British Army Knife

craggus2000 · **on:** July 12, 2020, 10:21:24 AM

Hi All,
My Dad has asked me to restore his father's British Army Knife

which he has had for years but now wants to be able to use, either as an EDC or as a gardening tool (would be good for pruning etc...)
Firstly let me say, he is not necessarily set on retaining the authenticity of it, but sentimentally would like as much retained as possible, while making it functional again.
I think it is all stainless steel.

See pics below:

Made by SSP (Sheffield Steel Products) you can still make out the British Army mark, and I believe it is a 1944 pattern knife.

Whilst both tools are almost completely seized, the can opener actually still has a little spring action.

The Main blade however is totally shot.
The tang is severely worn:

And I'm guessing the spring will be too (yet to be confirmed).

The sides are also bent and a little twisted:

So it's got alot going for it!

So my thoughts and questions are, somehow I'm going to find a replacement spring and blade (should be a sheepsfoot blade I believe), but thinking of replacing the pivots with brass when I re-assemble as we use in SAKs.
There's a site that sells brand new versions of this knife for £10 so wondering if I'll be lucky enough that the parts might be somewhat interchangeable.

Note, this will turn in to a restoration thread when I can get the blade!

What are you thoughts?

Sea Monster · **Reply #1 on:** July 12, 2020, 11:31:53 AM

I get that sentimentality can sneak into anything....but I'd be tempted to give it a clean, pop it away in the memories box next to grandad's medals and that old pic of gran, and buy dad a new knife.

If the new one matches up, I suppose it's not a huge drama to put new blades and springs into the old body. I'd want to do as much measuring as possible before taking the grinder to it though, I'd hate to ruin two knives in the attempt....

craggus2000 · **Reply #2 on:** July 12, 2020, 12:03:44 PM

I totally get where your coming from but we've had those discussions about whether or not to restore it and we're both in agreement that we want to see it functional again.

I guess my biggest issue was the material of the pivots - brass should be OK shouldn't it?

Definitely not dismantling it until I have the parts to do it!

RF52 · **Reply #3 on:** July 12, 2020, 02:05:32 PM

Can't see why brass wouldn't work since most SAK's use brass

And good luck with the restoration

Sent fra min FRD-L09 via Tapatalk

Gareth · **Reply #4 on:** July 12, 2020, 05:53:03 PM

Awesome project! Sparky415 (Tony) has had a few of these apart IIRC. I think brass for the pins would be just fine. You'll definitely need to replace that blade.

Do you have a link for where you're getting a donor for £10? Sounds like a good deal.

craggus2000 · **Reply #5 on:** July 12, 2020, 06:00:10 PM

This is the link : https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/1944-pattern-british-army-stainless-steel-clasp-knife.html

But, I went to the local antique centre this morning and have picked up a 1954 similar looking one. with 2 broken springs so going to try that first. The blade is a little thinner but thinking I can use some of its body for a spacer.
It's not a perfect blade but more age and patina than a brand new shiny one!
Will post some pics later.

Gareth · **Reply #6 on:** July 12, 2020, 06:09:49 PM

Quote from: craggus2000 on July 12, 2020, 06:00:10 PM

This is the link : https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/1944-pattern-british-army-stainless-steel-clasp-knife.html

But, I went to the local antique centre this morning and have picked up a 1954 similar looking one. with 2 broken springs so going to try that first. The blade is a little thinner but thinking I can use some of its body for a spacer.
It's not a perfect blade but more age and patina than a brand new shiny one!
Will post some pics later.

craggus2000 · **Reply #7 on:** July 12, 2020, 09:28:27 PM

Photos of the potential donor knife:

Broken springs:

Like I said the blade is a little thinner than mine, so I'm considering using part of the middle liner to act as a spacer to take up the slack.

PitCarver · **Reply #8 on:** July 13, 2020, 01:42:13 AM

Quote from: craggus2000 on July 12, 2020, 09:28:27 PM

Photos of the potential donor knife:

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

Broken springs:

(Image removed from quote.)

Like I said the blade is a little thinner than mine, so I'm considering using part of the middle liner to act as a spacer to take up the slack.

That's what happens when different companies make the same knife pattern that spans many years

craggus2000 · **Reply #9 on:** July 14, 2020, 10:04:30 AM

Right, and now to the restoration!

I dismantled the knife and it was full of crud and some corrosion.

The main blade tang was severely worn, as was its spring.

The spring from the can opener was in surprisingly good condition so I've decided to swap the springs over and then have ground (what was) the main blade spring on a wetstone to flatten it and bent it up slightly so I can use it on the can opener.

The now can opener spring:

The now main blade spring:

Both together, with the top one being the slightly bent up opener spring:

After inspecting the new blade, I decided that although it is slightly thinner than the spring, I wouldn't add a spacer.
So instead I've ground both faces of the spring on my wetstone which has cleaned and smoothed it, and now its pretty much the right thickness!

All parts after a partial clean and polish

More to come....

pfrsantos · **Reply #10 on:** July 14, 2020, 12:30:13 PM

If you're using the new blade, grind the spring enough to make it the same width. That will solve your problem.

Keep us updated!

SteveC · **Reply #11 on:** July 14, 2020, 01:54:06 PM

Gareth · **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2020, 04:44:46 PM

Stirling work so far mate! That's quite some wear on the old blade, it must have been graunching steel every time it was used.

craggus2000 · **Reply #13 on:** July 15, 2020, 12:23:25 AM

Quote from: Gareth on July 14, 2020, 04:44:46 PM

Stirling work so far mate! That's quite some wear on the old blade, it must have been graunching steel every time it was used.

Yeah, it only just dawned on me that the knife is almost 80 years old!

It must have seen some action in its life, whatever it's been used for!

Sea Monster · **Reply #14 on:** July 15, 2020, 02:02:24 AM

Quote from: Gareth on July 14, 2020, 04:44:46 PM

Stirling work so far mate! That's quite some wear on the old blade, it must have been graunching steel every time it was used.

Squaddies being squaddies I imagine it was used for anything from picking mud out of boots, to scraping carbon off a rifle.
It's *possible* it was sometimes used for knife appropriate tasks as well!
that and "oil the joint" is more of a guideline than an actual rule.....

I've mumbled about it before, but until the premium-steel and lah-di-dah handle material tacticool boom of (early 2000s?), the marlin-spike style BAK was pretty standard fare in any sailor's pocket (sometimes with a shackle-key cut out, depending on the manufacturer)

Full stainless construction, sod all moving parts, and a steel you can sharpen on the bottom of a coffee cup? Yes please.

Possibly a little "agricultural" to today's user/consumer though $:-\$

Sparky415 · **Reply #15 on:** July 25, 2020, 09:43:13 AM

Good work Mate,

Here's some of my workings on BAKs you don't need any help but these might be interesting to you

https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,28303.30.html

craggus2000 · **Reply #16 on:** August 09, 2020, 10:45:53 AM

Hi all,
Just to update, I've not had a lot of time to do much to this in the last week or so, but am hoping to get back to it later this week.
I did have to buy the other reproduction knife though - the first replacement I got for a donor wouldn't stop grinding on the spring! I think it must have got soft for some reason.
The brand new blade seems to have solved that problem. Will update in the week.