New life for an old blade??

Monofletch

Monofletch

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Jan 14, 2010
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I have 2 large knives that are too big for anything I want to do. One is an WWII Marine KaBar and the other is unknown. The 'big' knife is about 14-15" long and has NO markings. I remember it from WAAAAAAYYYY back -probably 30 years or so!! This is the one I want to have re-done. The KaBar is smaller and could put it back in my gun safe.
Any suggestions would be great.

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Monofletch said:
I have 2 large knives that are too big for anything I want to do... The 'big' knife is about 14-15" long and has NO markings. I remember it from WAAAAAAYYYY back -probably 30 years or so!! This is the one I want to have re-done.
Click to expand...

I'm don't know much as all about these types of knives, but the first thing I would want to find out is if either one has collector value as they are right now. Modifying them in any way would destroy collector's value.

How about a few more details about the big knife? Are you looking for someone to do this for you or do you want to do it yourself? What sort of modifications are you thinking of? Shortening the blade? How much? Replace the handle? Did you have some design or style ideas? Is the front bolster/fingerguard cast on? The fuzzy photo of the pommel looks like the end of the tang might be threaded but I can't see for sure. What can you tell about the blade steel? Is it stainless or does it rust? Since you have no way of knowing what exactly type of steel it's made of does it currently keep its edge reasonably well?

Assuming the big knife has no collector's value and I was going to attempt modifying it, I would begin by disassembling it to see what there is to work with. Then I would trace the outline of the blade and tang and see how possible changes to the blade would look on paper.

From here on I have no idea if it would be a good idea to anneal it before working it or just work on it as it is. Should it be re-hardened? I'll let people with real experience and knowledge finish.

good luck.

Paul Meske
 
I pulled out my books and couldn't find either one of these. Never seen a KaBar with a blade like that.

I would definitely check over at the Bernard Levine forum here and see if anybody (maybe even Bernie himself) knows anything about these. IMO I wouldn't even think about cleaning these until you know if they might be worth something.
 
The smaller is similar to a Marbles Woodcraft. The larger might be a theater made WWII knife, or from the Philipines around that time, or from Mexico. I have seen similar from all three sources. Best I can do with these pics and on my phone. Posting in Bernie's forum will get you the most info.
 
Thanks guys. There are NO markings on the blade at all. The knife was sharpened at some point with a LARGE grind -- Migh explain why there are no markings. This is NOT the KaBar-I want to keep that as it is.

Paul- I will get better picks tomorrow after work. The blade has some surface rust now. The knife stays VERY sharp. The handle has some fine brass rings in it- I assume it is stacked leather.
 
Hope these help--- Might be willing to sell or trade for something more ..."practical"

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Yes- I did post it there as well. He didn't have a clue-probably hand made-WWII theater knife.

I know the small knife is NOT a KaBar-it says Marbles right on the blade. My KaBar says KaBar on the blade as well- I will post picks of it.

My KaBar is a twin to this one.........
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Here is a better pic of the smaller Marbles knife's handle--- both have the same reddish color bands that seem to be similar material and both have those thin brass rings. Could this be some kind of Marbles set??

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These cleaned up nicely, but what do I treat the leather handle with?
 
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