I picked up this ugly old mora the other day.....

Campbellclanman

Campbellclanman

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Hey there good people!
I just cant help it - since I have joined here I have amassed a huge amount of steel, and I even enjoy picking up the old - almost forgotten knives - knives that are great, and come from yesteryears great manufactures but hiding under abusive sharpening - or half a Centuries Patina and grime.
I spied this the other day, and the photo's of the seller were terrible to say the least - but from what little I could see, I could see the sheath, and the basic outlines of what looked to be a slightly larger and old Mora - I bought it for $12 NZ dollars - in your currency that's about 10 cents :D

ANYWAY...( sorry I can hear my self prattling away ), it arrived, and I was pleased to see my assessment wasn't wrong, now don't get me wrong folks - there are some absolutely beautiful Swedish Mora's out there, and this is certainly not one of them!! but those who know more about the Mora can you help me, as I want to know just a wee bit more ( if there is any more ) about this ol' girl I have here.

I can only just see markings on the knife that confirm my thoughts - plus the classic cut of the blades that mora have etc..anyway please join me in having a look at the photo's - which will probably make you appreciate your MORA MORE :D

The more common size I have seen of the Mora is usually around the 8 & 3/4 to 9 inch mark, this one is a fraction more and comes in at 11 inches long, still has its original Sheath, and certainly has seen better days!







The last owner bless his soul, took too the lovely grinds of the ol' sweed blade with a grinder, at times I would like to teach these people just what a grinder can do - but that would put me in the serial killer ranks.....







Now heres where you have to put on your glasses if you are old and falling to bits like me...in this photo you can see to the left a oval stamping - the last two letters decipherable are MM, and to the right there is the remains of an etch which I can make out "M" two missing letters then a "A" ( Mora ) directly underneath a "S"...then the letters fade away - which I think is "Sweden"



I think I will spend some time on this old girl - take the handle back instead of using a varnish / stain combination Mora used, I will use a separate solvent stain after I get the wood right, then varnish the handle like its never been before -then spend some time on the blade - try to keep the fading etches intact and work around that -what do you reckon - hey..its a junker lets be honest, but if my suspicions are right - this should be mind blowing steel on this baby - am I correct??
Thanks for looking guys and gals.
 
If the handle is tight on the blade, it should be easy to make a nice knife out of it. Too bad about the rough grinding. If a person understands a Scandi grind, there is no need to mess up the edge like that! Might be laminated steel - good stuff!
In the dim past, I had a knife like that, and I remember sanding down the handle. In fact I lightly shaped it with finger grooves. Don't go too deep if you do that! Good luck with it, Duncan - it is fun and good knifely practice to restore such a piece. It certainly won't lose value like a more important antique!
Can you restitch the sheath?
 
Not much of Info from my side Duncan, but this knife is a fantastic candidate to spend some enjoyable time in DIY restoration. Not so bad knife at all.

Mike
 
Thank you guys!
as you can see nothing special, but a project that hopefully will be a nice looker with great steel when it's finished!

Charlie - thank you, and your right-it's not a valuable item, but it should look ok at the end, and yes, I looked closely at the sheath - it can be re-stiched, and will be! The knife is tight!

Mike and Gevonovich -thank you Gentleman :thumbup:
 
I'd definitely have bought that too Duncan, should make a good user. These red-handled workmen's knives are not just seen in Sweden, more usually carried in the front pocket of overalls (coveralls) or in a toolbox rather than on a belt. Below is a pic of a Norwegian Tollekniv (work-knife) that I gave away awhile back (in a giveaway). The carbon steel is of invariably good quality. A shame about the grinding incident, you have my sympathies my friend :grumpy: Nice to see it and I'm sure you'll do a great job of making this old knife ship-shape again :thumbup:

Jack

 
Loks good Jack, I am not too sure what colour to stain the handle - I might go a Rimu colour, or Kauri.
 
Campbellclanman said:
Loks good Jack, I am not too sure what colour to stain the handle - I might go a Rimu colour, or Kauri.
Click to expand...

Thanks pal. As far as I know, that particular knife was the first Mora-type knife to be written about in a UK knife journal (or one with knife content). I'm sure you'll make it look good Duncan :)
 
A beautiful old knife...so much history! Couple of recent addition to my family....

KJE # 1
KJ1_zpsb3a07a73.jpg


KJE 1/0
KJ1-0_zps1a6a94a9.jpg


Classic Moras are hard to beat in the utility department.

Robert
 
Marcel Mourmans of Maastricht?
I google mmm mora and get Dutch, German, and maybe Swedish. To be honest, I'm sure only of the German, and I can't quite read it.

There's a lot of good knife there, Duncan. Good catch.
 
I have one that is very similar, but a lot better condition even though it has been sitting unused for a long time. Mine says "KJ Mora Sweden" framed in a thin line forming a square, no mention on the knife steel(some black spots of patina and no rust if that tells you anything). The sheath has the same design but a different pattern.
 
You got a nice knife there Duncan - great history in this piece.

I would also have bought that knife, if I would have found it.

Congratz, my friend :)
 
i belive ..MM stands forFMM (Frost Mats Mattsson, company from1917-1961),he used various markings FMMattsson,F.M.Mattson Mora,FMM Mora Sweden,F.M.Mattson, AB Mora Sweden
DSC08496.JPG


IMG_5910.JPG





ugly or not Mora is great user,and it will be fun project :thumbup:
 
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Good catch indeed, once you've nursed that one back to health it should prove to be a hardy and faithful companion.
I would have snagged it, too, in your shoes! :thumbup:
 
Looks to be pretty close to the same size and sillhouette as the KJE #3 Mora in my cutlery drawer -- great knife for carving up a freshly smoked leg of lamb.
 
I belive Frost mats matsson as rinos pointed out. Most often theese are laminated. If you polish the blade with sandpaper the line will show better and give a new more civilised surfase for the new patina. But if its not laminated its a solid carbon steel from times when good steel mattered to an average user so it will anyway bee a good steel in the knife.

I dont think that our knife is destroyed. I belive that a former owner that didnt fancy the scandigrind did a work with it to make the knife convex. Look how he didnt destroy the lines of the edge or the curve of the edge. I belive this to be done by purpose and that it also got rather nicely done. Just polich to do the last work.

In my village this was the size of the moras used for butchering pigs, oxes and moose. Big knifes to make the cuts cleen in big meetpieces. There were almost no dedicated butcherknifes in my grandfathers generation. Only Zakarias who was the lokal butcher had special knifes. A convexed blade like yours would have fitted that work great.

Bosse
 
Bosse,
Thank you my friend for coming in and helping with this, as always - very interesting.
I will post the knife up and show it on this forum once it is finished - thanks you everyone for the great comments
 
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