fix it or keep as is??

[mjgreen44]

My father's knife collection contains a WWII vintage combat knife with CAMILLUS,NY. on one side of the blade and U.S.N. stamped on the other. The blade still has a blackened finish, but the blade and guard are slightly rusty. The leather handle has blackened as well. The handle is missing the butt, which looks to have been fastened on with some type of center screw. I suspect that there were zillions of these made, but just to make sure...will I decrease the value of the knife by cleaning it up and fixing the handle?

 

[sac troop]

This is IMHO. I would address the light rust with one of the following. Mineral spirits, Hoppe's #9 (gun cleaning solvent), or even WD-40 will do. Apply it to 0000 steel wool (extra fine). The 0000 is fine enough that it won't attack the original finish but will help to remove the rust. After cleaning the rust off wipe it down with a soft rag with a little of the solvent you used. I would follow that with a moisture displacing oil that will inhibit future rust forming. I prefer Boeshield T-9, or CRC 3-36. Breakfree, and Ballistol also have worked well for me. There are a lot of other products that would fall into this category that I haven't used. If the blade is going to be put away and not subject to inspection; I would add a coating of "Renaissance Wax" to the metal after the oil dried.

Pictures of the knife would help as to further suggestions on what to do and not do. In general the darkening of the leather is usually considered "honest wear" and attempts to bring it back close to an original look only hurt the value of the piece. If the condition of the leather is other wise good the best practice would be (leave it alone).

While Camillus was the second largest producer of the WW2 MK2 Combat knife, I think they made less than 1 million of them, (others here can correct me on this). The earliest MK2's they made were made with a "screw on pommel". This didn't last very long as it was determined that this was a flaw. Your knife may in deed speak to that. Finding original correct parts for that knife would be problematic. It's likely that the end of the tang of the knife has been damaged. This also brings up the whole question of a restored historical item which can get rather complicated. Before I'd consider addressing that subject I'd need to see the item.