- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Messages
- 4
i recently picked up this beat up KA-BAR fighting knife for about $30, no sheath and in rough shape. I work leather and have been looking for a reason to make a bushcrafting sheath,but didnt have a knife that needed one. Here is what I have done so far to the knife
Here is the knife in the condition i received it in. It was found in a yard, half buried for who knows how long. Blade finish scratched up, rusted and chipped edge, leather handle dried out with a loose guard. You can see the very tip is chipped off too.
Beautiful. Now for the fun,
Opposite side. Original condition.
Close up of blade and commemorative etching.
After stripping the finish off the blade with Strip-X and wiped down with mineral spirits. Still rusty though.
After some careful sanding and polishing starting with 400 grit and working to 1000 grit wet dry with oil, and then #0 steel wool, and finally 0000 steel wool. Made sure to use a block when sanding so i didn't round off the lines of the knife.
Filed the tip back into shape and started rust blueing the blade.
After blueing I rubbed some grease into the blade to stop any rust from forming and give it a good layer of protection.
The guard was a little loose due to the fact the leather washers had dried out and started to split apart. I though i may have to drill the pin out and make a new handle, but i thought i would try to salvage this one if possible. Soaked the handle for a day in Lexol to swell the dried out leather back to its original shape. Now the blade guard is nice and tight.
Used an accusharp knife sharpener to remove enough metal from the cutting edge to take the small chips out of the blade. I really like that tool just for this purpose. you can re-shape a blade edge and it maintains the angle of the grind. Then i hit it with great grandpa's oil stone and it now has a wicked edge.
once the handle dries a bit i will dress the edges of the washers and seal it with some Resolene, then buff it out.
Now i get to start on the sheath. I am going to mimic one my wife showed me, from all places Pinterest. Should be sweet when finished an make a great camp knife.
Here is the knife in the condition i received it in. It was found in a yard, half buried for who knows how long. Blade finish scratched up, rusted and chipped edge, leather handle dried out with a loose guard. You can see the very tip is chipped off too.
Beautiful. Now for the fun,
Opposite side. Original condition.
Close up of blade and commemorative etching.
After stripping the finish off the blade with Strip-X and wiped down with mineral spirits. Still rusty though.
After some careful sanding and polishing starting with 400 grit and working to 1000 grit wet dry with oil, and then #0 steel wool, and finally 0000 steel wool. Made sure to use a block when sanding so i didn't round off the lines of the knife.
Filed the tip back into shape and started rust blueing the blade.
After blueing I rubbed some grease into the blade to stop any rust from forming and give it a good layer of protection.
The guard was a little loose due to the fact the leather washers had dried out and started to split apart. I though i may have to drill the pin out and make a new handle, but i thought i would try to salvage this one if possible. Soaked the handle for a day in Lexol to swell the dried out leather back to its original shape. Now the blade guard is nice and tight.
Used an accusharp knife sharpener to remove enough metal from the cutting edge to take the small chips out of the blade. I really like that tool just for this purpose. you can re-shape a blade edge and it maintains the angle of the grind. Then i hit it with great grandpa's oil stone and it now has a wicked edge.
once the handle dries a bit i will dress the edges of the washers and seal it with some Resolene, then buff it out.
Now i get to start on the sheath. I am going to mimic one my wife showed me, from all places Pinterest. Should be sweet when finished an make a great camp knife.
