HSB Dilemma

[whitebuffalo58]

This is one of those knives that would be a perfect candidate for a true restoration. But, even if I could come up with a replacement master and pen blades, finding a pair of original replacement handles is very likely a mathematical impossibility.
The handles have shattered at some point, but were then glued back together. Whoever did it, did a decent job. But, there is no way this knife is coming apart to replace the blades without the handles shattering into a half dozen pieces again. Once you replace the handles with aftermarket handles, it's no longer a true restoration.
Another part of the dilemma is the amount of wear to the master and pen blades. Ther worn just enough to make the knife of little use as a carrying knife, but just good enough to still tell what the knife was meant to be.
Knives like this drive me crazy! Enough good points left to make it worth the trouble of restoring, but just enough wrong with it, to make it near impossible to put back to original!
What do you guys think?

WB

[Joe Dirt]

Can anyone verify that as being a NYK pattern? I haven't seen the parallel slant bolster before.

Ya never now... someone around here MIGHT have some PERFECT scales!

..... Joe

[muskrat man]

leaver alone, sharpen her up and sticker in your pocket.

[whitebuffalo58]

Joe, the parallel slanted, grooved and pinched bolsters are one of the things that makes this one so appealing as a restoration project. Not sure if it was made by NYK, but the quality is all there.
Kaleb, I had thought on that one too. But, the master blade only has about 1-1/2" of cutting edge left. To add to that, this being a whittler, the spine on this thing is over an 1/8" thick. It's so short, fat and stubby that getting a decent edge is almost impossible.
If I end up leaving it as is, it'll just stay in the drawer as a poor-fair example of the brand. I still think it's a really cool ol' knife, just not enough left to make it a good one for carry.

WB

[muskrat man]

re-grind the blades down to a useable edge. I've done it a bunch on users that have been sharpened away into the thick of the blade, they're like an axe. A good flat grind job makes the edge a useable thickness again. Of course this is considered sacrilege by some. . guess they'd rather carry it in it's currently useless configuration...to each their own I guess.

[whitebuffalo58]

Yah, i've done that a couple of times on well used, saber ground blades, basically turning them into flat ground blades. In this case i'd have to remove most of the material from the backside to avoid grinding off the nail nick. But really, what harm could it do? It's not usable as is.

Thanks

WB