To restore or not to restore

This forum is for those who like to repair and restore knives, and for those who would like to learn.
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Hongkonger
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To restore or not to restore

Post by Hongkonger »

Hi all. My apologies first if this has been covered previously. In my year or two of lurking on these fine boards, I haven't seen it discussed.

I greatly enjoy finding and repairing knives of all sorts. My collection of knives is now large enough that it can be used against me in any spousal argument, no matter the topic. As I add to it (and simultaneously weaken my marital leverage) I keep coming up against the idea that I may be harming a knife's value (historical, monetary, sentimental) by restoring it.

Buying a late-model Buck 110 with a snapped-off blade and then replacing it with one of my own making is any easy decision to make. Splitting a Cattaraugus to replace a broken blade gives me much more pause, obviously. As I do more, I become more confident in my decisions, whether to attempt high-risk reconstructive surgery or just to give soothing palliative care and hope for the best. I see 95% of TL-29s as fair game for customisation or rebuilding, but only 1% of Case knives. All of that said, I don't see the point in holding unusable (or worse yet ugly) knives. And my knife joy is making the ugly ones pretty again.

Now to my question:

What criteria do you invoke when deciding whether to restore a knife?
wiseguy
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by wiseguy »

Myself being fairly pragmatic look at the whole picture, if it’s going to be a user I’ll do whatever I want to bring it into good working order, if an antique knife I’ll usually do a super conservative restoration using the closest to original parts I can acquire, I’ve had and have knives in my case for years that need that special part to restore it properly. It gives me great joy to bring the life back into a discarded or misused knife.
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Welcome to AAPK. My criteria is simple. If it’s a collectable with some value, rare, or a knife in otherwise excellent condition simply having a broken blade, cracked or broken covers, etc, I try to restore it using original parts from a donor knife if possible. Sometimes it takes a while to find a suitable donor - I have a few that I may never find. ::shrug:: My objective is to save a knife having some value monetarily or historically, maintaining as near as possible its original integrity. Under no circumstances would I sell or trade it to someone without disclosing the repair work, who did it and when. Documentation is stored with the knife.

If it’s an EDC type knife, fairly common and easy to find, I have no qualms with simply restoring it to functional using condition, put it in my pocket for use or pass it along to someone who will use it. (Your TL-29 example is a good one here). That may involve replacing a blade with one from a newer knife or a donor knife, re-profiling a damaged or worn blade, converting it to a single blade knife, putting new covers on it, etc. The possibilities are many.

You mentioned not being able to find posts on this subject - here’s a link to some posts about whether or not to clean an old knife, which is sort of the same discussion. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51009&p=548642&hilit=Cleaning

Ken
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herbva
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by herbva »

I think Ken nailed it perfectly above. I like to collect the classic oldies, particularly the old Case knives, but don't want to invest a fortune, and like to do knife repair and restoration work. So for me the answer is obvious. I love snagging oldies with a broken or missing blades or scales ( handle covers), or worse, and restoring them back to respectable condition. Sometimes that means finding a donor knife to sacrifice for parts to complete another knife. I have over a dozen sitting on my desk right now that are waiting for the right parts to come along. And yes, every once in a while I will sell a few in order to keep the herd down to a reasonable size. But, like Ken mentioned, I make sure that I clearly describe all the work that I have done to a knife and any and all modifications that have been made.
"Better to do something imperfectly, than to do nothing flawlessly." ~ Robert H. Schuller

Herb
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

I use the same guidelines as Ken mentioned above. When I make a new replacement blade to replace a broken one, I use an electric engraver or metal stamps to put my mark and the month/year on it.
"Sometimes even the blind chicken finds corn"
Reverand
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by Reverand »

I engrave my initials and the date of repair on the Pile-side liner when I do repair work on a knife. It does not show on a casual glance, but anyone studying the knife can tell that it has been taken apart.
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Everything else is just a hobby.

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Hongkonger
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Re: To restore or not to restore

Post by Hongkonger »

Thank you for these replies. My work seems so obvious to me now but I see the need for attaching a tag naming work done. I'll do that retrospectively and from here on out.

Thank you for the comments. They helped me put away a mother of pearl AJ Jordan and attack a Cattaraugus that needed it. Thank you all.
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