Imperial eeuhm...

[QJerry]

I'm pretty sure I bit off more than I can chew here.
While not exactly new to pocketknives, at least European styles, I'm a novice in collecting American patterns.
Most of the knives I bought on open market sites, until know, just needed some cleaning, oiling and a little sharpening.

Scouring the web late at night on local websites, I found this knife:

The seller was totally upfront about the state of the knife. I'm not sure what to call it, a Stockman with a spear blade?
Anyway, the spear blade and sheepsfoot combination spoke to me and I bought it for a few Euro's.
It arrived today and it has a little more problems than I can handle.
The sheepsfoot has notches in it and of course the spey or punch (whatever was there) broke off a long time ago.
It has serious rust inside. The cover on one side has a little movement, not much but just noticeable.
On the other side, the walk and talk is still pretty good and the main blade looks salvageable.

Here are some more pictures, when it arrived I was working in my garage under fluorescent light, so the quality is not good:

My question is, what to do?

The tang markings suggests it was made between 1936 and 1952.

Do I oil it and throw it in a drawer until there's a plea for parts?
I will happily give it to anyone who wants to restore it.

Jerry

 

[kamagong]

That's an Imperial cattleman. There seems to have been a fair few of them made, many of us here have one.

- Christian

 

[QJerry]

Thanks Christian,

After you named it, I found the threads.

 

[Pipeman]

Bamboo meat scewers carved down to fit the slot with a tiny piece of 400 grit black sandpaper wrapped around it, sand with oil to get the rust out of the back springs and the liners. Hone the sheeps foot, crazy glue the loose scale. Nice old working knife.

Best regards

Robin

 

[QJerry]

Allright Robin, I will do what I can and post pictures.

 

[Pipeman]

Allright Robin, I will do what I can and post pictures.

Hi QJ
That's some very nice bone, rogers possibly. I wouldn't clamp the bone, if it's warped it could crack. Try the old original crazy glue and see if you can get a little down the handle pins (NOT the spring pin). If it works it should hold, a squirt between the liner and the bone if there's a gap.

Best regards

Robin

 

[navihawk]

Here's a pic of one I have on top. Someone cared for it enough to fix the broken scale with a piece of walnut.

 

[QJerry]

Well, let's say its a learning curve..

I flushed the knife a few times with WD40 and cleaned it with a skewer and a lot of paper. Then I dried it and applied some ballistol, working it into the joints and springs.
I sharpen with rods, so it''s harder to get a straight edge. Because I didn't want to take off too much I sorta ended up with a curved edge on the sheepsfoot (now pruner).
After all the gunk was gone, it's obvious that one cover is warped on both ends. It will be hard to get glue in there, but I'll try tomorrow.

Pictures:

 

[QJerry]

And it was sharp enough to cut me, after lightly touching the edge with the top of my middle finger.
You know the cuts that are soo thin they only start to bleed after 10 or 15 seconds?

 

[navihawk]

Looks like it's finished to me. I've seen gaps like that in covers on many old knives. It looks great. Ready to put in your pocket!

 

[QJerry]

Thanks Steve, I will.

 

[Jack Black]

Nice work :thumbup:

 

[alex]

You can put a semi blunt edge on that broken blade piece with a needle file and some sandpaper and turn it into a scraper that will help to avoid dulling the knife edges if you ever need to scrape or do some light prying. That's what I would do with it anyway.

 

[Pipeman]

Nice job QJ,looks great. I think you will find that the old Imperials take an amazing edge, they did a nice flat grind.
That tip looks like it was burnt when it was ground off smooth, It most likely won't hold much of an edge and might bend if you pryed with it. Might make a decent scriber for soft materials though.

Regards

Robin