Swap Meet Treasures

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hawaiianhawk

Joined
Dec 25, 2009
Messages
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It's amazing what $45 will net you at the local swap meet.



The stockman is a Schrade-made Craftsman knife. The blades look to be almost unused except for some scratch marks where it looks like someone hit them with a Brillo pad or something. Decent snap, lots of gunk in the joints, but in very good condition. Five bucks. The funny part is that I work at Sears, in the hardware department. :D





The fixed blade was a bit of a surprise. I was looking to find a canteen cup (which I found), and there are two guys that usually show up every week and fix their stalls next to one another. They have a large mix of various military surplus items, ranging from very old and beaten-up, rusty ammo containers to BLACKHAWK! holsters and gear, for very decent prices. From their conversation, they trade things back and forth as friends will, and one of the men had a pile of fixed blades with stag handles on the hood of his vehicle. I asked about them and was told that they were made of old sawmill blades by a man named Robert Wiggins of Virginia. One was a very large W49-style bowie; another was a neck knife, etc. This was the only wood-handled piece and the seller mentioned that those were rare for the maker. I asked what he was willing to part with it for, and $40 was his answer. I'm a happy camper today.





Very bright finish, as you can see. Shaving-sharp convex edge and thick blade stock. The fit and finish isn't perfect, it's obviously handmade, but that adds to the charm, I think. Well-made and very thick leather sheath with tight stitching. Have any of you guys out there heard of this maker or his work?
 
A very good day in paradise!! Thanks for sharing them with us and next time we need some ocean cliff shots;)
 
I'm a bit far from nice beach cliffs and all, and it's kind of a rainy dreary day today, but I'll bring some sunshine along next time. This morning was nice and bright, and as soon as I got home the clouds rolled in.

I got a bargain all around today. Those are good folks to deal with, I'm definitely going to visit them again in the future.
 
hawaiianhawk said:
I'm a bit far from nice beach cliffs and all, and it's kind of a rainy dreary day today, but I'll bring some sunshine along next time. This morning was nice and bright, and as soon as I got home the clouds rolled in.

I got a bargain all around today. Those are good folks to deal with, I'm definitely going to visit them again in the future.
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Looking forward to it! Good luck on the hunt.
 
I wiped down the Craftsman with mineral oil, and dropped some into the joints to soak for a while, but do you folks have any advice for removing the small amount of rust on the blades? I don't really want to use even fine grit sandpaper, but it'll take more than just rubbing with a rag.
 
Dawn + rough side of a sponge or toothbrush = light rust removal from my experience, it won't do anything major but for a small amount of rust that doesn't run deep it work.

Though if you go the sandpaper route you can add a different scratch pattern to it. I personally think. a scratch pattern running vertical instead of horizontal like it is now would look good, especially if it is done to look more consistent and uniform.
 
I used some 400 grit wet/dry paper to very carefully remove the rust. The 400 polished the metal around the scratches, which are both deeper and more numerous than I initially thought. After removing some of the gunk in the joints, a tiny amount of wiggle in the main blade has also been revealed. No matter. I like the wood handle and brass frame of this knife.
 
Thank you. I've had some good luck there recently; not long ago I found another Old Timer stockman and a TL-29 in excellent shape. The fixed blade was a surprise, and a steal!
 
I have pretty good luck removing most surface rust with little more than a few wooden toothpicks for scraping, and some light oil.
 
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