Cleaned up a Kabar

[Mike 139]

One of my projects just completed was cleaning up this Knife...The Tip was bent to the right...Heated it up with a Propane torch until it just started to change color, gently hit it on the Vise Anvil with hammer and immersed in water...Came out straight....Melted some Beeswax in a glass jar in a pot of boiling water and immersed the Handle for several seconds, repeated twice...Cleaned up drippings with Heat Gun.

The Sheath had verdigris on the staples and stitching..Cleaned it with white vinegar and water followed with a couple drops of Dawn detergent in water...Allowed to dry in the Sun ,than applied Beeswax with the Heat gun on 300 degree setting, melting it into the Leather....

First pic is the Knife when I brought it home, second pic shows Guard marked Camillus .NY.... End of guard is USMC. . 1944-45 production......3rd pic is finished project.
This Knife belonged to a very close Friend who passed away in 2017.....His Wife thought I should have it....

 

[ContinentalOp]

Well done, and a beautiful reminder of your friend, the knife a gift from him to you, and the restoration a gift from you to him.

 

[hittman77]

Very nice, looks like you did him (and yourself) proud.

 

[30-30remchester]

As an antique knife collector I cringe. The job you did looks great, but having ruined a hundred or so antique knife myself by cleaning them up, I now leave them as I find them if at all possible. Stop rust at all cost as it is a cancer that will continue to grow, clean off the verdigris as it is a cancer as well, other than that I leave them. Among us collectors there is a continuing debate as to "treat" old leather. I myself will use just saddle soap and only if the leather is deuterating. I couldn't wait till I got my deceased grandfathers old Case pocket knife. Within an hour I had cleaned out the pocket lint, polished the blades, shined up the brass lined and nickel bolsters. Within the hour I had removed all of my Grandpa from the knife. I now just have a shiny old knife with no history. Would kill to have his old knife back, pocket lint and all.

 

[crstrode]

Within the hour I had removed all of my Grandpa from the knife. I now just have a shiny old knife with no history. Would kill to have his old knife back, pocket lint and all.

I've got Grandpas old axe in my work shop. Dad replaced the handle a coupe of times, and I had to replace the head a few years back cuz it was dull. Put a new handle on it for good measure.

I'm lucky to still have Grandpa's old axe

 

[mauser9]

Looks great. Love those old vintage blades.

 

[Mike 139]

As an antique knife collector I cringe. The job you did looks great, but having ruined a hundred or so antique knife myself by cleaning them up, I now leave them as I find them if at all possible. Stop rust at all cost as it is a cancer that will continue to grow, clean off the verdigris as it is a cancer as well, other than that I leave them. Among us collectors there is a continuing debate as to "treat" old leather. I myself will use just saddle soap and only if the leather is deuterating. ......

The issue I was concerned over was the bent tip...You see so many 1217's with reground tips....Original mics @ 0.035....First pic ,if you look @ the Tip, you can see the color change from the propane torch....After straightening and quenching and testing it in a block of wood...Good to go...As far as the Leather goes, the Imperial M3 Trench Knife got the same dip in melted wax...It cleans, expands and seals the leather washers and removes any loose play.... The Viner Bros. 1943 Sheath had nothing but the REN wax applied to it.

I collect WW2 items as a tribute to my Dad, who was an Infantry Platoon Sgt.in Italy, France and Germany during the War...My close Friend,... He would've wanted his Knife in "Good to Go" condition.,like it is now.

 

[k22fan]

While I agree that removing a thin layer of oxidation or patina from an old blade lowers the collector value, I like the restoration of this Fighting Knife. I hate bent tips. Possessing a knife with a bent or broken off tip makes the possessor look like an idiot. There's no point in letting leather dry until it turns into dirt. Good job! Your "Kabar" looks much better.

I hope you'll forgive a question that is not on the topic of your "Kabar." How can I kill mold in a 1980 leather sheath? It matters to me because in excellent condition the Rigid Bowie I bought then routinely sells through ebay auctions for over $250. Other than the sheath my knife is like new and I still have its original box. I only resharpened it with a translucent natural stone which is not noticeable. Its sheath has a little wear from hunting and acquired mold when its storage location was not dry enough. The vast majority of a mold growth is root like fine filaments. Killing them so they can not sprout back through the surface is the problem.

 

[CB3]

One's inherited or gifted knife is personal property. Resale or collectors' value can be meaningless. In this case, the new owner did what he felt appropriate for himself and his friend. No one can say that was wrong. It's not the knife that is important. It's the people.

 

[wetdog1911]

One of my projects just completed was cleaning up this Knife...The Tip was bent to the right...Heated it up with a Propane torch until it just started to change color, gently hit it on the Vise Anvil with hammer and immersed in water...Came out straight....Melted some Beeswax in a glass jar in a pot of boiling water and immersed the Handle for several seconds, repeated twice...Cleaned up drippings with Heat Gun.

The Sheath had verdigris on the staples and stitching..Cleaned it with white vinegar and water followed with a couple drops of Dawn detergent in water...Allowed to dry in the Sun ,than applied Beeswax with the Heat gun on 300 degree setting, melting it into the Leather....

First pic is the Knife when I brought it home, second pic shows Guard marked Camillus .NY.... End of guard is USMC. . 1944-45 production......3rd pic is finished project.
This Knife belonged to a very close Friend who passed away in 2017.....His Wife thought I should have it....

