K bar.. restore or no?

O

Ondalake3

Joined
May 14, 2021
Messages
38
I just picked up an old K bar. Handle is rotten. Should it be restored. Will I regret tricking it out?
 
If it's rotten, you're not going to reduce its value by restoring it unless it's got some verifiable provenance or sentimental value.
If you got it to be a user, just get a rehandle kit from Kabar and fix it up.
 
I have basically no experience in stacked leather handles, when you say rotten do you mean that the leather is rotten?
 
"Restore" No. "Restore" seems to mean "Over clean and make it look new again." (or look like a fake.) Which destroys any "collector value" it may have had.

"Preserve" Yes. (Preservation includes replacing the leather handle washers if necessary).
"Preserve" means you don't overclean and remove all the history. Remove and active red rust, leave any patina, etc. It will still look like an old knife when you are finished - not a new one.


If you want a Ka-Bar that looks new, get a new one. :)
 
eveled said:
Here is one I did It’s not difficult but it is time consuming
I bought it because it had the USN hard fiberglass sheath. I was going to toss the knife. Then when I realized it was a genuine ww2 USN knife I had to restore it as best I could.
Click to expand...

Awesome job, but . . . you're not going to post a pic of the sheath? :(
 
afishhunter said:
"Restore" No. "Restore" seems to mean "Over clean and make it look new again." (or look like a fake.) Which destroys any "collector value" it may have had.

"Preserve" Yes. (Preservation includes replacing the leather handle washers if necessary).
"Preserve" means you don't overclean and remove all the history. Remove and active red rust, leave any patina, etc. It will still look like an old knife when you are finished - not a new one.


If you want a Ka-Bar that looks new, get a new one. :)
Click to expand...
Correct!!
 
I’m going to reshape all of it.. thanks
Click to expand...
Alrighty then!
You do know that you now have about eleventy seven and four members all doing the pee pee dance because they think you're going to regrind the blade (like CWL mentioned) right?
I'm hoping you just meant reshape the handle....
 
It has almost no value at this point. We don’t know how old it is or if it’s even a real KA-BAR. Make it into what you want. Pictures would be great though. If it’s a WW2 knife it should be given the respect it deserves.
 
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E698486E-BFEB-4A54-A987-548A4F08B1C8.jpeg
here is a before picture of the knife I replaced the handle on. The leather washers are all dried up and some are partially missing. Then covered in brown paint. The blade is so corroded it was sold as being Damascus. (You can see layers in it),

The first picture in the auction showed the corroded knife, if you scrolled to the other pictures the relatively nice sheath was shown. Not many got past the first picture.

So I really was just buying the sheath even though it has some of the brown paint on it too. The knife came free.

I was planning to toss it, then I realized it was a ww2 guard marked USN knife. I couldn’t toss it. It still has no value but at least I saved it.

You look at these old knives and wish they could talk. This one looks like it spent a year on the beach at IWO JIMA.

Then again it was probably just put away wet after a BoyScout Jamboree in the 50’s. Who knows.

These surplus knives (and guns) could be found by the barrel full for decades after the war.
 
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afishhunter said:
"Restore" No. "Restore" seems to mean "Over clean and make it look new again." (or look like a fake.) Which destroys any "collector value" it may have had.

"Preserve" Yes. (Preservation includes replacing the leather handle washers if necessary).
"Preserve" means you don't overclean and remove all the history. Remove and active red rust, leave any patina, etc. It will still look like an old knife when you are finished - not a new one.


If you want a Ka-Bar that looks new, get a new one. :)
Click to expand...

It's a beat old knife, once you replace the leather handle it has no collector value to speak of, might as well polish the blade if he wants it shiny. "Don't carry no ugly knife." If he uses the knife the patina will return. Why buy a new one if you can ressurect an old one? I ressurect old knives, it's fun.
 
brownshoe said:
It's a beat old knife, once you replace the leather handle it has no collector value to speak of, might as well polish the blade if he wants it shiny. "Don't carry no ugly knife." If he uses the knife the patina will return. Why buy a new one if you can ressurect an old one? I ressurect old knives, it's fun.
Click to expand...

What are you trying to say? That it's his knife to do with as he pleases? Pfff.
 
Old KBars are common - many people still use them - cleaning up a knife is not a sacrelige - a knife is an object not a talisman - don't carry no ugly knife
 
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