- Joined
- Oct 24, 2015
- Messages
- 39
I couldnt find much info on this knife. Sheath marked USN MK 1 and NORD 1723, B.M. Co.=VP. Blade stamped U.S.N. MARK 1 and PAL Made in USA RH 35. I think the 5 means 5 blade and the Navy knife also came in 6 and 7 inch perhaps.
Dad served during the duration of WWII and Korea but Army, not Navy - so not sure how he acquired this. I remember its been around forever and it was used as a camp knife when I was little so I decided to place it back into that role. I particularly like the sheath - great retention and in good condition including the canvas webbing so Ill wear it around at campsites next season and chop stuff with it. A dull knife with no point and a loose handle is useless to me so I had to fix these three issues. The plan was to leave it original as much as possible including the pin. I couldnt find info on how to do this so feel free to crit my resto job what would you have done differently?
Re-pointing. The clip was re-shaped quite a bit on the belt grinder. Not perfect but I got it to the point of leave well enough alone then smoothed it with files. I kinda like the new clip shape. Then I cleaned and sharpened. While sharpening, it seemed that the edge is harder than the spine so maybe its tempered differently and perhaps will hold an edge.
Loose Handle Leather Rings and Pommel. There was a big enough gap to add a new leather ring but in the end I decided to use black ABS plastic sheet. There were no rings missing so I guess the leather shrunk. The first five rings next to the guard are are some type of synthetic (originally) and so are last four at the pommel. I found that the end rings could be matched well with the .060 ABS if I buffed the edges so now there are six synthetic rings at the pommel.
There was another problem with the leather rings the holes for the tang were enlarged slightly allowing side movement. I applied epoxy to fill gaps (just to the tang, nothing between the rings) and slid the rings back into place. I devised a fixture to compress the rings with much pressure and now the handle is very tight. Feels great, I will like using this knife.
The last thing I plan is to treat the leather rings with something in case theyre dry. I dont have anything so any suggestions?
Dad wasnt really a knife guy but I found a few in his stuff. The only other one worth saving was this OT stockman # 8OT which I carry quite a bit.
Dad served during the duration of WWII and Korea but Army, not Navy - so not sure how he acquired this. I remember its been around forever and it was used as a camp knife when I was little so I decided to place it back into that role. I particularly like the sheath - great retention and in good condition including the canvas webbing so Ill wear it around at campsites next season and chop stuff with it. A dull knife with no point and a loose handle is useless to me so I had to fix these three issues. The plan was to leave it original as much as possible including the pin. I couldnt find info on how to do this so feel free to crit my resto job what would you have done differently?
Re-pointing. The clip was re-shaped quite a bit on the belt grinder. Not perfect but I got it to the point of leave well enough alone then smoothed it with files. I kinda like the new clip shape. Then I cleaned and sharpened. While sharpening, it seemed that the edge is harder than the spine so maybe its tempered differently and perhaps will hold an edge.
Loose Handle Leather Rings and Pommel. There was a big enough gap to add a new leather ring but in the end I decided to use black ABS plastic sheet. There were no rings missing so I guess the leather shrunk. The first five rings next to the guard are are some type of synthetic (originally) and so are last four at the pommel. I found that the end rings could be matched well with the .060 ABS if I buffed the edges so now there are six synthetic rings at the pommel.
There was another problem with the leather rings the holes for the tang were enlarged slightly allowing side movement. I applied epoxy to fill gaps (just to the tang, nothing between the rings) and slid the rings back into place. I devised a fixture to compress the rings with much pressure and now the handle is very tight. Feels great, I will like using this knife.
The last thing I plan is to treat the leather rings with something in case theyre dry. I dont have anything so any suggestions?
Dad wasnt really a knife guy but I found a few in his stuff. The only other one worth saving was this OT stockman # 8OT which I carry quite a bit.
