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.
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!)
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
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
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