It's the pits

[OLDE CUTLER]

I had this knife out the other day to take a photo for another thread and got to wondering, how many of you have EDC knives that have blades that are as severely pitted as this KABAR? I bought this one a few years back at an estate sale and when I got it it had no handle material, and was rusted tight. I soaked in in Kroil for a couple of days and got it open, then disassembled it, cleaned everything up, rehandled in rosewood, and reassembled. As far as folding hunters, it is probably the one I carry and use the most. And probably looks the worst. The pits have no effect on the performance, this one will still take a razor edge. Because of the condition, I only paid $1 for it. Post your EDC knives that may have pits in the blade like this one.

[Madmarco]

Beautiful save O.C.! Looks great, and I'm sure completely functional!

[cody6268]

Wow, that cleaned up great! Guessing the handles were cell that imploded? I have a handle-less '30s Colonial Coke Bottle Hunter I've been meaning to rework. It's got a fish scaler, but that backspring is broken. But, if I remove that layer, it will result in a really slim and light, though still pretty big knife.

I was probably 16 when I found this Imperial Diamond Edge in a box of junk at an antiques store for $5 (but I got out the door with it for $3). There were Cases and others in the box, but they had blades broken (8 years later, I would probably have bought those too, as I think at least one had a good master blade, meaning still EDC material). Rusted really bad, and all but rusted shut. I stripped the peeling brown paint or whatever Imperial had (leaving the white base), and got the rust off. I sanded down the blades pretty bad, as at that time, I didn't realize pits really couldn't come out without wrecking your blades. THis was my first successful cleanup, and I carried it until about 2-3 years ago. The blades are pitted AND the shield built into the steel handle shells is pitted as well to where the "Hyphen E" part is barely legible.

[Rotten]

Although I don't carry it often I really like this old Camco.

[Dinadan]

Nice old knifes, fellows. OC, the pits in that Kabar may be a little worse than any of my carry knives, but the blades are full. A couple of my carry knives have maybe smaller pits, but pretty worn down blades. I would take the pits!

[garddogg56]

I have one a Case Moose ten dot and it performs like new. I did force a pantina on her so the rust wouldn't spread.She is pitted deep.

[knife7knut]

I also bought a Kabar folding hunter with degraded cel handles that had severe pitting on both blades. Re-handled it in black Plexiglas and jigged them with a ball mill in a Dremel tool. Worked great. Here are some before and after shots.

[OLDE CUTLER]

Great photos of pitted but otherwise useful old knives. I omitted to post this picture of the springs on that KABAR in the OP. A couple of the pits are quite deep in the spring and I thought when I put it back together that the spring may be weakened or snap. But so far so good.

[rea1eye]

Nothing wrong with some blades and backsprings with pits. It shows the knife has
a history and has been used. Nothing wrong with collecting and maintaining
a perfect knife but in the end the main purpose of a knife is to use it as a tool
(man's friend --next to his best friend which is a dog).

Bob