PAL RH-36 Self Regrindation

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Dustbuster03

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I have an old PAL RH-36 that my grandfather gave me when i was around 10 years old, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world when i got it and wanted to make it even more awesome than it already was. That was my mistake, Trying to make it better by taking it to a grinding wheel and trying to sharpen the spine, i was young and dumb enough to do it thinking i could do it, but i didnt do a very good job! Its been the same way for about 8 years now and i decided i wanted to fix the knife seeing that they do not make them anymore... I really do regret it because i ruined a knife that my grandfather used when he was in the military, and is very sentimental to me. I just recently decided to attempt fixing it by grinding the edge that i put on the spine flat, and put a point on the blade because when i did it i rounded the blades tip. Does anybody have any tips on how to regrind/ refinish a knife by hand? Or know anyone that could make it look somewhat presentable again? Any input would be appreciated... Thanks everyone :eek: IMG112.jpgIMG113.jpgIMG114.jpgIMG115.jpg
 
Sorry that you did that to your G-paw's knife, but your remorse says it all.

Normally, I'd tell you to leave it alone, but that really does look bad.

If it were me, I'd do it slowly using 320 grit emory paper laid on a flat surface (marble, glass plate) and slowly draw the damaged portion across it until you have removed most of the deep scratches. Then use successively higher grit papers (420, 600, 800, 1000) to produce the final polish that you want. You can also do this to create a flat spine on it. Remember to take your time! Do this slowly.

It'll never look original again, but at least you can make it look less "bubba'd" .
 
Even though they stopped making these knives, they are widely available at gun and knife shows. I would reshape and refinish the point area on a succession of finer and finer belts run over a contact wheel using a lot of water dip cooling.
 
tiguy7 said:
Even though they stopped making these knives, they are widely available at gun and knife shows. I would reshape and refinish the point area on a succession of finer and finer belts run over a contact wheel using a lot of water dip cooling.
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Assuming the OP has access to a belt sander, you may cause him to do even more damage to this knife.

Shaping knives on a belt sander isn't something that people get right the first time around, they usually need to practice a bit with some junk knives to learn angles, pressure & how not to heat it up.
 
CWL said:
Assuming the OP has access to a belt sander, you may cause him to do even more damage to this knife.

Shaping knives on a belt sander isn't something that people get right the first time around, they usually need to practice a bit with some junk knives to learn angles, pressure & how not to heat it up.
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Yes i think I would need some practice first before using a belt sander, I am a little smarterer than i was before though ;-)
 
If you feel you don't want to risk any more damage to the knife there are professional guys that refurb old knives for a fee. Of course outsourcing work has its own risks.
Maybe someone here does it or can recommend someone who can do a professional job.
 
tholiver said:
If you feel you don't want to risk any more damage to the knife there are professional guys that refurb old knives for a fee. Of course outsourcing work has its own risks.
Maybe someone here does it or can recommend someone who can do a professional job.
Click to expand...

+1 if it were me I'd seek professional help.

Don't be too hard on yourself though. When I first started grinding blades I screwed up a few including a perfectly good brand new blur that I was trying to take the serrations out of. I'm still nowhere near good enough to take a decent blade to a belt.

Plead your case to a good maker though and you may be able to show it proudly again. Unless you somehow change it entirely the knife he carried is still there.
 
Yeah nothing wrong with knife modding, i do it myself as well. However there's a learning curve and its best to first start the modding hobby practicing on beaters and knives with no sentimental value.
Honestly its not that bad, the knife looks like it could be refurbed no problem, i'm sure somebody will pipe up with somebody they can recommend to do the job.
 
Tom Krein helped me with a knife I started to regrind and then chickened out. It came out very well. He has a sub-forum on another popular knife forum. Send me a PM or email if you would like me to send you a link to his forum. You would need to join to get in though. It is free to join. You would need to discuss price and timeframe with him directly. He's a great guy.
 
You can clean that clip up with sandpaper wrapped around a firm "block". Those type of knives are generally tempered fairly soft, but it will still take a while.

You could of course send it to a maker for a cleanup regrind. That's a pretty quick and simple job for a pro. The shipping both ways would likely cost nearly as much as the actual labor.
 
not sure if it was mentioned yet but look up Tom Krein. he does some awesome regrinds, and may be able to make the knife presentable again. he could also make a sharpened swedge on the spine which is what you were going for in the first place.

it would cost some money but hes your best bet...That is of course if he is still accepting orders for regrinds.
 
it looks like you have a lot of work to do in order to get it back to looking half way decent. do not put it to a grinder again or you will just make matters worse. you need to get a belt sander in order to make it look halfway decent but you can do it by hand if you want to put the time into it.
here is a picture of the one i redone for timsclips a few years ago. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=587129
 
I heard Tom Krein stopped doing regrinds, but who knows... it's worth a shot. If you can get him to do it you will have an even more special knife.
 
I found a link to a guy that refurbs/rehandles/etc knives. I 've never done business with him but i vaguely remember a while ago someone here recommending him.
There are goods pics of his work here-
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Hmmm ok so basically i'm reading this friendly warning as a general rule that "no one can mention/link the name of any business that does anything (or even just pics of their work) unless that business buys an account here". Ok gotcha, won't happen again.
I am in no way affiliated with the repair guy mention, never had any work done by him, we're not even in the same country. I got his name link here at BF back in the "(g)olden" days by someone who had work done by him.
Anyway OP i hope you get your knife fixed, let us know how it works out!
:)
 
Tom had stopped taking regrind orders/jobs for a while but he seemed to get back into it for a while. I think Bud Nealy is in your home state. You might contact him directly and see if he might be able to help you out. I believe he is a bit farther East of you toward Boston.
 
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