New life for a worn knife - New blade for a 1984 tourist

[Tomcat_81]

17981 is sleeping in a bed of WD40, in preparation for a thorough cleaning (on Friday?).

Time to show you guys where I'm working if not under supervision on the balcony:
My workshop.

A table from my great-grandparents, only had to drive the worms out, build new drawers and make the legs longer. The huge chest contains all tools needed here- only my trusty Makita and  grandpa's bench vise aren't pictured here

[zoidberg]

(Image removed from quote.)

 

[Tomcat_81]

Thank you Zoidberg- you were right! 

[LoopCutter]

Thank you Zoidberg- you were right! 

Great job, thank you for sharing this adventure.

[Tomcat_81]

Spa-time.

While everything non-plastic is soaking in WD40, I'll try to buff up the scales a bit.

Enter my Japanese buffing-cloth. Tokyu Hands in Japan, where I got it, is about the best shop in the world. You'll find a fine assortment of every tool you could possibly need, plus a lot of quality materials ( and some nice storeys for your wife). I left that shop twice, each time carrying about 50€ worth in tools and stuff.

The buffing cloth is covered in a white substance, quite similar to the polishing wax I usually use for my knives. But the polishing effect seems to be a bit more gentle to the cellidor than my polishing wax would be.

If you look closely at the last pic you'll see that the front scale already got a good buffing while the anniversary back scale is still left scarred and scratched. Quite a difference!

Tomcat

[Tomcat_81]

Taking a picture of the somewhat scarred scales in direct light
seems like taking a portrait of a person with the light coming from directly below them -
you'll see every wrinkle.

But still, for a scratched knife that's not supposed to become new again, quite pleasing.

Ermmm... no.
That's just not good enough.

So, get the finest wet sanding paper I have in stock (4000) and take off the top layer. Just enough to kill off the small surface scratches.

(Don't do something like that on a modern SAK- the new cellidor scales have a thin, scratch-resistant layer of clear coating on them. Once you come through that layer, you'll never be able to polish the scales again)

Worked well, but of course sanding left the scales dull.

So - back and polish with the Japanese cloth.

Now it's good.

[Poncho65]

I love the work table you have set up The scales coming along quite nicely as well

[Tomcat_81]

The last steps!

17981 came out shiny and nice from the WD40-Onsen.

After rinsing and drying it off I chose to give the edges of the aluminium-liners a mild sanding and polishing. Doing too much here would result in rubbing off all of the eloxation which I don't want.

So again I got some 4000 sandpaper and some polishing fleece to carefully bring back some shine. Flipping in/out the tools will let you access almost any surface of the edges of the liners quite easily.
But remember: Doing too much will only grind down the liners, keep in mind that the aluminium is the softest metal here, especially when so thin.

All sanding leaves tiny particles floating around in the knife, so I gave it a second washing to remove any residue.
It's also a good idea to wipe all surfaces of your workbench after you sanded or polished something- tiny particles of abraisive substances might ruin your work later.

Everything's ready for final assembly... almost!

[Tomcat_81]

The first picture shows what you can find under the scales of an old and well used knife ... and what happens if you don't warm the scales up before taking them off. This was just an old beater with scales so damaged that I didn't pre-heat them.

17981 instead got the extra-cautious treatment, but still the holes in the scales show slight fraying. Nothing ripped or broken, only bent- so I use a blunt stud to polish down the frayed edges again. utting on the scales by hand already gave a nice triple "snap" at the back, but the front needed a bit more pressure.

Enter my Grandad's bench vise again, bolstered up with two thin layers of wood and some cloth. Don't want to scratch or dent anything. The corkscrew has to be kept out of the vice here because it slightly sticks out of the silhouetto and might get crushed.

Snap-snap-----snap.

Some end-polish for all tools, also for toothpick, tweezers and ring, this time using polishing wax and a piece of cloth.

[Tomcat_81]

Welcome back, 17981!

Not new, but shiny, alive and kicking.

Thank you for watching, your comments helped and encouraged me a lot-
I'm looking forward to documenting my next projects for you.

[LoopCutter]

Welcome back, 17981!

Not new, but shiny, alive and kicking.

Thank you for watching, your comments helped and encouraged me a lot-
I'm looking forward to documenting my next projects for you.

A BIG THANK YOU for sharing this project and the detailed pictures.