Stay Sharp
Well-known member
Ive posted a few gun restorations on this forum but this is a knife restoration.
I was asked by a friend in Texas, to repair a knife that belonged to his father and grandfather. It is not an expensive knife. It's worth is more in sentiment. He said the leather washers on the handle were dry rotted so he wanted me to make a new grip and since the knife was missing it's sheath, he asked that I make a new one.
this is what I got in the mail. To make the knife usable, he had dipped the handle in Plasti-kote. There was a lot of rust as well.
The tip had been snapped off a few years ago so he asked that I re-shape it.
I was able to get the red plastic off but that only revealed the remnants of the duct tape that must have been used before the plastic coating.
Once I got the leather off the handle, I found the tang was badly rusted. It can still be saved.
The aluminum pommel has some deep dings and scratches but I can remove them as well. The thing I found odd was that the brass finger guard has a visible notch but that is how it came from the manufacturer.
I re-shaped the blade and got rid of as much pitting as I could without wrecking the blade.
My friend asked that I use oasge for the handle. He sent along a few pieces of 50 year old Osage fence post to replace the leather of the grip.
Once I cut out the scales for the handle and saw the yellow, I just had to add some red. Since it is a hunting knife with a deep history, I cut two, thin bloodwood spacers that will lay closest to the metal of the handle.
I masked off the metal parts (easier to get the extra epoxy off) and assembled the parts. After 24 hours passes, I will be able to shape the handle and finish the polishing of the metal parts.
After a bit of shaping, the knife is starting to look like a knife again.
I was asked by a friend in Texas, to repair a knife that belonged to his father and grandfather. It is not an expensive knife. It's worth is more in sentiment. He said the leather washers on the handle were dry rotted so he wanted me to make a new grip and since the knife was missing it's sheath, he asked that I make a new one.
this is what I got in the mail. To make the knife usable, he had dipped the handle in Plasti-kote. There was a lot of rust as well.
The tip had been snapped off a few years ago so he asked that I re-shape it.
I was able to get the red plastic off but that only revealed the remnants of the duct tape that must have been used before the plastic coating.
Once I got the leather off the handle, I found the tang was badly rusted. It can still be saved.
The aluminum pommel has some deep dings and scratches but I can remove them as well. The thing I found odd was that the brass finger guard has a visible notch but that is how it came from the manufacturer.
I re-shaped the blade and got rid of as much pitting as I could without wrecking the blade.
My friend asked that I use oasge for the handle. He sent along a few pieces of 50 year old Osage fence post to replace the leather of the grip.
Once I cut out the scales for the handle and saw the yellow, I just had to add some red. Since it is a hunting knife with a deep history, I cut two, thin bloodwood spacers that will lay closest to the metal of the handle.
I masked off the metal parts (easier to get the extra epoxy off) and assembled the parts. After 24 hours passes, I will be able to shape the handle and finish the polishing of the metal parts.
After a bit of shaping, the knife is starting to look like a knife again.
