225Q restoration

[BigWhiteFord]

Hey all,


Here is a 1940's WW2 Cattaragus 225Q military/hunting knife that I have just finished a resto/mod on. 6" blade, 4.5" handle, it's a big knife! Reground the blade to have a convex grind rather than the original saber flat grind. All new leather for the handle, and fixed up the steel hardware. I made a new leather sheath for it to, but forgot to take pictures of that...

New leather handle being glued up. These are individual squares, with a slot cut in them for the knife tang to fit through.

Handle has been rough-shaped using my homemade belt grinder.

Some nut brown leather dye, and several coats of Sno-Seal waterproofing, and here is the final product, shown beside an identical knife that I am working on for my youngest brother. His knife looks a little better than what I started with for mine (I've also done the first grind/sharpen on his in these pics which is why the edge is so shiny).

 

[knarfeng]

SWEET!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[338375]

Great job. That looks very nice :thumbup:

 

[atf163]

That's some really nice work:thumbup: Makes me think I've put off picking up a 225Q for long enough.

 

[DennisStrickland]

these were considered quartermaster users in ww2. chuck karwin loved these & tested it. was 1095 or o1 at 60rr.indestructible in most uses

 

[LRR]

Did you take the pommel off and slide the leather washers on or did you cut the washers and fit them around the tang. I want to replace the handle on mine and can't decide how to deal with the pommel.

 

[Tostig]

Nice restoration !

I did the same restoration on a buddy of mine's 225Q a couple of months ago , these are great knives.... very sturdy and made to work. I would choose one of these over most modern offerings in the fixed blade area... The pommel especially is nice , that is how a hunting/survival knife pommel should be , hard and ready to work.

LRR , I made my disks then slit them on one end to fit over the tang , used epoxy you cannot tell the difference and you dont lose anything in strength really. Saved a lot of work in getting the pommel off and back on corretly and since the pommel was nice and tight I didnt want to mess with it.


Tostig

 

[JD Mandrell]

Very nice work!!

I love my 225Q, I cleaned mine up a little, but nowhere near as nice as yours.

Before:

 

[IVANKERLEY]

beautiful work! whats the material next to the pommel on your finished handle? is it just the epoxy thats been shaped and finished?
again really beautiful job on it:thumbup:
ivan

 

[LRR]

Thanks for the info. You've inspired me to do mine. Interesting that you almost never find these knives in an unused condition. In fact, you almost never find them in an almost unused condition. Have you worked with yours enough to determine how well it holds an edge?