I've got my great uncle's issue knife from WWII and its in pretty poor overall condition . Is there anybody who can clean it up and restore it to its prior glory ?
Sidearms & Scatterguns Knife restoration
- Thread starter WeiserBucks
- Start date
Id be careful.
For something with historical signifigance "preservation" rather than "restoration" might be your goal.
If its just a tang with a leather washer hilt chewed away by mice than by all means get a new grip installed.
But if its honest wear from hard service leave it alone.
My service KaBar is beat to shit, parkerizing worn, minor pitting, dents in leather washer handle, tang is bent at about ten degrees, sheath is crusty.
but it all tells a story of use, the bent tang coming from platoon members trying to learn to throw it as they saw me do (Mfuckers!).
I wouldnt restore my used knife and erase the story when I could just buy new.
For something with historical signifigance "preservation" rather than "restoration" might be your goal.
If its just a tang with a leather washer hilt chewed away by mice than by all means get a new grip installed.
But if its honest wear from hard service leave it alone.
My service KaBar is beat to shit, parkerizing worn, minor pitting, dents in leather washer handle, tang is bent at about ten degrees, sheath is crusty.
but it all tells a story of use, the bent tang coming from platoon members trying to learn to throw it as they saw me do (Mfuckers!).
I wouldnt restore my used knife and erase the story when I could just buy new.
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The handle isn't bad , but it appears that someone tried sharpening the blade with a file , or a grinder , or both . Not sure what it would take to clean it up.
Yeah, it looks like it. I think the collector value is shot, but I’m not an expert on that.
I’d give Tom Krein a call or email, he’s one of the most knowledgeable knife historians around. Another one to call or email would be Bernard Levine.
Re-grinding that wouldn’t be difficult at all, but you wanna make damn sure that doing so isn’t going to ruin any potential value, because if the mangling was done by a service member during the war, it could not damage the value.
If you just want it cleaned up and usable, and have no intention of ever letting it out of the family, that’s a different story.
I’d give Tom Krein a call or email, he’s one of the most knowledgeable knife historians around. Another one to call or email would be Bernard Levine.
Re-grinding that wouldn’t be difficult at all, but you wanna make damn sure that doing so isn’t going to ruin any potential value, because if the mangling was done by a service member during the war, it could not damage the value.
If you just want it cleaned up and usable, and have no intention of ever letting it out of the family, that’s a different story.
I'm not concerned about it's potential value at all , it's a family heirloom from this point forward.
Okay, I would go ahead and give Tom a call and ask him if he’d be interested in regrinding it. He’s ground more blades in a year than most knifemakers put together have in their entire careers. He regularly regrinds knives and does a wicked job of it.
I’d offer to do it, but I’m not really taking in new work right now due to health reasons and all that.
All it really needs is to have the main bevel reground cleanly, by someone who has a lot of time on a grinder and knows what they’re doing. Ask to see their work. If they don’t want to provide examples, keep looking. If you can’t find anyone willing to do it, message me here and I’ll see what I can do.
I’d offer to do it, but I’m not really taking in new work right now due to health reasons and all that.
All it really needs is to have the main bevel reground cleanly, by someone who has a lot of time on a grinder and knows what they’re doing. Ask to see their work. If they don’t want to provide examples, keep looking. If you can’t find anyone willing to do it, message me here and I’ll see what I can do.
I wouldn't do a thing to that knife. like PMclaine said, the knife shows use and history. don't erase that...
Thats a KaBar and it looks like honest use.
Id only stone it.
Better yet make it a wall hanging tribute to your family member.
Mine looks worse and Id never do anything other than oil/maintain it.
Never to be restored....
Courtesy of my platoon mates while out at JEST, Ologapo PI.
I bought my Kabar about 1985. I was senior year in high school all Gung Ho about going in The Suck, Id already signed my papers and Service Merchandise had the KABars at their gun counter - ah general merchandise stores that had gun counters - those were the days.
This picture is my old KaBar next to a new production......
Looks like KaBar did away with parkerizing and now they coat there blades with some shit.
Ill take Park any day of the week.
Courtesy of my platoon mates while out at JEST, Ologapo PI.
I bought my Kabar about 1985. I was senior year in high school all Gung Ho about going in The Suck, Id already signed my papers and Service Merchandise had the KABars at their gun counter - ah general merchandise stores that had gun counters - those were the days.
This picture is my old KaBar next to a new production......
Looks like KaBar did away with parkerizing and now they coat there blades with some shit.
Ill take Park any day of the week.
Apologize in advance for the hi-jack. Have a Western that belonged to my grandfather (WWII I think). It’s too small in my hand due to the short grip/pommel and i’d like to resurrect it into something I can use. The steel sharpens really nicely and to my liking and I don’t want it to end up in a drawer for another 40 years. Any ideas?
Attachments
Are those clear (clouded) plastic washers in the handle?
Lots of WWII GIs rebuilt the handles of their knives using aircraft canopys, our own or the enemies, for the discs.
What is the history behind the handle?
Theatre made?
A quick read on the practice of theatre made knives....
Introduction to Theatre of War Knives
Through research I was doing for a custom project about two years ago (2016) I stumbled across the mention of a personal carry knife worn by a US Navy crewman at the Bikini Atoll Baker Test of the atomic bomb in 1946 - The mention called the crewman's knife a "World War II theatre knife". I did n...
www.bladesmithsforum.com
I'd leave it be put it in a case or shadow box with a picture of your great uncle. The retired warrior has earned its rest.
Keep it as-is.
Just ensure that the steel does not rust, and the leather parts don't deteriorate.
Some of my favorite museum exhibits are not restored to look pretty: just stabilized to show the state that they ended up in.
Photo from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_F2A_Buffalo
