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Knife Restoration Project

Shovelbuck

Shovelbuck

Active Member
About a month ago, an old K-Bar USMC knife came to me for a restoration. I'd seen photos of it before agreeing to attempt the task, but when received, it looked worse that the photos! Regardless, the history of the knife along with the large amount of sentimental value the knife has to it's owner, I went ahead without hesitation. It was a great learning experience for me plus an honor to do it for a good friend.

Before.........................

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After.............

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Conserving the sheath made me the most nervous as I had to save the carved and painted letters. You could have pounded nails with that sheath it was so hard! It's now flexible again and the fungus is all gone. Although it's a usable sheath, I wouldn't recommend it so I also supplied a new one for carrying the knife should it be used once in awhile.

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I like this knife so much that I now hope to find a crusty and rusty one to restore for myself!:)
 
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That looks awesome Jay !!!!

Next time please go through the steps

of what you did to restore it.
 
risto2351 said:
That looks awesome Jay !!!!

Next time please go through the steps

of what you did to restore it.
Click to expand...

Here's the short version......I first started by removing the old leather handle and guard. I started sanding the blade with 80 grit, working it all the way to 320. There are still some pitting in the blade but there was no way to remove them all. Hardest part was the blood groove. I then gave it about 8 coats of BirchWood Casey's bluing. At this same time I straightened the guard and removed the rust from it, bluing it at the same time.
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I then test fit the new leather washers and pommel. I had to build a special clamping system to compress the washers. Once compressed on the tang, the hole was drilled through the pommel for a pin to hold it all in place.
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After that it was shaping the new leather handle. That is hard work! A dremel sander or grinder simply burns it. I ended up rough cutting it to shape with a scroll saw, then a lot of hand sanding with 60 grit up to 220. Then a couple coats of Tru-Oil knocked back with burlap. The grooves were cut in with a small rat tailed rasp, then painted black. This was done before the oil finish.
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The sheath received a good cleaning and oiling with some products that I got from a leather shop.
After the knifes handle was done, I gave the blade a couple more coats of bluing. There's many more little things that were done, too many to remember to post here. :)
 
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