randall blade cleanup??

[Bravo 26]

-ported over from the custom forum-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My father has an old randall made that he carried in Vietnam. He has kept it all these years, but it's in pretty bad shape (blade is good, hilt is in bad shape) Is there anyone who has had such a Knife refurbished? is it worth it, will it ruin the value? Any help is appreciated...thanks!

The blade is apparently pretty old...it is marked randal made, orlando, and it has seen heavy use..My grandfather originally got it waaay back in the day and used it to cut heads off of chickens on the farm..I think grandad gave it to my father when he went to Nam...he has had it ever since.. how much are these blades worth usually? It's a fixed 7 or 8 incher.

-Bravo 26

 

[knifeman65]

Hi Bravo 26. These Randall made knives are highly collectible. Many Randall's in very poor condition are worth hundreds and even thousands because of their age, model, etc... Old rusted ones sell for $300 (and some a lot more)on ebay all the time. You can check the Randall website to determine the model, provided it's there. Again, these knives are very collectible and sought after by many knife collectors. I would not venture a guess as to the value because I'm not an expert, and I haven't seen the knife, however, I know it's valuable. Having said that, if you can determine that it is not some rare piece worth some crazy amount of money, I would have it restored in my opinnion because even if it reduces the value a bit, it is going to be a lot nicer heirloom to pass down to future generations in your family. And based on this knife's history, that's exactly what will end up happening. On the other hand if you were looking to get rid of it (which I doubt you are) I would leave it as is. Sorry I can't help you with a more accurate value. To restore this knife I would try Randall. I do not know if they do this sort of thing but someone told me years ago they used to. If they don't, my other suggestion would be Jay Maines of Sunrise River Knifeworks. He does a lot of restoration work and has an excellent reputation. Check out the repair/conversion section of his website. His website is http://www.sunrisecustomknives.com/ Good Luck.

 

[Bravo 26]

Thanks...yeah..it getting passed on for many generations to come..I would burn in a special corner of hell if i were to ever sell it I think. My father still has it, so I dont have lots of details..he just found it at Christmas this past, and said "hey son..here's this old blade.." and told me it's history..it was a pretty cool moment to say the least. I'll fwd this info on to him, and I think he will want to have it cleaned up...thanks for the info!

 

[50ae]

Make sure your father writes down it's history so it gets saved for further generations.

 

[pauldulson]

Make sure your father writes down it's history so it gets saved for further generations.

What 50ae says , also check for any photo's your Father may have of him carrying the knife , all adds to the history .

 

[tunefink]

Bravo,

Should you decide to have it cleaned, you would be well advised to have it done by the Randall Shop. I have seen knives brought back from the grave by the craftsman there. It starts at $50-65 and my last one took about 4-6 weeks.

Contact info - http://www.randallknives.com/

Many collectors do not want an old knife cleaned.... it's like stripping and refinishing an old fine wood antique....

Could you post a picture? Everybody loves looking at old Randalls.

Either way.... sounds like you have a great family treasure.

 

[hclark]

Bravo 26,

The guys at the Randall shop are miracle workers! Here is what they did with an old mdl 3-7" of mine, the first two pictures are "before" and the last two are "after":