Rehab for an Old Gal

[Jack Black]

Nice job of resurrecting the old gal. I have identical renditions of these in carbon steel in 6, 8 and 10 inch. When Sabatier of France was re-organizing in the 1980s they uncovered warehouse stocks of various kitchen knives dating back to the 1920s and 30s, but many of them were probably (my guess) unsold stock due to the demand for stainless beginning in the 1950s. Lee Valley Tools scooped up many thousands of these and moved them along to new homes in north America during the late 1980s. They were superficially etched with the Sabatier logo after-the-fact but the marks wore off in short order. In French knife-making terms these are referred to as Canadian-style (pinned scales) as opposed to traditional solid wood through-tang knives with peened ends.

Good info :thumbup:

Thanks Jack. Don't know about talented but I don't watch a lot of telly thats for sure.

Good man! :thumbup:

 

[YellowSwiss]

Wow...love it!

 

[SonnyJim]

Wow Dave, thanks as always for sharing and letting us in on a little slice of your blessed life, color me envious : ) I really enjoy seeing the work progress and process of a true craftsman!

~Jim

 

[300Six]

Thanks for the info 300six. Thats why no makers mark that I could find. Very interesting, can ya post a pic of yours? I wanna see how close I got. Part of the deal was to maintian as much of the flavor of the original as possible. Thats why I didn't grind out all the pitting, or grind the blade laser thin like I do whne i make a kitchen knife.

Here you go. These were NOS until I got them in the late 1980s. These types would have been exported to north America earlier than that because they're referred to as 'Canadian style'. Traditional models are at the bottom. You ought to be able to spy the Sabatier logo on second from the bottom. The hand-ground filet knife (very bottom) is so exquisitely thin and flexible that it can be bent over 90 degrees and springs right back.

PS: Please advise the owner of the refurbished knife never to soak wood-handled knives in the sink. I figure that's how the scales managed to rot away inside. You can wax, varnish or oil the surface of wood scales until you're blue in the face but it only serves to trap moisture inside and keep the wood from drying out.

 

[Will Power]

The owner's in for a shock, he simply won't recognize that old kitchen warrior!

So nice to see a decent knife being brought back to life and being able to go on working, so often things get wasted rather than being renovated. But it takes skill and precision, which you certainly have. Very satisfying and creative work.:thumbup:

You are right about the disaster that's water-soak on kitchen knives, it's hideous that so many people let a knife stay overnight in sinks to soak, or worse, punish them with the dishwasher:barf: What made you opt for Coco? It certainly looks nice and it tougher than bone, I imagine micartas could look good too.

Great work, but I just keep wondering how the tip got broken off.....prising jar lids?

Thanks, Will

 

[stormylntz]

Dave Ferry's custom knives ate some of the Best out there. I have ordered 3 knives from Dave for personal use and as gifts and you cant get a better knife, made by a true working cowboy.

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[stormylntz]

I was sent this knife with the plea: "Can ya fix up the wife's favorite kitchen knife?" This old kitchen warrior had seen some use and abuse. I could find no markings of any kind but I'm thinking maybe Henckle? Well the tip was broken off, pitting in the blade and the handle was toast.

Sit back, grab your coffee and lets see what kind of rehab program we can put this ole girl through.

First deal is lets get those handles off. I sawed them off with my metal cutting bandsaw. Aw you know how ya always say don't throw that knife in a sink full of water or put it in the dishwasher? Here's how come:

That wood is about as rotten as it could get and still be sticking on there. I use a punch and a hammer to clean the rivets out of the tang holes:

I use a flat disc grinder to clean up the tang and a file to clean up the bolster. Little more to do:

Well lets regrind the edge including reshaping the tip. Gotta go slow here so as not to screw up the heat treat. I use my 2x72 grinder that is VFD controlled so I can slow the belt way down and not create too much heat. This took quite a bit of time. The edge had a hollow that was tougher to get out than reshaping the tip was.

