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Picked up this intersting old Soligen Trapper-nice bone! -updated photos of rerpair!

Ok... I have finished mucking around with the knife, now before I show you guys the finished project, you wont see too much difference that what you have already seen, I don't believe in shining up blades-especially very cool Carbon, so I just spent probably an hour or so with 0000 grade Steel Wool on the blades-I like using this as id hasn't got enough oomph to shine-but it does clean away rust.
The blade shape...
I wanted to make a Wharnie, but I couldn't do it without messing with the nail nick-and I don't like to see that, so after making that decision, I only had limited choice, so I made the blade shape a half Spey :D
I have NO idea on how to set a proper angle on a edge of a blade, I am having pretty decent results ever since I bought a Diamond stone, so I basically slowly -without heating the blade - ground the break away to the Felt-tipped design on the blade, and then set to introducing an cutting edge.
I used my Carborundum stone to initially sharpen a shape of an edge-then tuned it up a wee bit with my Diamond Stone - as this was frreehand and I suck ( as you will see ) compared to you guys with sharpening, I think it turned out ok( ish ).
At least now the knife looks respectable, the tops of the blades had to be smoothed out as someone had ground them a flat angle instead of a rounded "drop point head of the tip - so i just softened the hard looking angle slightly as well...
WESTERNCASTRATOR002.jpg

WESTERNCASTRATOR001.jpg

WESTERNCASTRATOR003.jpg

WESTERNCASTRATOR004.jpg

WESTERNCASTRATOR005.jpg

This photo shows the slight difference in the shape of a spear-point and my new shape that I will call the "speyspear" :D
WESTERNCASTRATOR006.jpg
 
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Campbellclanman said:
Cheers Fes...mind you-you have to say that as I am still holding onto your knives hehehe :D
Click to expand...
If i had any feelings left in my miserable carcass,you could have possibly hurt one??....no chance of that though!!....It looks good bro!..i look forward to it turning up with my other sharpies???..........FES
 
Duncan, Sir!

You did a great job on that beauty! I looks amazing... Thanks for showing off the updated pics :)
 
Nice knife Duncan, that looks great, something I would be very happy to carry and use.

Congrats!

Cheers,
Griff
 
This is one of those threads I keep coming back to. I'd throw that knife in my pocket without a second thought. Great work.
 
Duncan,

Just saw this thread and read it all the way through.. I must admit I am a little envious of the your great knife discovery and the most excellent job you made of her - what with cleaning her up and reshaping the blade to perfection!. You really did bring her back to life and she'll be one fine vintage user to be certain. Wonderful bone and I love the tweezers and pick.. You did her proud!. Well done partner, well done! :cool:

Best always,
Anthony
 
Campbellclanman said:
...I don't believe in shining up blades-especially very cool Carbon, so I just spent probably an hour or so with 0000 grade Steel Wool on the blades-I like using this as it hasn't got enough oomph to shine-but it does clean away rust.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

I love the look of the blades as you've left them.

~ P.
 
Looks good, Duncan! I had to go back to the first page to remind myself how the blade was broken. You did a nice job reshaping it. ...does the handle taste like granola and honey?? ;)
 
You managed to turn that into a great user, but still respect the feel of the knife.

Great job!
 
:D Wow, thank you for the very kind comments ladies and Gentleman, much appreciated!
I do plan to carry this knife-its amongst my edc knives as we speak. I guess sometimes if the blades have been ground to almost non-existence and you want to right the blade-then ending up with a polished blade is the case-Im glad this knife hadnt been ground down in that fashion, its the first actual blade re-shape I have attempted. Im keeping a distance on this knife Jake -its history scares me-so the'll be no licking this knife :)
 
Great job Duncan. Thanks from an old knife nut for not putting a shine on the blades. It looks perfect.
 
Duncan,
Fantastic recovery effort ... I'd carry a knife like that with pride. "Castrator" - finding an old knife with a colorful name like this is just the icing on the cake. I wouldn't want to meet the bull that broke the tip off of the original spey (?) blade! ;)

I agree that the blades needed to be treated in the most minimal way possible to restore functionality without detracting from their history. Did you polish the toothpick and tweezers (couldn't see)? My personal rule of thumb is that if the blade was never sharpened then I try to restore the knife to "new" condition - including polishing the blade. If the knife has history (sharpened and used) then I don't polish the blades.

Congrats again on a great find and a tremendous functional restoration.
Scott D
 
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