A VERY good day at the yard sales..........

Ray S · **on:** May 13, 2018, 01:01:55 AM

Today was the last day of a three day city wide yard sale binge. Once a year the town allows you to hold a yard sale without having to obtain a permit. Normally you have to apply for a permit and pay a fee($1) which gets you an official permit to sell whatever you like. Fortunately they do not require you(as yet)to collect sales taxes for the items you sell.
Initially I was going to set up in my garage and sell on Friday and Saturday but the weather turned out to be miserable(temps in the 40's and raining)and I wasn't feeling particularly well so I passed.
I had to go to a neighboring town to estimate a lettering job on a vintage race car and didn't get back until after noon. I took a quick stroll over to the flea market across the street but didn't find anything. On the way home I decided to take a quick ride around town to see if any were still open. Found a couple but no one had knives.
Heading back to the house I saw a commercial building next to a storage facility that was open and so I pulled in. Walked across the muddy driveway(in my slippers;forgot to put on shoes)and into the building.
Didn't see anything so I asked the woman if she had any pocket knives. She said no but her husband had just bought a box of "large" knives and would I be interested in them? I said yes and he went to get them and came back with a good sized box with a couple dozen knives inside.
As I started to go through them they looked to be mostly filet knives. Many of them were either Maarttini or G-96(Jet-Aer)and so I selected one of the G-96 models. I have several of the Maarttini knives.
Next I come across a hunter that although it had no maker's name I recognized it as being made by Cutco. I have an identical model except it has white handles instead of the wood grained ones this one had. I set it aside.
Next I came across a combination tool similar to the Fred MacOverland Fisherman's Friend with sheath.Looking like a pair of pliers it has a folding knife blade inside one of the handles along with a hook sharpening stone and screwdriver set into the other handle.It also functions as a hook remover;line cutter;andweight crimper. I set this one aside as well.
And finally at the bottom was the prize: a WWII era KA-BAR Mk1 in it's original sheath. Pulled it out and the blade looked full but really rusty.Verdigris(that green stuff that forms around brass attached to leather)covered the snap but the leather seemed to be intact. I put this one aside and asked him what he needed to get for the four knives I had selected.
He thought for a moment and then said,"How about $20 for all of them?". I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough.
When I got them home and started to examine them more closely I realized the KA-BAR looked like it had never been sharpened and what I thought was rust turned out to be mostly dried cosmolene(the grease that they were normally stored in). The leather had some mildew on it which quickly cleaned up with a light application of mineral oil.
When I had finished cleaning the blade I went to put it back in the sheath I noticed that the sheath had dried and a faintly visible name was imprinted on the sheath! The name said," J.P.Jones". Unfortunately I haven't detected a service number on it yet but hope I find one. It will be interesting to see if I can locate either the owner or possibly some of his descendants.
So all in all it was a VERY good day for yard saling!

Ray S · **Reply #1 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:03:22 AM

More pics of the KA-BAR and the sheath.

SteveC · **Reply #2 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:11:28 AM

Great score Ray especially the Ka-Bar !

Barry Rowland · **Reply #3 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:27:49 AM

Outstanding day indeed!

Syncop8r · **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:32:23 AM

Good score! I can't wait to see how the KA-BAR cleans up...

sak60 · **Reply #5 on:** May 13, 2018, 03:37:23 AM

Quote from: Ray S on May 13, 2018, 01:03:22 AM

More pics of the KA-BAR and the sheath.

Nice mid war Mk2 Ray, and really good pick up considering how much the asking price for them can be now. Is it USMC or Navy?

Ray S · **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2018, 07:07:36 AM

Quote from: sak60 on May 13, 2018, 03:37:23 AM

Quote from: Ray S on May 13, 2018, 01:03:22 AM
More pics of the KA-BAR and the sheath.

Nice mid war Mk2 Ray, and really good pick up considering how much the asking price for them can be now. Is it USMC or Navy?

It isn't marked either one.I did find a name inked onto the sheath(J.P.Jones on both sides) but no service number. I'm wondering if it may have been post war. Whatever the case it is cleaning up nicely. Pics to follow.

Sparky415 · **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2018, 08:16:37 AM

Great score Ray

Syncop8r · **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:12:39 PM

Quote from: Ray S on May 13, 2018, 07:07:36 AM

Pics to follow.

