Old K-Bar Refurbish

[hammerdownnow]

My nephew found this old folding hunter in a tool box and gave it to me. I was thinking of trying my hand at refinishing it and thought I might ask for suggestions before I started. ANY help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[hammerdownnow]

Well, here it is. Got no help or advice I asked for, but that was not too hard. I like it better now. Just a few little hitches. The shield fell out but it was just glued on. I think that was because the handles got to hot to hold. The blades turned a little blue but I got that all sanded off and you can't even tell. When I get the shield glued back on and the marks from the vise ground back down on the bolsters it ought to look pretty good. Anyone know how I can get the dark color back into the handle?I might put it up on ebay as a "customized" model. What do you all think?

[hammerdownnow]

64 lookie-loo's and no comments?

[Robert Mayo]

I would have just wiped it down and kept it the way it was.

Bob

[rhrocker]

Not me! I like the way Roc ground away the bad part, making it much more stylish, plus it surely increased it's value.

[Mike Turner]

I am with Robert I would have left it the way it was and just wiped it down. I don't like the modification. Just my 2 cents.

Mike

[McAhron]

I think I would have just hit it with some 000 steel wool.Looks good though

[Josh O Mason]

Sorry I didnt get to this before Roc...

before I started my hand at making knives, I did a whole lot of cleaning and refurbishing of old pocketknives, razors, and fixed blades. I've been doing it all my young life. One time I cleaned an old knife for my barber. He must have showed it to everyone that came in there. Soon, people from my town brought me their knives all the time, and I made them look brand new.

Heres some of the stuff I do to get an old beat up pocket knife looking brand new. (btw, I dont use a vise or anything...just a couple of towels on my kitchen table laid out, and my hands.)

For rust on the blade I use one of those abraisive "erasers" to get all the tough stuff off of them. Just scrub the hell out of the blades, getting down on the ricasso area too, and just get all the tough stuff off. It helps to get in the tight areas by closing the blade about halfway, and exposing some of the harder to reach areas of the ricasso. Use it on the spine too. It will brighten the steel and brass to a satin kind of finish. be sure to blow out the knife really well...some of those abraisive grits from the eraser can get down in there, and be a bitch.

After that I use some really fine sandpaper, usually 400 grit to make the finish just a bit finer. Go over all the areas you previously did with the eraser.

The Dremel tool has been a savior to me for this kind of work... I use the little steel wire wheel, and that gets into the really tight spots of the joint and the ricasso nicely. Gets all that black crud, lint, and rust out of the joint, and brightens it up a bit. I use it on the inside too, where the brass and backsprings are. Brightens things up, and gets all the crud and rust out.

Flitz is also something that helps me out a whole lot. I open up all the blades on the knife, and use it on a q-tip to get into the inside brass and backsprings and stuff. It's nice to use on the bolsters too. Makes em look like mirrors.

To finish the blades I use some green rouge on either the felt wheel on the dremel, or a little small buffing wheel set on a small bench grinder. I just carefully hold the knife with my hands, and make sure nothing is getting too hot. I use the big wheel for the blades, the small wheel on the dremel to get really tight areas on the ricasso. You can also hold the bolsters up against the buffer, or the dremel for a little bit, and they will polish nicely. Sometimes the handle material, like what you have on your Ka-Bar will melt or discolor, so if they dont have any major scratches, and are fairly good lookin...Flitz on a rag would be the best bet. Also, dont forget to polish that shield. Use the flitz for that. I think a well polished shield just sets the knife off.

If everythings lookin good, wipe it down really well with a clean rag...Make sure all the grit and excess compound is wiped off. Use a toothpick and q-tips to get it out of some tight spots. Use some good oil and get a few drops into the joints. Work the blade back and forth to loosen things up.

Wipe all your fingerprints off the blade and elsewhere, and there you go. A brand new knife.

Your knife looks really good Roc. I like what you did with it.

Now it's time for me to take this knowledge and meticulous skill and put it towards making myself my own knives...lol

Hope this helped you man...

[Josh O Mason]

btw....what happened to the second blade? Did you grind that one down or something? Why?

hmm.... didn't notice that before.

[NJStricker]

Sorry, I would have kept it as it was also. The second blade just looks like a worn out, refurbished blade, not what I would call "customized." Just my 2 cents. . .

[rhrocker]

Roc, on the 2nd blade that you ground on some, you could have made a screwdrive from it, since there isn't much left to be a blade. That way, you have one nice blade, plus a tool to boot! I have an old one here in the drawer I might send to you for a "tune up" like you did on this one. Good work!

[hammerdownnow]

[Hot&CoaledForge]

You had me worried about you, Roc. Whew, what a relief! - Jim

[hammerdownnow]

I am sorry. I figured I would get tarred and feathered for doing something like that to a knife. Instead you all tried to lead me gently to the light.

Thanks to rhrocker for helping me pull the prank, and to Josh for taking the time to write that tutorial.

When collecting old knives there are two main things that make the knife the most valuable. The fullness of the blades and the natural patena it has aquired. The patena is so important to the value that sometimes in a damaged knife, the patena is all it has for value. If you come upon an old knife, try not to disturb the patena as you could be sanding away hundreds maybe thousands of dollars of value.

My nephew did find these knives in an old toolbox in the basement of a house he moved into side by side. I wonder what the tale of these two knives is. If only they could talk. Altho the pattern is not overly valuable, the value of the ground on one is completely destroyed.

What happened to that knife is an extreme case, but there is a saying collectors have. They call it "Kentucky Mint". It is where some well meaning person takes a knife to a buffer trying to restore it to perfect condition. A savey collector is not fooled by this and the value is depreciated rather than enhanced. Be careful with those rusty old knives you have.

Again, sorry about that. hope you all can forgive me...someday. The girls at the shop got me good today by calling and waking me with a tale of one of them quitting. I was a little salty for a minute when I found out it was just some stupid April fools joke. Then I had to chuckle because I got my just deserts.

[rhrocker]

Huh! Wha...! This was a joke?