Some rusty blades now restored =)

[REK Knives]

Got a few knives in from a customer so was gonna post some WIP pics for your enjoyment =) Now to be clear, I don't normally do scale work, this is a one off

The knives had been put through the dishwasher and not only were they rusted bad, but the scales had become separated from the tang. There were 2 kitchen knives in this condition...

So first I depinned the scales and removed them:

Then I got everything cleaned up w/ most of the pitting removed from the tang, re-flattened the existing scales, and cleaned up the orange rust from the blades. Even though my customer didn't mind me removing all the patina, I kinda wanted to keep it because it showed the character of the knives over the years

Unfortunately the scales on the larger knife were so messed up that the red micarta liners could not be salvaged. So my customer was good w/ some brand new micarta scales, and requested that they be polished upon completion. I was able to even use the old pins! So I used some epoxy and clamped them overnight. I did run into an issue when pressing a pin back through the one side of the micarta scale though...

No worries... time to sand it out and contour the new scales!

After the sanding and buffing of the scales, I decided to go for a soak in apple cider vinegar to take some of the shine out and force a light patina to those areas:

After the sharpening, here are the final pics!

Thanks for looking guys!

 

[Eric@DLT]

Nice work. I love how they turned out. For not normally doing scale work those turned out great too.

 

[pjwoolw]

Nice work Josh! The cider soak gave those a nice look. Your a pretty handy fella!

 

[thelastbestplace]

Josh it doesn't surprise me at all to see you taken a rusty, screwed up knife and make it better than ever. Outstanding work as usual!

I had a "high energy" friend take my deer hunting knife (BRKT Gunny in A2) and put it in my dishwasher a month or two ago. We had been celebrating a successful harvest and I wasn't watching. This is my same friend who repeatedly throws his knives at trees and in the ground. I don't think he will ever get it so it's best to put anything expensive away before he shows up. At least BRKT is good about giving their knives the spa treatment.

 

[Bazzle]

Thanks for sharing. Looks great!
Beware of knives with less metal in the tang. They tend to cup, creating a nightmare!

 

[Climbmnts]

Wow dude, damn fine work!

 

[REK Knives]

Thanks guys!

Thanks for sharing. Looks great!
Beware of knives with less metal in the tang. They tend to cup, creating a nightmare!

What do you mean "cup? any pics or can you explain further? don't wanna screw anything up!

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Great job.

 

[chiral.grolim]

Were these knives you had made, or someone else? VERY nice work on those :thumbup:

Someday soon I'll be asking for your services, and I look forward to it.

 

[REK Knives]

Were these knives you had made, or someone else? VERY nice work on those :thumbup:

Someday soon I'll be asking for your services, and I look forward to it.

I am very honored my friend.

No I did not make these, they were made by someone else (not sure on the maker) but had been put through the dishwasher a couple times.

 

[Bazzle]

It doesn't show the "cup", but even though it seemed it would be a simple project it wasn't.
The tang had a crown on one side and cupped on the other. The cup could be filled in with epoxy, but the scale on the crown side wouldn't set flat. Not enough material to sand it flat. I heated it up a bit and hammered it flat.
Another problem was what I did to myself. It was a breaking knife for a butcher. Knowing it would be used mostly for pull cuts, I tapered the handle smaller towards the blade since it was a slick square handle. My mistake was that I used the end of a mosaic rod that wasn't complete.
It took a while and lots of shimming to set it up and drill out the pin and replace it. Never want to do it again, but it went perfect this time.

 

[REK Knives]

It doesn't show the "cup", but even though it seemed it would be a simple project it wasn't.
The tang had a crown on one side and cupped on the other. The cup could be filled in with epoxy, but the scale on the crown side wouldn't set flat. Not enough material to sand it flat. I heated it up a bit and hammered it flat.
Another problem was what I did to myself. It was a breaking knife for a butcher. Knowing it would be used mostly for pull cuts, I tapered the handle smaller towards the blade since it was a slick square handle. My mistake was that I used the end of a mosaic rod that wasn't complete.
It took a while and lots of shimming to set it up and drill out the pin and replace it. Never want to do it again, but it went perfect this time.

Beautiful work!!

So the tang was essentially bowed?

 

[Tony18]

Really nice work & those scales turned out Amazing.

 

[Bazzle]

Beautiful work!!

So the tang was essentially bowed?

Thanks! Bowed it was.