Old knife resto -- need ideas

[Eric Niefert]

So my buddy gave me this knife to "play with" today.  It doesn't seem to have any maker's mark and doesn't seem to be anything too special, but I thought I would fix her up and give it back to him for Christmas.  If I had to guess, I would say it is just an old production piece.  He knew no history about it other than he has "had it forever" (and he is no spring chicken)

 

Any thoughts on what I should do with it?  Handle ideas?  Thank you all in advance!

[Geoff Keyes]

Well, at least there is very little you can do to harm it.  I get asked to these sort of things from time to time, and if there is any history to the blade, I pass.  In this case, no harm, no foul

 

This  is one way to go

 

If you narrowed the tang a bit, you could go with a stacked leather washer look, like a K-Bar, and some sort of wood slab is always a good choice.

 

g

[Eric Niefert]

Thanks Geoff.  I agree -- wouldn't molest a collectible knife for sure.  I'm the same way with old muscle cars.  I would never hotrod a rare, numbers-matching collectible car, but the dime-a-dozen cars are fair game. 

 

I have never done stacked leather, this might be a good time to try.  Although the pic you posted would be cool too, need to find some antler.  Should be plenty around here in West Michigan this time of year.  

 

I did buff it up last night to see what I have.  hit it with a soft back 320 belt then the buffer wheel to see how deep the scratches were.  I got about 75% of the scratches out and am going to leave the rest.  Would have to turn it into a razor blade to get them all out, some are deep.

[Joshua States]

IMNSHO, most North American antler isn't worth the trouble to put on a knife handle. Some nice burl wood however, would be worth everything you do. If you aren't opposed to some grinding, I would take a bit off the bottom of that ricasso and bevel that clip into a proper point.