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Rejuvenating Vintage Knives

Discussion in 'Shop Talk' started by Wagner the Wehrwolf, Nov 24, 2018.

  1. Wagner the Wehrwolf

    Wagner the Wehrwolf Founding Member

    I've got a collection of vintage knives that I have an end goal of rejuvenating. I don't want to re-handle if I can avoid it. I'd like to keep everything original if possible. I already have one knife where I took the handle off and I ran into the original rivet size seems to be unobatanium. I cannot find anything as large of diameter as the original rivets.

    What would be the best approach for something like this old F Dick chef knife? My thought was very light sanding at fine grit of both the handle and the blade. It's very important to me not to lose the maker's mark (that already happened once from someone else doing me a "favor"). And then polishing or rubbing oil into the handle, new edge and call it good. What do you think? Any pitfalls to be aware of?

    Thanks!
    2018-11-23 22.06.17.jpg
     
  2. marc4pt0

    marc4pt0 Founding Member

    Only go as coarse of a grit as you need to. Start off with maybe 800. Use wd40 or windex as a lubricant to sand with on the steel only. Not the handle. If that doesn't dig deep enough, drop down to 600.

    For the wood handle, maybe start with 1000 grit
     
  3. Taylor

    Taylor Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Instead of fine grit sand paper, I'd probably go with Flitz metal polisher. It will remove the rust without taking out pitting or anything along those lines. For the handle, tape the blade up before continuing, and use sand paper to clean up, then oil, or use renaissance wax to finish it up. For the other handle you can't find the right rivets for, I would look into using plane old rods with epoxy and some sort of spacer material to attach the handle. I had to handle a custom knife recently, where he had already drilled 1/2" holes in the handle, but couldn't figure out how to attach the scales. 1/2" brass rod did the trick, and while I wouldn't call it as secure, it definitely fit the bill. The uploads are pics of the custom handle (way too big for my hand, but for what I was given, I think it worked out, and he was happy).
     

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