Hi guys!  I love tools, old and new, and have been trying to disassemble an older A.J. Wilkinson 8" folding drawknife. So far I've been unable to budge the large flat head screws that hold the folding arms onto the main blade. I've tried penetrating oil, elbow grease, patience and an impact driver so far. Of course I don't want to damage the thing, and have spent enough time reading patents and watching youtube videos with no luck so far. From the bottom it appears that it is in fact a screw and not a rivet or pin or something else. From what I gather, the screw has been set firm for a while (quite a while), and will need to be muscled. They are not damaged or twisted and the arm movements are lovely and smooth. What I worry about is if it is counter threaded. Nothing I've read or seen yet says it is or isn't. So, before making a guess (my guess is it isn't a backwards threaded screw) I wanted to ask y'all.

Photos attached. All I've done so far is get some tarnish off and oil it up. Thanks!

-Aaron Hill
California

You could try Jafe Juice-mix of 50-50 power steering  fluid and
acetone designed by our member- JAFE
http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.php?topic=4304.0

Why do you need to disassemble it?

Hello, Aaron. Welcome to the forums. Do what Papaw said, and soak it for a few days, be patient, although it looks like you have been. Try using a cordless drill on the lowest clutch setting, and work your way up. The vibration will help the penetrant get into the threads.I have also had good luck reversing directions, helps to break the rust. Bill, the ability to fold the handles to the blade allows for compact storage, and protection of the blade, (I'm sure you already know this), not a must have if you are not putting it into a toolbox.  I have a couple USA made folding drawknives here, both are a right hand thread . Regards, Lou

after you let the penetrant do its job, tap the screw lightly with a small hammer to try and loosen it up.

Ok sounds good. I definitely started soft with the cordless 12v impact wrench only after my arms were rendered useless. The reason I want to take it apart is 1) I wanna see it and 2) it will end up cleaner that way.

thanks!

Heat can be good, too, as can cold.  If you have a heat gun, try that; or wrap it in plastic and put it in your freezer overnight, then let it come to room temperature before trying again.

basically, give it some stress and crank on it. I'll see what I can do.

I'll try the 50/50 power steering fluid and acetone too. Was looking for justification to get more acetone not two days ago : D

Hi Aaron, along with all the other great ideas, here are a couple more. There are usually two reasons you can't get a screw out. One, you can't get enough torque on it, or two, it wants to "cam" out of the slot. Phillips head are notorious for this.
If you have an offset screwdriver you could try that. It will give you more torque.You can get a lot of leverage on one of them. If that doesn't work, this one usually will.

This is easier to do if you have a helper...or three hands. The pictures I posted will explain it better than words. I use a piece of soft wood as the backer block since you can push the back of the screwdriver hex into it. Put a 6 in. adjustable on it until it breaks loose or worst case, twists the head off.

ha, yah that's a nifty trick I like it. So I ended up getting a response from someone I e-mailed named "LeToolman" and this is what he had to say:

Hi Aaron,
I checked out our Wilkenson drawknife and the large bolt on ours doesn't move either. It looks like it was penned on the back to prevent it from unscrewing off. The penned part would have to be ground down to unscrew it, but that would damage the drawknife and its value. I wouldn't take it off unless you had to. I see that the chrome plating is flaking off on yours, it's not worth replating it, I would just brush off the surface rust and leave it as is, as long as the handles lock in place.
Have a great day,
LeToolman

So I guess that settles it. I'm gonna clean around it   

A little roughness/flaking plating/etc. will have only a slight impact on its aerodynamics, and should not interfere with its use.

Nice draw knife.

Have you considered just removing all remnants of chrome and polishing the steel itself? Your can get a real nice high listed on the steel in the handles as well as the rest of it.

Once done just clear coat the handle steel with something like Protect-A-Clear. Jewelers use as well as boats on their stainless steel, aluminum etc etc to protect the finish and keep it from tarnishing.

As a matter of fact I'm going to be coating the metal work on a 43' ketch over the next couple weekends with it.

It's reversible if you ever want to remove it.

You could easily dress that draw knife up to be a show piece.

Just a thought.

Cheers...