Knife restoration

I found a knife hidden away in a box of tools I inherited recently from a clean out my grandfather had. Upon further inspection (it was quite rusty, forgot to get proper before photos, oops) it looked handmade, so I sent the old man a message asking about it. After some digging, turns out it was made by my great grandfather when he wanted a knife to use on the farm but didn’t want to pay for one (a trait I got), so in his memory, I’m going to fully restore it, antler, brass and rimu handle, and a leather sheath I’ll get my grandad to teach me how to make. Looking forward to the project and will post updated pictures on this thread as they happen. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dc00aa9a04.jpg


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That looks very useful just as it is.look forward to seeing how you get on.

Todays goal was to get the rust off with a vinegar bath, scrubbed all the rust off with a wire brush, then neutralised the blade again with baking soda and water paste https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9e7ed7914f.jpg
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Starting to look good :)

Thanks mate! Just having a think of how to do the handle now, and get the polishing done


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A sympathetic restoration or a modern make-over?

Remember - its only original till you change something , then it ceases to be Grandads original knife.....

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Originally Posted by Fee Knicks

A sympathetic restoration or a modern make-over?

Remember - its only original till you change something , then it ceases to be Grandads original knife.....

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Modern makeover. His nice one is in a box somewhere, he made this one quickly for the garden


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Got it on the bench grinder today to get the worst of the pitting out, now for a polish when I get back home. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0e7adc93f4.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...21c8b615ef.jpg


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Bench grinder!!!!! Man the plastic swirly disc for rust removal that goes on angle grinder is your best friend,anyone who hasn't got one should buy one asap. Will sand wood nicely too. Awesome for derusting metal,gives it polished look too.

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Originally Posted by Kiwimaverick

Got it on the bench grinder today to get the worst of the pitting out, now for a polish when I get back home. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0e7adc93f4.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...21c8b615ef.jpg


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Ouch, that's going to take some polishing.....

oooohhhh bench grinder -- sorry mate but all it needed was a rotary wire brush - let older knives like that show some age rather than grind it out - to me one has created a lot of work to finish the knife - hours of hand sanding on an oil stone or time on linishing belts are now needed to get rid of the mess left by the bench grinder -all in my humble opinion was needed was rotary wire brush and sharpen on a stone or linishing belts or commercial wet stone - why does it have to look like some modern stainless dead smooth blade - its an old knive let it show some wear - I restore firearms - I dont try to make them look new just well looked after - let them show some patina

I hope Grandad was cremated cos he will be turning in his grave now .....

Your sympathetic restoration has done major damage to that blade - but its your knife now so have at it .....

@Kiwimaverick if you struggle to clean this up, send it to me and I'll run it on my belt grinder and flatten it/clean it up. (Free of charge to see a cool old knife in use again)

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Originally Posted by Nick-D

@Kiwimaverick if you struggle to clean this up, send it to me and I'll run it on my belt grinder and flatten it/clean it up. (Free of charge to see a cool old knife in use again)

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Thanks mate. I’ll let you know. I’m planning on getting a bench grinder / sander because I want to get into knife making as a hobby now


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[QUOTE=Kiwimaverick;1635746]Thanks mate. I’ll let you know. I’m planning on getting a bench grinder / sander because I want to get into knife making as a hobby now


Please don’t :)

Take Nick - D up on his offer and inspect his handiwork when you get the knife back, and start from there, making sure that anything you do from that point forward is only an improvement

It's going to be fine once it's cleaned up - sometimes the flap discs or sanding discs are the way forward and other times you really need to get a bit more heavy to get to the bottom of the pitting.

If you don't take the pits out, any blood or fat and the like (which is quite acidic) gets caught up and you can't clean it out. Next time you pull the knife out it's got crusty corroded bits and all your work is back to square one!

I can understand what everyone is saying about sympathetic clean ups, but from the first lot of photos after soaking in acid there was still quite a bit of deep pitting. So while the bench grinder is *really* aggressive and I agree there were less abrupt ways to take the metal back under the depth of the pits sometimes you gotta use what you got. It still had to be done from what I could see, you can't fill the pitting back in without warping and stuffing the heat treatment up.

Great granddad would probably be bloody happy that the project is underway and that knowledge is being gained and hands-on time is being spent - once it's complete the knife will still be what it is, and the only thing now is not to thin it any more than it needs.

Over twenty years ago I picked up a rusty bit of steel out in seaside sand dune. Recognised the brass bit as middle of knife of sorts.took it home,knocked off worst of rust,cut section off unused lightweight slasher handle and fitted it then gave blade quick sharpen.this has sat on bench in kitchen for cutting dog roll etc forever since.Attachment 264029

As you can see,it's rough.pitted to buggery and edge is terrible. So seeing comments in this thread...off to the shed.Attachment 264030

Attachment 264031

Held knife carefully in left hand,the above angle grinder disc carefully used for no more than ten seconds per side.Attachment 264032

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Then after another thirty or so seconds of more sanding,buffing a quick rub with oily rag and job done. It still has its uniqueness,it still shows its wear n tear. It's still" the old beach knife"Attachment 264034

Attachment 264035 the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Attachment 264035 the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

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I like how mine is looking so far, definitely getting some shine to it. Project is on pause for the moment while I find some tools to get the blade polished and the handle built.


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Originally Posted by Kiwimaverick

I like how mine is looking so far, definitely getting some shine to it. Project is on pause for the moment while I find some tools to get the blade polished and the handle built.


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Excellent, because at the end of the day it is your knife and you restore it how you want to :)

I look forward to seeing your progress :)

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Attachment 264035 the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

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Nice job!

micky D -that blood y thing looks like something fred flintstone used to carve tucker for the dinasour! if you took it over the coast it s reide in shantytown for sure!

Good work mate, nice to see you giving it a second life. You can thank everyone for their opinions so far on how you should do it and what your grandad might think - you do it how you want to. But def consider taking up the offers of help as a good way to learn!

Leaving some patina or not, you'll know it's your grandad's knife you're holding, and that's all that matters.

Looking forward to seeing the progress when you get back into it. Hope you enjoy the learning experience!