Preserving something special

[oupa]

An e-mail I received from Canada some time ago:

“My dad has a couple of old fixed blades that are in medium condition.
They don't have much in the way of intrinsic value, but they are sentimental.
They were my uncle's childhood knife collection.
He died in Vietnam in 1969.
In their present state, they are really just junky old knives.
I thought that you might be the man to clean them up, and turn them into something a little special.”

It is an honor for me to work on these knives and I only hope I can do them justice.
Dirk

Here is the larger knife before being sharpened.
I was hoping to make it look "new" without changing the basic character of the knife.
I replaced the guard with a more substantial one of brass.
New spacers and the leather was replaced with Ebony.
Refurbished the stag as well.
Dirk

 

[rebeltf]

Good work bud !

In their present state, they are really just junky old knives

One mans junk is another mans treasure huh ?
Yea , A knife need not be something fancy with expensive materials to be cherished.

Good job once more.

 

[no5shooter]

Oupa/dirk, Please tell me what you did to refurbish that stag! I have an old Gerber with a stag handle that's been used hard but reasonably cared for, but then Somebody in my house ran it through the dishwasher and you can imagine the result. The material itself seems intact, but it's pretty bleached out. I'd really like to be able to bring back the nice brown tones that were once there, and you've done a fine job on this knife. Help?

 

[oupa]

I painted it with alcohol based wood dye (teak) and set it alight.
When the surface was scourched, I put out the flame, rubbed lightly with steel wool and dyed again.
Sealed with superglue and buffed then lightly finished off with steel wool.
Soak in mineral oil and there you are.

 

[rebeltf]

Another method (If I may chime in) soak in dark coffee , let dry , repeat until desired effect.
Polish with some very fine steel wool , seal with tung oil.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Burning stag is a mistake. While it looks good to the uninformed, burned stag looks unnatural and dried out.
Use leather dye, wood stain, etc, but ONLY on the "bark", not on the cream underneath. You can then coat the bark with a light spray coat of clear acrylic to fix the stain. Sand, if necessary, buff with 0000 steel wool, and polish. Stag is brown on top, and white underneath. It certainly can be dyed any color you like, but this method will produce natural-looking stag.
Bill

 

[camping2002]

Hi guys, I'd like to bump this tread with a couple of newbie questions if that's ok.
I have a Grohman survival knife with the standard handle 1/4 inch wood on both sides riveted. I have a couple of pieces of moose antler and caribou antler that I'd like to use to replace the wood.
So I'm thinking:
drill out the rivets
use the wood for a template for cutting up the antlers
only stain the outer parts of the antler, leaving the edges white
light spray of clear acrylic or tung oil (I'll use leftovers to see results I like)

Anything I should know in advance about cutting up the antlers as they will only be a 1/4 inch thick when finished. Will 1/4 inch even last?
Anything else?

I want to get it engraved with a logo and give it to a friend when finished.
cheers and thanks
ted