Knife Repair, Modification, Restoration & Improvement

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This group is hosted by D ale, for knife enthusiasts who are interested in repairing, modifiying, restoring or improving knives, including fixed blades, folders and automatics of all types.

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USN MK2

by Kevin D

Aug 24, 2022

Good Evening!

I just acquired a USN MK2 knife a couple of days ago.  The grip's leather discs were horribly dehydrated, and the guard was a bit bent; but for the most part, it was in pretty good shape.  It really needed some cleaning and just a touch of tweaking to get it back into good shape.

Here are some photos of the result. I do hope you enjoy. (Thanks Lars for the encouragement to post these!)

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  • up

    Kevin D

    Thank you guys,

    I am pretty happy with how this turned out.  One of my nicest WWII era knives.

    Moving on to another little project.  Hopefully it will be posted here soon.  :)

    Aug 27, 2022

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    Lars Ray

    Oh man...this is awesome! I agree with Dead Left...you have some wicked restoration skills, and it shows! I love blowing up the photo to really capture the details...I'm with JJ ....Wow!

    Aug 27, 2022

  • up

    Kevin D

    Good evening folks!

    Here is another USN Mk2 that I basically rebuilt.  My father-in-law retired from the Navy a little after Vietnam and from some of the stories and comments he shares, I was pretty certain that he had been issued a USN Mk2.  During the summer, I had the great idea to find him a nice Mk2 knife to give to him for Christmas.  oh my...  The cost of a real intact Mk2 was far too much for this poor soul to handle for a Christmas gift.  So I started to look for other options.  I finally found an auction for a blade only, that was honestly in pretty rough shape.  But the price was right, and I hoped that he would appreciate the 'handmade' by me aspect of the gift when I was done.  This one actually took quite a bit of work as I had to do everything except for forge and form the blade itself.  

    Quite a few "firsts" for me with this project.  First attempt at parkerizing, first leather disc handle, first buttcap with pin...

    I used the handle of my Robeson MK2 as a reference for getting the handle on this knife correct.  I think that I could have burnished the leather a little better before treating the leather, but overall I think it turned out fairly well.  Always something to improve on next time right?

    My FIL did seem to truly appreciate the blade and the work that I put into it, so I am counting this as a 'win'.

    Here is a LINK to the photo in 'my photos' which may provide a little more information about the rebuild.  Hope you enjoy!

    Jan 12, 2023