Recommendation? Restoring/Taking care of a knife.

[Tadas]

Good afternoon,
My apologies if I am posting in the wrong sub forum, could not decide between General Knife Discussion and Maintenance, T&E nor could I find any clues to help me.
I would like to let you know off the bat that I also have no experience tinkering with knifes yet, or anything to do with knifes at all.


So, I have recently found what I suppose is a hunting knife manufactured by "Puma".
As it is in rather sketchy condition (See pictures below), I am wondering where should I start on taking care of it?

Picture of the knife in question. (hyperlink that leads to imgur).

Cleaned the knife up a bit with a scrub.

The issues:
The edge of the blade seems to be still in, what I would consider, very good condition as it is still able to cut through paper effortlessly (forgive me if this is some freaky test that maybe shows nothing, just trying to let you guys know all I do about it).
Overall I could not spot any damage to the tang/blade apart from it being fairly unclean.
The leather sheath is clearly damaged (by animals?), at the very least the part that I suppose should attach to a belt (wondering if you guys have any ideas how to deal with it?)
The knife handle seems to have sustained some damage as well, probably from the same source as the sheath has. From what I have found on the internet it appears that the handle is made from a polymer named Kraton, was wondering if I could either restore it somehow or should I replace it (also looking forward to seeing what ideas you guys have).

I am interested in learning more about the knife itself, so if you have any knowledge about it do not hesitate to share it, same goes for the manufacturer although I have found some bits of info in this forum and in other places.

 

[killgar]

Welcome to Bladeforums Tadas.

Here are my thoughts-

The handle- I don't think the handle is going to be fixable in any way that would be durable and survive regular use of the knife. At first I was thinking that maybe the butt could be heated and melted into a smooth, rounded end, but it looks like the damage goes all the way through, with kraton missing, so I don't think that will work. Perhaps there is some sort of glue or caulk out there that could be used to fill the holes and produce a smooth end, but I don't know. I've used a variety of caulks and liquid rubber coatings like Plastidip, but I don't think they would work for such an application.

The sheath- My first thought is to make or find a new sheath. But if it's important to you to use that sheath, I would cut/remove all the stitching, remove the old belt loop by cutting the loop stiches and cut off the remnant of the loop that extends from the back of the sheath, make a new belt loop out of a piece of leather, stitch the new belt loop using the same stich holes, then stitch the rest of the sheath back together. This could all be done by hand, and would require the acquisition of a piece of thick leather, some heavy leather/saddle thread, and a large needle, and something to punch or drill stich holes in the new loop. All are widely available online, if not in a local leather or craft store. I would also apply some leather conditioner to the outside of the sheath.

As for information about the knife, you already know what it is and who made it. The "106 RC" etched on the blade is the manufacturing date code, and according to the Puma website that code is for knives made in the first half of 2006.

Good luck with the knife. And slicing through paper is a common method for testing sharpness .

 

[Bill DeShivs]

You did a good job on the clean up! Notice the blade is a different color near the edge. Puma knife blades are industrial chrome plated to prevent rust. The plating near the edge has been removed by sharpening.
The handle can be smoothed by sanding with 120 grit sandpaper, though it will show the sanding marks.
If you have a shoe repair shop nearby, the could repair the sheath.

 

[Old Biker]

I enjoy putting handles on blades and messing with leather work. So if it was my knife, I would make a Both a new handle and a new sheath.

O.B.

 

[Tadas]

Welcome to Bladeforums Tadas.

Here are my thoughts-

The handle- I don't think the handle is going to be fixable in any way that would be durable and survive regular use of the knife. At first I was thinking that maybe the butt could be heated and melted into a smooth, rounded end, but it looks like the damage goes all the way through, with kraton missing, so I don't think that will work. Perhaps there is some sort of glue or caulk out there that could be used to fill the holes and produce a smooth end, but I don't know. I've used a variety of caulks and liquid rubber coatings like Plastidip, but I don't think they would work for such an application.

The sheath- My first thought is to make or find a new sheath. But if it's important to you to use that sheath, I would cut/remove all the stitching, remove the old belt loop by cutting the loop stiches and cut off the remnant of the loop that extends from the back of the sheath, make a new belt loop out of a piece of leather, stitch the new belt loop using the same stich holes, then stitch the rest of the sheath back together. This could all be done by hand, and would require the acquisition of a piece of thick leather, some heavy leather/saddle thread, and a large needle, and something to punch or drill stich holes in the new loop. All are widely available online, if not in a local leather or craft store. I would also apply some leather conditioner to the outside of the sheath.

As for information about the knife, you already know what it is and who made it. The "106 RC" etched on the blade is the manufacturing date code, and according to the Puma website that code is for knives made in the first half of 2006.

Good luck with the knife. And slicing through paper is a common method for testing sharpness .

Thank you for your thoughts Killgar, and especially thank you about the info on the blade, I had not been able to find the meaning behind "106 RC" before,
I was thinking maybe trying to somehow use epoxy to fill the holes, but I think I will try to dig a little bit deeper into this hobby and maybe do as Old Biker and you have suggested, I think messing with leather work would be interesting, not sure how would I go about making a new handle, maybe I could check out the local area and see if there are any craftsmen around.

You did a good job on the clean up! Notice the blade is a different color near the edge. Puma knife blades are industrial chrome plated to prevent rust. The plating near the edge has been removed by sharpening.
The handle can be smoothed by sanding with 120 grit sandpaper, though it will show the sanding marks.
If you have a shoe repair shop nearby, the could repair the sheath.

Thanks!
So does that mean that the blade is now vulnerable to rust? If so are there any ways to prevent rusting?
I'll definitely pay a visit to nearby shoe repair shops if my own attempts go awry, thanks for the suggestion!

I enjoy putting handles on blades and messing with leather work. So if it was my knife, I would make a Both a new handle and a new sheath.

O.B.

I think I might try messing with the sheath myself, although I've no ideas how to deal with the handle. Thanks!

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Just keep a light coat of oil on the blade.