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USN Mk2 - rebuild

Essentially a complete rebuild. I wanted to find one for my father-in-law for Christmas, but the cost of one in good condition was cost prohibitive. My FIL retired from the Navy shortly after Vietnam, and from his stories and comments, I came to the conclusion that he was issued a Mk2 knife.
I did finally find a sale for just the blade. No handle, guard, buttcap, sheath... just the blade. Of course the blade was a bit rusty and because of the rust, needed a bit of cleaning.

This was my first attempt at parkerizing, making a leather disc handle, and making a buttcap and pin.

I used my Robeson Mk2 as a reference for the handle dimensions.

Using an original era (≈1943-44) blade, and pretty much everything else was hand made by me, I was hoping that my FIL would appreciate it.

All in all, I think that the end result turned out fairly well, and my FIL did indeed seem to thoroughly appreciate the knife.

Success! :)

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Tags: 2, MK, USN, rebuild
Albums: Combat Knives

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Comment by George R Naugle on February 23, 2023 at 17:14: I do not have a good reference for the dimensions, Kevin, and would appreciate your giving me any you might have. I have several photos of MK2s, and will try to make this one look like them. As this is my very first attempt at doing such a rebuild I appreciate all the help I can get.

What die did you use on the leather?

Thanks in advance,

George

Comment by Kevin D on February 23, 2023 at 17:06: Hey George. Sorry about not seeing this before today. Looks like you are well on your way.

The leather grips are not circular and are tapered both at the front and rear of the handle. Do you have a good reference for the dimensions? If not, then I can offer what I measure off one of my Mk2s. The handles should be profiled the same for both the UDN and the USMC blades.

Looking good so far!

Comment by George R Naugle on February 23, 2023 at 5:26: This is where the project stands as it is now. I still need to work on the handle.

Comment by George R Naugle on February 15, 2023 at 11:05: To go a step further, I have removed the pommel and the guard. My next step will be to remove any rust on the tang, pommel and guard.

Comment by George R Naugle on February 15, 2023 at 8:42: Kevin, do you have any references as to how to do the leather disc handle restoration? I need to do that to the knife from which I removed the tape.