Cattaraugus handle redo

S

superc

Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
382
Yet another Cattaraugus 225-Q has arrived via online purchase (makes 5 now). This one, which is otherwise in fairly good shape considering 60 years of ownership/use has arrived with both a loose pommel and a loose cross guard and shrunken washers (about a 32 of an inch of gap at the bottom).

I see two options. Two one second bursts with a MIG welder set on D, one to the pommel and one to the guard and the looseness will vanish for all time, OR, disassembling the handle, rebrazing the cross guard, adding a new washer, compressing it all and reattaching the pommel. The second option is probably less horrifying to many here. I am willing to try the second as a weekend project, but lack knowledge of the original attachment mechanism for the pommel. I am presuming the two visible studs are actually rivet heads holding the three plates together. However, unlike the Kabars, there does not appear to be an external cross pin through the tang. A speculation is that the cross pin lays between the metal plates, but this can not be confirmed by exterior examination. Is there a non destructive way of removing a loose pommel on one of these tools?
 
Good luck getting the pins actually out, though. I tried for about 5 hours one day, using everything from a drill press (pins are too tapered to cut easily) to time with a flat punch and maul (pins are too pointed for the punch to get a purchase) to a heat gun (apparently they're steel too, so they expanded with the pommel).

I eventually just chopped off the pommel and got it professionally rehandled. Looks great, now. :D
 
You could simply try and rehydrate the leather to make it swell and reduce looseness.
 
Jeff Clark said:
You could simply try and rehydrate the leather to make it swell and reduce looseness.
Click to expand...

I did exactly that with leather conditioner, sanded it smooth, and finished it off with boot black sole edges. It's not perfect, but it works. It took about a week to soak up and expand and several days for the blackening to dry.

225Q_2976.jpg


It is a solid knife and I had Kenny Rowe make me a sheath for it. I really like this old knife, I consider it the original sharpened prybar. It sure took a nice edge.
 
Well once I saw the post showing how it goes together, I tried tapping the pins back into the leather. That actually worked as the fingernail width gap soon shrank to nothing. However, several of the washers then revealed themselves to be split/broken. I Gorilla Glued them back in line, and put a drop on the tang, but I have also ordered some new washers as a standby. I figure the split washers will eventually defeat the glue and all of them can be removed that day. Since you have actually seen all of the spiraled pins, do they seem relatively easy to replace, or should they be preserved to the extent possible? I am thinking that with the bare tang clamped in a vise, a convex rivet punch (possibly with a small center indent) should work as a punch to drive them out with a ball peen hammer. I view the next nightmare as getting the thickness of the washers exactly correct for reusing the pommel. Probably will wind up adding a spacer or two for adjustment. I won't be trying to clone the original handle appearance (thinking of rainbow colors), just reuse the same pommel. With the pommel arrangement being what it is, I can see why Cattaraugus had mashed washers. Regular compression tricks won't quite do the job as the critical issue will be position of the middle washer in reference to the stack. They must have just used a hydraulic press to go exactly so far down, then twist, then shape the pommel and drill the holes, in that order. Lining up the holes while compressing and twisting will be fun I suspect. All before the epoxy sets. :)

BTW, while I have some sheaths in fair condition, I also note that at least one company (Allied) now makes and sells replica sheaths in the (backwards) WW2 pattern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top