Restoration

B

BluByU

Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Messages
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In 1940 my grandfather was a manager at Norfolk and Western Railroad in Roanoke, VA. When my father was commissioned in the Army (1944) the engine shop superintendent made a fixed blade knife from a file as present. The blade, for reference is 8" long. For pretty much the last 66 years it has sat in dad's closet in a leather sheath untouched.

And as such, the metal is pitting and stains are now in a few places. I tried to clean it with brasso, and various stainless steel cleaners without any luck. The leather sheath is in fair condition, but probably needs help too.

The end game for me is restore the knife and sheath, and have them mounted in a presentation box for Dad's birthday in July.

My question is, are there smiths out there that specialize in restoration of older knives, or would any good smith be able to handle this for me.

Thanks any and all suggestions and help.

Hal Michael
Charlotte, NC
 
Got any photos you can post of it? Need to see pics before anyone can really comment on restoration efforts.

thx - cpr
 
I would be delighted to upload a picture but for some reason i "may not post attachments."
 
You need to post the pictures to a picture hosting website like photobucket.com

You can then paste a link to the picture or you can press the little yellow box with what looks like mountains above the reply to thread text box and put the picture address in the pop up box which will insert the picture into the thread. Wheew.

You also need to decide if you think he will want it cleaned up. Since he has not used it much then he would probably want a nice shiny knife. But some people who use their carbon steel knives like the 'patina' that develops over time. It shows a life of being used and contains a history of knife and owner. If he didn't use it a lot then he would probably want it looking new.

Are you wanting to do this yourself or do you want to send it to someone? Do you have some basic tools including a dremel? Let us know exactly what you are looking to happen and I'm sure someone will be able to tell you what to do, or do the work for you.
 
knifev.jpg
 
WOW...that is neat. Man it looks pretty good to me but what do I know. I am really trying to just imagine those guys in the railroad shop making that back in '44...what a great story.

I cannot give you any advice on restoration of the knife.

As far as the sheath goes, be careful. I would try something like Kiwi Leather Lotion. Use it kind of like soap and also kind of like lotion...wipe some on, and wipe it back off. Do that until the rag starts coming back clean and then wipe on one last thin coat and let it dry. Then buff with a soft cloth. That stuff is pretty good without being harsh...no need to even wear gloves really. Don't use Mink Oil or Mineral Oil or Neetsfoot oil. Those things will soften it up or even go a step or two toward disolving the thing. I hear that Camp Dry makes a leather lotion too but I have not used that. My wife has a couple of fine, expensive leather purses that she used to take to Nordstrom (uber-fancy department store) to have conditioned once a year. The last time, the person behind the counter turned out to be an old friend and that person told her that they just use Kiwi Leather Lotion. I have been the expensive purse conditioner ever since. In fact, I really like Kiwi on new projects.
 
The whole thing can be sanded. The gaurd and handle appear, in the photo, to be aluminum, which sands and polishes very easily. The blade we know was a file. I would start with 220,maybe 120, and and work up to 400. You may not be able to go deep enough to get all the pits out without taking too much of the engraving off. You would have to just see how it goes. It sound like you want it like new so this would work very well.
 
Peppercorn, I think you are right about the guard and the handle being aluminum, or at least parts of the handle. There is definitely some polished wood in there too.
 
The wood will polish also. I would finish the aluminum with Flitz after it's sanded with the 400, actually, I've gone to 600 then Flitz on aliminum with mirror results.
 
Also, depending on the inner rings condition, just polishing with the Flitz rather than sanding over the wood may be a better choice for that area. Again, it would depend on how it goes once you start working with it.
 
Your knife is a classic example of a "theater knife"- knives made for and by GIs during WW2.
Do not sand it! You can use 0000 steel wool and WD 40 to remove active rust on the blade. Don't use steel wool on the handle. Just give the handle and sheath a coat of paste wax and mount them for display.
Your potentially valuable knife is not in bad condition, so "restoration" is not needed.
Any sanding and polishing will destroy the aging and character this piece has acquired.
Beware of non-expert's advice.
 
That's a beauty.I would go with Bills advice and do very little.I dont think he would want it "new" looking.
 
I was merely giving advice on, "restoring" the knife. As to maintaining the knife in it's present condition, that is another matter all-together.
 
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