On the blade regrinding I started at 80 grit then 120 then 220 and then hit it with a Scothbrite belt. This is after the 80 grit. Ya can see some of the deep pitting this blade had.

I work in batches. Now the blade is done at the grinder and she's hanging out with all the flat ground blades from this batch of 31 knives total. The ones on the left that are darker are damascus that haven't been etched yet. I'll do the post heat treat grinding on my hollow ground blades for this batch, etch the damascus and start handle material prep.

This knife is getting a cocobolo handle and she's in the bottom right of this pic. Handle materials are prepped for this batch:

Got the bolsters on each knife that needs one and the first side of the handle material is glued on, clamped and drying. In the background is the second side of the handle material for each knife. Each is marked with a number to correspond with a specific knife. Our kitchen knife is #24:

Too cold out in the shop for the glue to set up properly, so I haul the whole shooting match inside to spend the night:

Next morning I'll use my bandsaw to trim off any excess handle materials and on my knives to trim off any excess bolster material:

Here they are after I've used my grinders to profile everything down to the tang. Little bit of file work to true up the bolster face on each and they are ready to have their handle holes drilled:

Drilling the holes needed, using the holes in the tang as a guide:

Ready to glue the left side of the handle material. After drilling, each knife is placed on top of its left side handle material and spacer:

After glueing and clamping the second side it was warm enough outside that I hauled them outside to dry. Later that night I drilled the holes in the second side and glued in the pins and in the case of our kitchen knife two small Loveless bolts. Next morning trimming off excess again:

After the whole crew is trimmed I haul them outside to the grinders. I have my grinders mounted on an eight foot workbench on wheels and roll it outside to do all my grinding.

So first step at the grinders is 60 grit, then 120 on a slack belt and 220 on a slack belt and then hit the corners of the handle at 60 grit on a spindle sander to start rounding them off. I will do the tang and spine of the blade at 120 grit at a 90 degree angle to the spine. I will then come back and do the spine at 220 grit at 90 degrees to the grind marks left by the 120 grit. This alternating in directions between the grits is the secret to getting your tangs and spine clean and scratch free. Part way through:

Hitting the corners on the spindle sander:

Slack belt on 220 grit:

Perpendicular grind at 120 on the spine followed by the 220 in line:

Wipe er down with WD 40 and then repeat 30 more times:

I will repeat the handle shaping process at 320 grit and then 400 and finally finish the spine with 600 grit. I'll then use my small wheel attachment starting at 120 and going up to 600 to get the underside of each knife handle:

Hand sanding time. I start with 220 grit. Each handle material is process differently from this stage on. Cocobolo, iron wood and camel bone are sanded up to 600 grit:

Some of the other woods drying with either finish or stain. These were all wet sanded.

The cocobolo and ironwood after being sanded were lightly buffed with pink scratchless:

Then two coats of carnuba car wax are buffed off:

All the wooden handles are then taped off to protect them and the bolsters are buffed. Same with the camel bone too. The other handles like jigged bone, elk etc are hand sanded at 220 and are standing by to be buffed:

My buffer array is on wheels too:

Then the whole knife is waxed and buffed when dry. All blades with a Scothbrite belt finish are also run over that belt again at this time:

After each knife is buffed its waxed and then stuck in this box for the night:

Next morning I sharpen them all and check em. I require each knife to slice this thin paper three times without any drag. If not I sharpen it again. They were sharp.

Each knife is laid out on a towel. From here final cleanup, blade oiling, bolster polishing and leather thong attachment (for most of my knives) is done. The knife is then placed back in a numbered slot in the box so that when I go to building sheaths I know which sheath goes to which knife.

And our old kitchen warrior? Ready to do battle again:

The order also included a holster for a Glock 43

The old gal hanging with a couple of her new friends she made while she was in rehab:

Hope ya enjoyed our little tour. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Awesome step by step pictorial. Thanks very much!!

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[stormylntz]

This is my Horsewright Coyote custom with Stag handles, brass bolsters,custom pins and spacers with ATS-34 SS . It comes with a quick draw horizontal belt sheath but i use this KSF front pocket sheath for EDC when not wearing a belt which also allows for quick access. I can quickly draw this knife using the thong and the sheath stays in my front pocket.

