My own piece of history

[Kazeryu]

I was visiting my grandfather today to borrow an electric jigsaw, when something unexpected turned up. My grandfather turned 90 last month and he has the workshop to prove it - there's everything from gasoline blowtorches to arc welders to oscilloscopes. Anyways, he keeps many of the power tools in an old filing cabinet which has probably been in the same spot since before I was born. We opened it up to pick out a jigsaw, and I had just grabbed one when he said to me, "Oh, look at this..." while reaching into the cabinet. With his good hand my 90-year grandfather pulls out this rusted knife, "YAARRRR!" he exclaims. (he's a real character :thumbup: )

Seems it's a german knife from WWII - not sure how my grandfather got it while serving on various navy ships and teaching them how to use radar. I figure he must have gotten it as a souvenir from another soldier when he was serving in britain - he didn't remember.

Anyways, he gave it to me, and I thought I would share some 'before' pictures. I'm a bit busy these days but I plan to get it all cleaned up and I will post pics when I'm done.

Guard is either brass or copper, blade is (obviously) some kind of carbon steel which is bolted onto the handle. Construction of the guard is pretty rough, makes me wonder if it's not the original. Anyways, comments and opinions are welcome, especially on how to deal with the rust and the blackening of the guard.

-Ross

 

[cavetech]

That's a nice piece of history, Ross, and a terrific connection with your grandfather you will always cherish!

 

[munk]

Pre-war german steel is good stuff.


munk

 

[MauiRob]

Nice:thumbup:

Don't know if you're concerned with the value aspect of it, but if you clean it up you'll likely decrease any antique value it may have....Just a thought.

 

[Yvsa]

First thing I would do is use a gentle cleaner on it like WD-40 and see what happens. The WD-40 might turn the rust black which is good.
I'm wwith Rob about it losing any antique value if you do any serious cleaning on it. I wouldn't even sharpen it but leave it strictly alone until I consulted someone abour it.
A knife like this may just be worth paying Mr. Levine's fee to appraise it.:thumbup:
Mr. Levine has a forum here on BFC IIRC.

 

[not2sharp]

The knife looks like it may have started life as the ricasso and upper blade of a US patton sword. Many of these old swords were broken up and converted to knives during WWII. Most of the work was done by amature knife makers, and concerned relatives. Perhaps your grandfather, his dad, or his uncle made the knife when he was called to war.

Then again many ordinary people were donating knives to the military to help overcome the shortages at the beginning of the war .

n2s

 

[Kazeryu]

After some more thought, I think I'll be leaving things at this state. Just some light buffing with #0000 steel wool made about all the difference I think I could want. The guard is definitely made out of copper, very roughly cut out of a thick plate. When I find the digital camera, I'll take some actual pictures instead of just scanning it.

As for the $$ value, I'm not interested. This is a display piece from my grandfather. :thumbup:

 

[Yvsa]

Well Kazeryu it doesn't look like you've taken that much of anything from it and it's your knife now so whatever you decide.
Like the other guys I thought you might be gonna take all of the patina and pits off making it look near new.

And Kazeryu if you don't have a photo program for tweaking your pix in size and sharpness and such this is a great little free program that doesn't take up much space and more importantly is "Free!!!!":thumbup:

http://www.irfanview.com/

A friend turned me onto it when I first got a computer and I've used it a lot since. You can resize images as well as crop them and several other things. I haven't learned all there is to know about it but it serves the purpose I use it for.
Also if you'll throw a plain colored towel or other cloth over the object you're scanning it makes things look a lot better.

 

[Kazeryu]

Editting images? What is this black sorcery you speak of?

More seriously, sorry about the huge pictures - I need to remember that not everyone has a nice big screen and resolution like I do. Sorry if I left you scrolling all over the place.