Newbie looking for some help

[afaust]

Good morning everyone,

My name is Allan and I’m up in Ottawa Canada. I’ve got a few older knives that either I inherited from family, or have had since I was younger, that are rusted and looking worse for wear. I’ve been looking into sharpening due to my woodworking, my wife’s kitchen knives etc, but to start off, I’d like to restore one of the knives I have. First of all, I’d like to ask if there is a specific name to this knife (ie Bowie buck etc…) I also see a specific thing on the end that would potentially allow the handle be removed. The problem is that all the videos I’ve seen with handles “similar” is that the handle gets destroyed and replaced, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to remove without destroying it. I am a chemist so I do understand metalworking, chemicals etc so the restoration process for the blade is not foreign to me, but the issue is the handle, and also, with respect to the shape of the blade, is the top part a cutting edge as well? Ts information like this that I’m looking for.

[billyO]

Hello afaust, welcome.
Pictures would sure help us come up with a decent answer.

[M&J]

Welcome!

Pins and epoxy handles can be heated to 160-175F/71-79c to weaken the epoxy bond. For knives with a mechanical fastener like bolts or screws, those are fairly destructive that generally destroys the handle to get it off. With careful drilling it is possibly but time consuming.

A variety of ways a knife handle is attached. If you can show us a picture that would help.

These are the shouldered type bolts that some knives are fastened together with:

[TexasJack]

Why does afaust's post contain pictures of katanas? Could this be a troll sneaking in with a "help me" story?

[billyO]

Originally Posted by TexasJack

Why does afaust's post contain pictures of katanas? Could this be a troll sneaking in with a "help me" story?

. . . and why don't I see any of those pictures?

[KenH]

BillyO, that's my question also, I don't see any pictures at all.

[Doug Lester]

Nope, no pictures with me either.

Doug

[M&J]

No pics show up for me either.

[Allanfaust]

First of all, I want to apologize to anyone who has responded, although it wasn’t my fault… I’ve had to create a new user name and reply here, and I’ll try to put all the info into this reply, just in case I cannot reply because of your site and it’s administrators… I’ll explain. After I sent my registration etc, I started this thread. I posted pictures of the knife using the photo icon above… but it never showed up in the message (why, I do not know). Then when someone graciously replied (thank you) I tried to respond and it said cannot reply, post pictures etc… I couldn’t répond because of the permissions… once again, why I do not know… I grew up with BBS’s and forums, so I know it wasn’t anything I did. I even tried emailing the administrators 2x with no results.., so to protect my integrity (since I always respond to replies in my posts) I created this account (and will see what happens)

So to reply…. To Billyo I posted 2 pics… but they didn’t show up… and texasjack I do not know where you see katanas…. Hopefully this pic will show up…

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9vm9kpzRaGkPmmmx6

And for TexasJack, I’m not a troll… just a slightly pissed off Newbie that cannot répond to a post because of an administrative error…. My apologies… I’ve been trying for a few days to repond.

For M&J, I’ll post another link below, and ive learned in the meantime that I can build a tool to unscrew it. I’m still looking for as much info as I can, but I’ve received many responses on another forum that has less of a “administration” issue. If you are still willing to rely if you have info, I would appreciate it. https://photos.app.goo.gl/99Erd7PgPhHqzJiB6

Hopefully the pics will show and my permissions won’t be revoked or changed like with the other account… if I get a response to this, I will respond, that I guarantee… if I don’t… talk to your admins, because I’m not creating a third account just to get an answer to my questions… I’ll just go elsewhere…

Allan

[TexasJack]

Odd that I'm the only one seeing the other pictures. I can't explain that, but they are still there.

Thanks, Allan, for clearing things up. I wasn't trying to single you out, but we've had some spammers and such on here that will post a question that looks innocent, but have a link that goes to some Asian sales site.

As for your knife, yes, you can remove that butt piece and the leather washers that constitute a handle will come off. You can buy replacements and build a new one. Before doing that, I'd consider just buffing the handle up a bit, unless the leather is rotted.

The blade should be pretty easy to clean up. Take your time doing it - where people usually go wrong is when they get anxious and they try to grind off the rust with a 50 grit belt or a coarse file. Fine sand paper, oil, spend some time.

[M&J]

Before getting into it, this may be a vintage valuable knife so before taking chemicals and other restoration techniques, are there any legible markings on this? Some of these types of knives were common in WWII so leaving them as is may be preferable.