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[fishcakes]

Very cool restore and some awesome looking knives youve made in the background. Thanks for the little lesson and pictures

 

[arrowhd]

Outstanding work and photo walk through!!!!!

 

[Vaporstang]

Thanks for the step by step explanation - i enjoyed this very much!

 

[Old Engineer]

Very interesting read and great visuals Dave . Thank you very much .
You certainly do make some very nice looking knives and it appears that you have your work area set up very well .

Harry

 

[Campbellclanman]

I really really enjoyed @watching" you with your marvellous skills. Well done and thank you for sharing with us.

 

[billsch8]

Wow! Thanks so much for the pictorial record of the steps you took to restore that old kitchen knife. Truly impressive!!

 

[eisman]

Tip probably broke by dropping it. They are fairly brittle. Great knives though. I have three; two 9" and one huge 14" that's heavy enough to be a cleaver. Very high on my "go to" list in the kitchen.

Great pictorial. Do the wheels on your benches lock? not sure I'd like the buffers moving when being used.

 

[Shaggy]

Beautiful refurb on that kitchen knife, sir. She's ready to serve another few decades... :thumbup:

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kind words.

Thanks Jim

300Six thanks for posting that photo. I didn't get the tips though Was wondering how close I got. No doubt on the kitchen sink.

Thanks stormy.

Thanks Old Engineer. Its an oversized three car garage. Three years ago I lost a third of my space. My wife got a new car, "Foxy" and while it was parked outside rabbits ate the wiring harness. Numerous vehicles have alway been parked out front and never a problem, (I told her they liked the new car smell). Well some $4500 later I lose a third of my shop. So I sat down and really thought about how to do this the best we could. Also the two sides of the shop can't mix. The leather side has to stay very clean and oviously thats not gonna happen with the knife side. After three years I'm not sure what I would change now. Its evolved with experience and flows pretty darn good. where were ya? I gave away a couple real nice eight foot benches.

eisman yes they do lock. However I don't use them. There is a large expansion joint in the concrete drive. I steer the leading edge into the crack and it locks down pretty darn good. Better than the wheel locks did. Plus keeps the two benches square to each other in relationship to the front of the garage and that keeps Dave's world ok. Helps my OCD. We all have our crosses to bear. Ya look at the pics of the knives on the bench or one of the glueing tables ya notice that the knives are almost always facing the same way. I'm far from a neat freak but I do like my knives in regiments.

 

[Horsewright]

Speaking of tossing em in the sink:

I made a matching set of six of these high carbon damascus bladed, mammoth toothed spacer, camel bone handled steak knives for some friends. they had some friends over and when done with dinner the wife tossed em in the sink full of soapy water. She forgot about em overnight. Husband comes out the next morning and found all six of em in the sink. He wiped em off and oiled em immediately and brought them back to me. Fortunately it was only one time. Wasn't too big a job to get me back. Little rust here and there and a swollen handle on one but I was able to get em back.

Yep tossing a knife in a sink of soapy water is probably worse than the dishwasher. i tell every one that buys one of my kitchen knives to hand wash immediately and dry. Don't even set them down to dry.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

As always, very nice job Dave! Here's a quick comparison of Old Gal with the new botox'd Gal hopefully you do not mind that I grabbed the images and put them so they are side by side for comparison, owing to some lighting and camera angles they are not exact of course, but does show the transformation that took place;

And a bunch of knives going through the shop too, you are never bored are you!
G2

 

[Horsewright]

Of course not Gary my friend. Wish I knew how to do such things. Ya'd tell me how, I'm sure but it wouldn't help. Thats cool side by side like that. I can barely turn on the TV. Two remotes and one does two different things and the satellite thingy has to be on and them something else has to be set to HDMI 1 whatever that is and the news is over by now. Me I make knives, do some leatherwork, ride horses and rope cows. Not necessarily in that order.