Sittin' on the horns of a dilemma....

[knife7knut]

What would YOU do?
I scored this Joseph Allen & Sons NON-XLL bowie today. Looks to be post-1891;has a 7 in.clip point(tip is bent slightly & rounded);tapered tang; nickel silver guard(that someone soldered on); worm groove bone handles(pile side had a piece broken off & expertly re-attached). Appears someone used a file to sharpen the blade at some time. Looks like someone hammered the spine of the blade near the crossguard too.
Sheath may be original. So here is my dilemma: Should I repair the damage & make it pretty or leave it as found? There is no active rust. Opinions welcomed. More pics if needed.

[rea1eye]

Clean the knife and the leather the best you can then sharpen it.
You don't need to make it look new and perfect. Just a knife
that has history and was taken care of.

Bob

p.s. Nice knife

[herbva]

I know that many collectors who post here would say that you should just leave it alone, as found, including dirt, crud, dried bold, whatever. But I'm the opposite. I prefer to clean off any removable foreign substances, like dirt, dried paint, etc, and repair any obvious man-made damage (like the bent tip). Just my 2 cents.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Those defects aren’t original to the knife so in my mind it makes the knife worth less. So I would agree to fix it up and make it look great again.

[Ridgegrass]

Herb has it right. I am a big fan of patina but I'll re-point a damaged tip and repair damage to make a knife fulfill it's function. I don't grind or sand blades or wheel polish old metal. They "are what they are" but should still be working knives. MHO. That's a nice old piece. J.O'.

[FRJ]

This is such nice knife, Ray.
It really deserves to be put back to right. I would give the abused spine some attention and straighten out the tip.
You might not have to get rid of all the file marks, I don't know, but you could sharpen it good enough until the next time.

I've got a couple of these and it is a good looking pattern to me.
This must have been an all purpose knife to hang on your belt back in the day.

[djknife13]

I clean them up with a #2 pencil and then Wenol metal polish on the bone and metal. When people hit them with a buffer and try to sell them, I walk away. I've seen way too many with rounded off corners from a buffer wheel. ____Dave

[bighomer]

I'm on the the Herb, J.O., and Joe band wagon make her look good but not too good.

[Reverand]

Herb's motion has received a Second, all in favor say "Aye".

Aye!

[ea42]

AYE!!

[Ridgegrass]

Herb for president! Why not? O'.

[DM11]

Aye!

[knife7knut]

The ayes have it! Actually I had already begun a little '' corrective surgery '' before I read thereplies. The hardest part(so far)has been filing the solder around the crossguard without scratching the guard & tang. The hammer dents on the spine are taking longer than expected.

[Jeepergeo]

I'm usually willing to pay more for the nice patina, so I would limit repair to user-induced damage such as the bent tip. A knife is supposed to be sharp, so sharpening it would be fair game to me. If the crack in the scale may jeopardize the scale itself, I'd stabilize it, or if just minor, leave it alone.

Nice looking knife!

[catspa]

If there’s room on Herb’s wagon for one more, I’ll climb on. With the disclaimer that I don’t resell knives, so what buyers like (as if I could predict that anyway) is way outside my wheelhouse.

But I know what I like. Patina, repaired damage from hard use, functional edge and tip. I’m okay with all that.

That knife will never be a virgin again, but I’d show her some scenery once in a while anyway.

Parker

[GSPTOPDOG]

I know that many collectors who post here would say that you should just leave it alone, as found, including dirt, crud, dried bold, whatever. But I'm the opposite. I prefer to clean off any removable foreign substances, like dirt, dried paint, etc, and repair any obvious man-made damage (like the bent tip). Just my 2 cents.

I am with Herb (from the V.A.) When I get a blade that needs to cleaned, I run that sucker right along a wire wheel on a grinder and clean all the fine rust, old grease, tar, blood and guts right off it. I found the wire wheel actually does not scratch as much as steel wool or scotch bright pads.

[GSPTOPDOG]

This is such nice knife, Ray.
It really deserves to be put back to right. I would give the abused spine some attention and straighten out the tip.
You might not have to get rid of all the file marks, I don't know, but you could sharpen it good enough until the next time.
This must have been an all purpose knife to hang on your belt back in the day.

Wow FJR! Those are great! I love the Czechoslovakia stamp!

[GSPTOPDOG]

I fill in cracks all the time with epoxy. Sometimes it looks like crap sometimes it looks like something less than crap. But it does make the knife more usable again... In the photo is a J.A. Henkle's ($25-$30 new) German made kitchen knife. I paid $0.50 for it with a cracked handle. Mixed up some epoxy and Whala! A good solid kitchen knife for lots of hard use on the cheap

[FRJ]

Wow FJR! Those are great! I love the Czechoslovakia stamp!

Thank you.

[GSPTOPDOG]

Wow FJR! Those are great! I love the Czechoslovakia stamp!

Thank you.

You are welcome, Joe ... those are really great examples!

Here is one from Soligen, Germany. I cleaned a bunch of rust off the blade and I have carried it while hiking. Made to be used!

[FRJ]

Nice knives!

[GSPTOPDOG]

Thanks Joe!

[catspa]

Taken that way.

Parker