A stacked leather handle repair came up recently in another forum. In that case the pommel was pinned/peened. Finding the pin and drilling that out allowed that owner to remove the leather and insert new pieces for the damaged ones. Getting the leather reconditioned-rehydrated may also be a possibility on yours currently as it is.

There are alternate ways to clean and rejuvenate this knife without deconstructing it.
White vinegar works to some extent on certain levels of rust. This may also lightly etch/haze the metal so it is hard to say if this is a method I'd suggest. Some of these old knives this type of age patina is desirable over a restoration.

TexasJack, Alex has censored certain strings for the general members though mod status users will see them in the clear.

[Ed Caffrey]

What I see in those pics, is a knife that just needs a bit of TLC to get it back into nice condition. As has been said...FIRST.... check to see if their is any value in the knife/as a collector piece. ANYTHING done in the form of "clean up" can destroy the value. I've seen it happen many times over the years. Somebody comes to my shop with what was a highly valuable knife, that had been butchered with a dremel of bench grinder, asking me to "fix it". That is damage and value loss that cannot be undone.

That being said, some light hand sanding on the leather handle with 220 grit of finer, and an overnight soak in straight mineral oil will bring it back to life. It's a few days process.... after an overnight soak, you need to let the handle "drain" for a day of two atop a clean rag. Being a natural material, and subject to "moving" (meaning it will shrink and expand with environmental changes), you DO NOT want to put any type of "sealer" on it. Allow it to "breath" and it will last much longer than if a "sealer" is used. So folks dip/soak older/worn leather handles in melted beeswax.... which also works very well.

As has also been said, take your time and HAND finish/sand the blade..... any refurbishing job on a knife (if done correctly) is usually a somewhat lengthy process... and the more "elbow grease" you apply, typically the better it comes out.

[afaust]

Just a quick thanks to Ray Rogers.... He finally got me access to be able to respond to the forum and being able to post... a really strange issue... i could not do anything until today. I will be posting either today or tomorrow to respnd with more news i have on the knife, as well as a couple others I've found while going through stuff...

My apologies once again for the delay in responding, I always respond to messages, but i wasnt going to create many accounts to do so, wasnt my intention, but the way that the forum is set up, it wouldnt allow me to do so.

Allan

[afaust]

Originally Posted by Ed Caffrey

What I see in those pics, is a knife that just needs a bit of TLC to get it back into nice condition. As has been said...FIRST.... check to see if their is any value in the knife/as a collector piece. ANYTHING done in the form of "clean up" can destroy the value. I've seen it happen many times over the years. Somebody comes to my shop with what was a highly valuable knife, that had been butchered with a dremel of bench grinder, asking me to "fix it". That is damage and value loss that cannot be undone.

That being said, some light hand sanding on the leather handle with 220 grit of finer, and an overnight soak in straight mineral oil will bring it back to life. It's a few days process.... after an overnight soak, you need to let the handle "drain" for a day of two atop a clean rag. Being a natural material, and subject to "moving" (meaning it will shrink and expand with environmental changes), you DO NOT want to put any type of "sealer" on it. Allow it to "breath" and it will last much longer than if a "sealer" is used. So folks dip/soak older/worn leather handles in melted beeswax.... which also works very well.

As has also been said, take your time and HAND finish/sand the blade..... any refurbishing job on a knife (if done correctly) is usually a somewhat lengthy process... and the more "elbow grease" you apply, typically the better it comes out.

Well, to respond… to restore r rehabilitate, I’ll be going the sanding/elbow grease method, which I planned for in the first place…. Second… value to me is secondary, since I don’t expect it to be an extremely rare gem, and it belonged to my father, so I don’t expect to sell anyways.

What I did find out about it is that is a German knife probably between 1910-1950’s, a scout knife, made by a solingen knife maker. No marks on the blade from maker. The end is a screw, so I had to make a tool to be able to unscrew it from the end and take it apart. Ive kept all the disks together in order and they seem to be in great shape, so a will be soaking them etc once done, thx for the tip. On the handle, there spare markings, an S or horizontal S followed by a 578 followed by 8” probably meaning a solignen knife model 578 8 inches long blade.

Allan

[afaust]

Pictures posted the proper way for info.IMG_7035.jpg

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