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Knife - Restore or Not?

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gb Offline Roadie

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Knife - Restore or Not?
on: January 24, 2009, 12:44:57 PM
Well i've came home for a couple of days for my Dad's birthday and was given a new (to me) knife!!

Turns out it is one my dad made whilst at school (some 35-40) yrs ago!! It's a slip joint and it looks similar to a vintage Soldier (but with out all the other tools) i'll get some pics up when i get back to york tonight.

It is in a bit of a sorry state chunks of scale missing, liners have warped, rusty bits all over and its pretty blunt but i love it! The thing is do i restore it? I'd have to completely disassemble it and make new scales for it so it would be pretty much a new knife or do i leave it in its current state? :think:
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gb Offline Neil

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #1 on: January 24, 2009, 12:53:41 PM
 :ahhh Tricky.  Let's see the photos first to see if it can be done sympathetically.  :think:

Neil
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england Offline Benner

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #2 on: January 24, 2009, 12:54:28 PM
I would love to see some pics of that.  :)

I'd be inclined to leave it if it was mine as that way it is all your Dad's work which would mean more to me than having a cleaner, more usable knife.
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england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #3 on: January 24, 2009, 01:06:11 PM
I agree with Neil. Touching up os one thing, but I wouldn't want to start chucking away bits that make that knife special.

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gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 02:04:15 PM
One scale is in pretty good condition but the other i think is beyond help, the pics should be up by midnight tonight :)
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gb Offline Mike, Lord of the Spammers!

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 06:13:36 PM
I dunno, it's only original once after all :-\

I'll reserve judgement till I've seen the pictures too :)
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england Offline Benner

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #6 on: January 24, 2009, 06:16:39 PM
I dunno, it's only original once after all :-\

That's kinda where I'm coming from as well.

I think a few pics will give us a better idea as maybe minimal changes could be made so it still stays as original as possible.
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ca Offline PyroJames

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #7 on: January 24, 2009, 07:23:50 PM
I would restore it but try to maintain the original look/design.  I'm sure your dad would love to see his original knife totally restored into a beautiful, rejuvenated knife.  He'll be proud to see that you put just as much time, effort and care into the same knife that he cared for many years ago and he'll be glad that he gave the knife to someone who truly appreciates it.
This is called a Swiss Army Knife. Do you know what Switzerland is? Switzerland is a place where they don't like to fight, so they get people to do their fighting for them while they ski and eat chocolate. - Larry David


gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #8 on: January 24, 2009, 11:48:58 PM
Piccies :)


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england Offline Benner

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #9 on: January 24, 2009, 11:54:23 PM
I'd be inclined to have a bit of a clean up and to put something on the scales to preserve them.  I personally would not start changing things.
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england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #10 on: January 25, 2009, 12:04:07 AM
Hmmm. The scales are varnished yeah?

If it were mine, I'd strip that varnish and give it a fresh coat, and refix the scales. I don't think you need to replace anything there except the pins?

That's just me though.
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gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #11 on: January 25, 2009, 12:06:46 AM
Yeah they certainly look varnished, the pins could do with removing and realigning the scales and bolsters. I'll see what it looks like after i've given it a bit of a service, but that probably won't be for a couple of days as i'm busy busy :)
Life is like a sandwich...the older it gets the crustier it becomes!


england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #12 on: January 25, 2009, 12:21:47 AM
Yeah they certainly look varnished, the pins could do with removing and realigning the scales and bolsters. I'll see what it looks like after i've given it a bit of a service, but that probably won't be for a couple of days as i'm busy busy :)

I reckon the key is to disassemble it carefully (don't look at the "Ever wish you'd thought things through a bit better?" thread or I'll lose all credibility here)  ::)

The pins might very well be nails? I think I'd probably replace them, and you'll get a goos match at any decent hardware store by the looks of it.

But on the whole it looks like a bit of sanding and cleaning and you could reassemble it more tightly without changing anything major. Your dad will be chuffed if you show him that restored - I guarantee it.
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gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #13 on: January 25, 2009, 12:26:28 AM
Yeah i'm not too phased by the job of restoring it, it will be fairly simple. It was more of a do I don't I. It was given to me with a sort of just put it in your collection type message. But i can see it's potential to be a fairly nice user so i'm not sure what to do about it :-\
Life is like a sandwich...the older it gets the crustier it becomes!


england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #14 on: January 25, 2009, 12:31:24 AM
I understand.
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gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #15 on: January 25, 2009, 12:33:33 AM
I understand.

Glad someone does.....could you explain it to me :D :D
Life is like a sandwich...the older it gets the crustier it becomes!


england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #16 on: January 25, 2009, 12:39:06 AM
Haha.

My logic - FWIW...

If one of the handles was broken in two, snapped for example, then I'd have a dilemma, as fixing it up would mean disposing of the work that you father did. But, you don't need to do that, you can simply restore it using the original bits.

It's not much different to washing the blade after use really, just a bit more involved!

Another way of looking at it is it would look better cleaned up in your collection, but if you were going to use it occasionally, then you definitely need to fix it up or you or the knife are going to get damaged.

I used to come here a lot.


gb Offline Roadie

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #17 on: January 25, 2009, 12:41:15 AM
Yeah some good points there :) Apart from one big chunk missing from the scale it is still a very serviceable knife (once sharpened and cleaned) but that scale does move around a bit, i could just epoxy it in place but not sure how "nice" it would look.
Life is like a sandwich...the older it gets the crustier it becomes!


england Offline DaveK

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #18 on: January 25, 2009, 12:48:50 AM
Aaah - I didn't notice that there was wood missing, but I see it now.

I'd cut a new piece and fix it to the old remaining piece. With a bit of care you'll see the join, but you won't feel it. That would give it character.
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gb Offline Neil

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #19 on: January 25, 2009, 02:23:20 AM
 :think:

Now I've seen the pictures and read the additional comments I've decided most firmly that I would totally not know what to do.  I hope that was helpful :P

From a selfish point of view I hope you do it up, just so I can look at the pictures :)

Neil
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england Offline Benner

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #20 on: January 25, 2009, 12:30:01 PM
:think:

Now I've seen the pictures and read the additional comments I've decided most firmly that I would totally not know what to do.  I hope that was helpful :P

From a selfish point of view I hope you do it up, just so I can look at the pictures :)

Neil

Well you're ruddy helpful aren't you!  ::) :D

I'd do what Dave said and just restore what is there by sorting the pins and by maybe adding a bit to that scale but certainly not replacing it.
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Offline doinitall89

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #21 on: January 25, 2009, 04:33:50 PM
Wow that is a dilemma man. Personally I'm all about sentimental value in things and would probably keep it original but would still re-varnish it. I love getting old things that my dad had when he was younger. That's really cool that he passed it on to you!  :)


us Offline J-sews

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Re: Knife - Restore or Not?
Reply #22 on: January 25, 2009, 08:31:17 PM
My vote is to fix up what's there as much as can be done without replacing anything. :)

By the way, congrats on a great gift Ryan! That knife is now worth more to you than any other you own I'll wager.
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