Thread: Knife restoration

It's going to be fine once it's cleaned up - sometimes the flap discs or sanding discs are the way forward and other times you really need to get a bit more heavy to get to the bottom of the pitting.

If you don't take the pits out, any blood or fat and the like (which is quite acidic) gets caught up and you can't clean it out. Next time you pull the knife out it's got crusty corroded bits and all your work is back to square one!

I can understand what everyone is saying about sympathetic clean ups, but from the first lot of photos after soaking in acid there was still quite a bit of deep pitting. So while the bench grinder is *really* aggressive and I agree there were less abrupt ways to take the metal back under the depth of the pits sometimes you gotta use what you got. It still had to be done from what I could see, you can't fill the pitting back in without warping and stuffing the heat treatment up.

Great granddad would probably be bloody happy that the project is underway and that knowledge is being gained and hands-on time is being spent - once it's complete the knife will still be what it is, and the only thing now is not to thin it any more than it needs.

Over twenty years ago I picked up a rusty bit of steel out in seaside sand dune. Recognised the brass bit as middle of knife of sorts.took it home,knocked off worst of rust,cut section off unused lightweight slasher handle and fitted it then gave blade quick sharpen.this has sat on bench in kitchen for cutting dog roll etc forever since.

As you can see,it's rough.pitted to buggery and edge is terrible. So seeing comments in this thread...off to the shed.

Held knife carefully in left hand,the above angle grinder disc carefully used for no more than ten seconds per side.

Then after another thirty or so seconds of more sanding,buffing a quick rub with oily rag and job done. It still has its uniqueness,it still shows its wear n tear. It's still" the old beach knife"

the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Attachment 264035 the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

I like how mine is looking so far, definitely getting some shine to it. Project is on pause for the moment while I find some tools to get the blade polished and the handle built.


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Originally Posted by Kiwimaverick

I like how mine is looking so far, definitely getting some shine to it. Project is on pause for the moment while I find some tools to get the blade polished and the handle built.


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Excellent, because at the end of the day it is your knife and you restore it how you want to

I look forward to seeing your progress

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Attachment 264035 the metal is as hard as Hobbs of hell. Like as in stainless steel hard. I don't bother trying too hard to get it razor sharp,not needed for its job in life. Hope this gives some idea of just how easy it is to bring what looks completely rooted bit of steel back to shiney again without rooting it completely or loosing it's???patina?? I could use super fine sandpaper and bring blade back to shinyer still but don't see the point.

Nice job!

micky D -that blood y thing looks like something fred flintstone used to carve tucker for the dinasour! if you took it over the coast it s reide in shantytown for sure!

Good work mate, nice to see you giving it a second life. You can thank everyone for their opinions so far on how you should do it and what your grandad might think - you do it how you want to. But def consider taking up the offers of help as a good way to learn!

Leaving some patina or not, you'll know it's your grandad's knife you're holding, and that's all that matters.

Looking forward to seeing the progress when you get back into it. Hope you enjoy the learning experience!