I was in grade school.
Bought it in 1974 for a couple of bucks in the local hardware.
It brings back a lot of memories for me.
It's been sitting in my drawer for the past 30 or so years with the cheap snap on plastic scales ready to fall off and the main blade all bent up so I figured I have a crap load of left over scraps from previous knife builds, repairs and conversions. I decided it deserved an upgrade.
Took some scrap copper and made new bolsters.
Used left over pieces of mosaic pin cutoffs to attach the bolsters and for the pivot pin.
Also used some left over pieces of black palm wood for scales.
And actually used heavy grade copper electrical wire as liner pins.
Straightened and sharpened the blade.
Didn't turn out all that bad.
Can't wait till the copper tarnishes up and gives it that antique look.

jamie~ "knives are quiet"

 

[Frank Niro]

That was a project I would never attempt. That's quite an update ! Frank

 

[knives are quiet]

Taking chances is the name of the game when restoring or converting a vintage or heirloom knife.
If you make one mistake, the knife can be destroyed forever.
It can be quite stressful at times.
But if you don't take that chance, then all you have is an old broken knife you can look at and not use.
What good is that???????????

This Barlow knife was actually one of the easiest I've ever done.
The only hard part was grinding the copper bolsters.
It takes a long time.
Copper conducts heat very quickly and retains the heat longer than other metals.
You have to grind for a short time then cool in water then repeat over and over again.
Same thing when using your sander and buffer.
Plus this is my knife and that makes the stress level low. If I make that mistake then I'm the only one that losses.

 

[dan van]

I have one of those Barlows with the scale gone from 1 side so I planned to do an upgrade sometime, seeing this gives me a bit of incentives to get started on mine. Thanks for sharing, Dan

 

[knives are quiet]

Excellent~My friend. Go for it...
You won't be disappointed.
I like this knife so much, I have been carrying it for the last couple of days. It is a perfect knife for every day tasks.
The handles on this type of two dollar knife may have been made cheap but the blades are made of some super tuff carbon steel. I wore out three drill bits drilling the pivot holes larger to except the 1/8" mosaic pins even cooling with water while drilling.
If you have never converted or restored an old folding knife before I can give you one of the major things to expect.
Once you brake the knife down, do not expect it to go back together exactly the same way.
Drilling or tapping out the pins will change the whole alignment of the knife.
Be prepared to do some shaping when you have the knife back together again.
I have never had a knife align itself back together exactly the way it was.
The only way around this is to make new liners and springs.
Hell' , if you have to do that you might as well reproduce the whole knife.
I try to use all of the original parts when restoring or converting and have learned to get it close with little shaping when re assembled.
Another tip that is optional which I usually do with knives this old. If you want 90% stops for safety reasons you will have to adjust the springs accordingly after squaring off the ends of the blades.

If you need any help, feel free to ask.
jamie~ knives are quiet