1917 Remington Bayonet restoration

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

Hey all, normally my haunt is Shop Talk or the "for sale" subforum as a knife maker, but I have a restoration project that I wanted to get opinions on. And if there is a more proper forum for such, please let me know and I'll move the discussion there.

Backstory, a good friend and elder at the church found a Remington 1917 Bayonet in the woods when he was a young kid in 1962. Alabama, if memory serves. He wants me to do some restoration, but nothing too expensive. He definitely wants a handle put on, but also mentioned a few other things. Blade polished up (if I did that.....it would be a very basic rust removal and rough grit polish.....no intention of removing every pit). Chips from the edge near the tip taken out and resharpen the edge, I know they aren't really meant to be super sharp, but rather pointy and "stabby" if that's a word. Also the lug is bent, wants me to straighten it.

I know the bayonet is not very valuable, as a quick look showed that even one in decent condition is worth maybe $500. I doubt this thing is worth $100, and the work he is requesting will tally well over that, but I don't want to saddle him with a big expense. I'm thinking the smart thing is to just put a walnut handle on it and call it good, but I know he is pretty set on sharpening/basic polish as well, as well as the lug straightened.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

[scdub]

I wouldn’t be too concerned with the value of the knife. What matters is how much work the owner is willing to pay for.

I’d suggest giving him a couple of different options/prices for the repair and let him decide how much he wants to do.

 

[eveled]

I would wire wheel it, sharpen it, make a wood handle, walnut is a good choice.

Anything past that will require more labor and expense than he would be willing to pay.

I know he wants it polished, but cold blue might be a better?

Basically you can make it look a lot better fairly quickly. Past that point, it will take significantly more effort to make minimal improvement.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

leeeeeeeeeeeeeeets goooooo!