Beeswax is wonderful stuff ain't it? I still have a pound or so from when I *thought* I was going into BPCR shooting. A shattered R shoulder a few months later cut that right off at the knees, but I hung on to that beeswax.

Rob

You did good! First, by stopping the decay and then taking steps to prevent it in the future.

 

[30-30remchester]

Mike 139, you do quality work no doubt and I have struggled myself with what to do scenarios. In my youth I just had to do something no matter what. My profession consisted of doing just that, repaired and rebuilding. But over the years I now know I removed much history from many knife but saved many relics and gave them a second life through restoration work. It is a double edged sword for sure. Waxing the old dried out leather handles do save them and tightens them up, but removes the sweat and DNA of the original owner. I had an interesting PAL Mark 1 with the owners name and serial number etched onto the back of the dried out weathered sheath. I did the saddle soap thing and cleaned the dirt off. Problem was that it completely erased all etching and till this day it cant be seen and I wasn't smart enough to write it down before I soaped it, so this man is gone to history forever. I remember a tale an old gunsmith told about his youth when he was hungry. He bought a well used 1866 Winchester with nails and tacks all over the stock. No bluing left so he re-blued it, removed all the nails and refinished the wood. He was so proud of his work that he took before and after pictures. He sold it and made a few bucks. Years later he saw a picture of a famous Native American chief holding the very rifle he had destroyed. Just last year I viewed an 1866 Yellow Boy that had elaborate engraving on the reciever that had been polished off. About the only work that can be made out is "COL." Over cleaned to the point of ruination. But I have saved some completely abandoned and neglected guns and knives by harsh work. I do not agree with the " It's mine and I will whatever I want with it" mindset. Can you image if one of the many owners of the Mona Lisa had that mindset and painted a moustache on it. We are only temporary owners of anything.

 

[jeffrefrig]

k22fan, You can spray some Ballistol on the sheath. Try to do a tiny area first so it doesn't get too dark for you. I've used it on three old sheaths and it put a little brittleness out of the leather.
BYW, I just had 4 sheaths restitched by a leather guy near Pittsburgh. The stitching was eroding.

 

[G-Mac]

First pic is the Knife when I brought it home, second pic shows Guard marked Camillus, NY....

The old Camillus knife factory is about ten minutes from my house. I was at the auction when they were selling everything off. Camillus knives come China now.

 

[buckshotshorty]

The knife looks very nice but, I've watched enough episodes of Forged In Fire to know you don't quench hot steel in water..that causes the steel to become brittle and compromises the strength. They always quench into oil.

 

[ContinentalOp]

The knife looks very nice but, I've watched enough episodes of Forged In Fire to know you don't quench hot steel in water..that causes the steel to become brittle and compromises the strength. They always quench into oil.

Not entirely accurate. It depends on the steel. I think they've even mentioned that on the show before. Some steels can handle being quenched in water, some can be tricky, i.e., the steel has to be at just the right temperature before quenching. But oil is generally safer all around. I've seen examples outside of Forged in Fire that were quenched in water and did just fine, including katanas.

 

[CB3]

Just last year I viewed an 1866 Yellow Boy that had elaborate engraving on the reciever that had been polished off. About the only work that can be made out is "COL." Over cleaned to the point of ruination. But I have saved some completely abandoned and neglected guns and knives by harsh work. I do not agree with the " It's mine and I will whatever I want with it" mindset. Can you image if one of the many owners of the Mona Lisa had that mindset and painted a moustache on it. We are only temporary owners of anything.

Apples to oranges comparisons. The provenance of this knife is known to the new owner. It is not a knife, in any condition, that would bring hundreds of thousand dollars at sale.

Your point is valid concerning potentially or acknowledged historic items. However, this common implement issued to an average GI has more personal than historic value, in the owner's opinion. I bet if he suspected he could pick up $10,000 by selling it he might have left it original.

Not every old thing in poor condition is automatically to be revered as sacred and monetarily valuable.

 

[Onomea]

.... I do not agree with the " It's mine and I will whatever I want with it" mindset. Can you image if one of the many owners of the Mona Lisa had that mindset and painted a moustache on it. We are only temporary owners of anything.

I respect your opinion, and believe you should do as you see fit. But my opinion is different.

I think a tool, a mass production knife like a kabar, is no work of art. It is not meant to be. It is not designed, not created, to be hung on the wall and admired, but used. I think the way one shows respect for a tool, a knife like this, and its former owner, is to maintain/restore it and, if so inclined, use it.

I inherited my dad's Cattaraugus 225Q that he carried in WWII and used, whenever warranted, throughout his life. He was never one to maintain his tools with much care, and I don't recall him having any other knives. He did, shortly after the war, with my mother's help, remake it's original sheath, keeping the backing but adding a new, fringed cover for the blade.

When, upon his death in 1995, I received the knife, the blade was quite rusty and the sheath was falling apart. I polished the heck out of the blade with WD40 and fine grit sandpaper, and initially bought a new custom sheath for it. Some 20 years later, I had a leatherworker restore Dad's sheath, adding some leather to strengthen it.

It's in better shape now, both knife and sheath, than it was when Dad had it. I wish he were around to show it to. I think he'd be pleased. (Bet he'd want it back, too!)