Day one:
I started a restore on this vintage 1901 nautical whaling rope knife yesterday after work.
This restore will be done without dismantling the knife.
I started out removing the rust stains in the bone scales around the iron pins on the one scale. I used bathroom mold & mildew stain remover mixed with kitchen cleanser diluted with water. I soaked a sponge in the solution and laid it on top of the scale with the problem for a couple of hours to draw out the rust. Works like a charm. I did a little hand sanding after as the pins will tarnish from the water in the solution.
Next I started on the blade removing the dirt and tarnish.
I used my special formula which contains a mild acid. The rest of the solution is a secret I will not divulge. The bone scales must not touch this solution and must be protected. I use a thick coat of Vaseline then wrap the handles with blue tape followed by plastic wrap. After soaking the blade and bolsters in my solution for 15 minuets and flushing with hot water I dry with compressed air. Next to the belt sander we go. I used a super fine scotch bright belt to remove a couple of small pits that were in the blade. This belt will remove a very small layer of the metal. I was very careful around the makers marks and ended up doing that area by hand. I was also able to get the nicks out of one of the bolsters with the dremel barrel sander bit then gave it a polish with the grease wheel. I also hand engraved the part of the S in Svane Kniv that was missing from ware. I am not much of an engraver but did the best I could. The rest of this project is for another day.
Here are a couple of pic's of this restore in progress.
Day two:
It doesn't look like I got much done today but in actuality I spent most of the afternoon color matching the material to use to fix the chip in the bone scale.
It took a while but I think I got it close.
The fill I used on this patch is a two part clear epoxy.
I usually mix different color paints with the epoxy to get the right shade.
But I couldn't get close to the color of these bone scales with the shades I have.
After messing around with other materials I finally found something that worked out pretty good. I mixed a little Elmer’s wood patch with the epoxy and it matches very close "go figure".
Here are a couple of pictures.
The glue is fast drying but I like to let it dry 24 hours before taking it to a belt sander.
Plus I'm running out of time for the night.
"knives are quiet"
