Hi!
I have an old Kabar my dad gave me that was a bit rusted and worn. The handle had lost its butt, and the leather handle had rotted. The sheath had rotted around where the belt went through. I first removed the handle and started sanding down the metal to remove rust, which took some time. I then blued the blade using gun bluing to keep it from rusting again and to give it a darker hue. I then wanted to wrap the handle with 550 paracord like my WWII Martindale 227 bolo machete ( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/874890-Martindale-227-bolo-machete-rebuild ), but it didn't have any holes in the tang near the hilt. after 4 hours of trying to drill with a hand drill, I made a dimple. after hearing some stories of what these knives can survive, I decided that drilling a hole this way was completely impossible. Luckily, the base of the tang was wider than the hilt, meaning no holes were needed. I wrapped the handle with 15' of 550 paracord and loved it! After finishing the blade, I went to work on the old sheath. I cut off the rotted area(s) and waterproofed the remaining leather. Holes where then made and a 550 paracord locking system was made to keep the blade from falling out of the sheath. I don't need a belt loop for this sheath because it goes into my survival pack and another sheath will be made to "piggyback" onto my Martindale 227 machete sheath so that its all strapped to my leg.
ANY comments and feedback are welcomed, I am very much a newbie and I want to hear any ideas or information you may have on what I did, or on any knife modifications you know about, Thanks!
I have an old Kabar my dad gave me that was a bit rusted and worn. The handle had lost its butt, and the leather handle had rotted. The sheath had rotted around where the belt went through. I first removed the handle and started sanding down the metal to remove rust, which took some time. I then blued the blade using gun bluing to keep it from rusting again and to give it a darker hue. I then wanted to wrap the handle with 550 paracord like my WWII Martindale 227 bolo machete ( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/874890-Martindale-227-bolo-machete-rebuild ), but it didn't have any holes in the tang near the hilt. after 4 hours of trying to drill with a hand drill, I made a dimple. after hearing some stories of what these knives can survive, I decided that drilling a hole this way was completely impossible. Luckily, the base of the tang was wider than the hilt, meaning no holes were needed. I wrapped the handle with 15' of 550 paracord and loved it! After finishing the blade, I went to work on the old sheath. I cut off the rotted area(s) and waterproofed the remaining leather. Holes where then made and a 550 paracord locking system was made to keep the blade from falling out of the sheath. I don't need a belt loop for this sheath because it goes into my survival pack and another sheath will be made to "piggyback" onto my Martindale 227 machete sheath so that its all strapped to my leg.
ANY comments and feedback are welcomed, I am very much a newbie and I want to hear any ideas or information you may have on what I did, or on any knife modifications you know about, Thanks!