Mechanickal · **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:40:16 PM

RF52 · **Reply #10 on:** May 13, 2018, 01:51:26 PM

Good find

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

David · **Reply #11 on:** May 13, 2018, 03:22:03 PM

You made a good haul there Ray!

Poncho65 · **Reply #12 on:** May 13, 2018, 04:06:04 PM

Some very nice pieces Ray

I hope that the KABAR cleans up really great for you and can't wait for the pics

ThundahBeagle · **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2018, 05:08:46 PM

Not having been in the service per se, I have to wonder if this is some sort of US Naval commemorative version. After all, it was a certain John Paul (J.P.) Jones who is credited as the founder of the US Navy during the American Revolution.

More research is necessary. I bet the folks at K-Bar could tell you if they made such a commemorative sheath.

Ray S · **Reply #14 on:** May 13, 2018, 07:29:17 PM

Quote from: ThundahBeagle on May 13, 2018, 05:08:46 PM

Not having been in the service per se, I have to wonder if this is some sort of US Naval commemorative version. After all, it was a certain John Paul (J.P.) Jones who is credited as the founder of the US Navy during the American Revolution.

More research is necessary. I bet the folks at K-Bar could tell you if they made such a commemorative sheath.

[/quote

I don't think it is any type of commemorative due to the age of the knife. I have several knives of this type including a USMC reproduction and the later knives have several notable differences. The name on the sheath appears to have been stamped in ink and is not impressed as the later knives are.
The name Jones is probably the most common surname in the USA with the possible exception of the name Smith(one of which I am) and the given name John is definitely the most common if that in fact is the original owner's name.
Sheaths were sometimes marked with the owner's name and service number by them in a number of ways. I have seen them using ink,paint,and even carving them with a knife. I have another KA-BAR that the owner drilled a hole through the rear of the handle likely to attach a lanyard to prevent it's loss.
The blade is starting to clean up rather nicely and I may just leave it like that as I don't want to over-clean it and have it lose it's originality.]

sak60 · **Reply #15 on:** May 17, 2018, 04:07:35 PM

I have these two both with similar inked stencil like yours.
1. Late war Kabar USMC marked J C MURRAY

2. Early to Mid war Camillus USMC marked 2ND TNK BN. Interestingly it appears to have been stamped over a previous marking which has been cleaned (scoured) off.

ddogu · **Reply #16 on:** May 18, 2018, 08:16:56 AM

What did you use to clean the Kabar like that?

styx · **Reply #17 on:** May 18, 2018, 08:38:22 AM

the ka-bar cleaned up well

Mechanickal · **Reply #18 on:** May 18, 2018, 08:44:37 AM

Quote from: ddogu on May 18, 2018, 08:16:56 AM

What did you use to clean the Kabar like that?

Elbow grease

microbe · **Reply #19 on:** May 18, 2018, 10:31:58 AM

WD40?

Nice score btw!

Ray S · **Reply #20 on:** May 19, 2018, 01:37:27 AM

Quote from: ddogu on May 18, 2018, 08:16:56 AM

What did you use to clean the Kabar like that?

When I clean a knife(or anything else that has rust on it) I usually start by using a #2 lead pencil(my favorite is a Staedtler drafting pencil)and rubbing over the surfaces to remove the red rust and scale.Give it a wipe with mineral oil to see how it is progressing and when all the loose stuff is off I will start sanding with wet-or-dry sandpaper(depending on the severity I start with 220 grit if it is really bad)using water on a fixed blade and mineral oil on a folder and gradually working up to a finer grit(400 is the finest I use) until smooth and then finish off with Mother;s Mag Wheel Polish by hand.
I do not like to use a buffing wheel as rag wheels have a tendency to catch blades at the most inopportune time and launch them floorward at something close to warp speed and God help you if it happens to find your foot or as happened to one knifemaker lodging itself in his thigh and nicking the femoral artery. If his neighbor didn't hear his screams he likely would have bled to death in his shop.
In this case I wanted to remove as little metal as possible and knowing that the deep pitting would require doing so elected to just give it a cursory polish.The sheath and handle I washed in mineral oil and wiped dry the excess immediately and let dry. The handle required lightly scraping the grooves with a small sharp blade at a steep angle to minimize the chance of removing the leather.After that a light coat of mineral oil and it is ready to go.

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A VERY good day at the yard sales..........

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