MaxxVolume
Lunatic Member
That knife is a veteran, and has EARNED whatever battle scars it has....leave it alone....
The Knife Thread.....
- Thread starter soundmotor
- Start date
usedto
Lunatic Member
Been waiting until I gave these away before posting photos. Hope you like them.
I acquired a fairly large stack of phenolic sheet at government sales, and have saved it for years. We are 99.9% sure that the one small batch is Westinghouse brand (according to government procurement history), which Micarta is the trade name. Phenolic is popular in making knife handles, and through a series of by-chance events, it seems there is a local knife maker who found out about it and came to see me. It ends up I used to work for a company that his great uncle sat on the board, etc. There's more to the story, but that's enough for now.
He had a burning desire to own a large quantity of my phenolic, and I wanted to help him in his knife making pursuit, so we did a major trade. There's no way to put a potential value on the phenolic sheet parted with (a few sheets could be worth up to 15K each), so we decided to do some trading. The first part of the trade was for him to make a knife for my son, and one for my future son-in-law (this coming May 25). Here's the knives:
The first is the one for my future son-in-law. The photos don't do justice to the work, but you get the idea. He buys the Damascus steel bars from a well known knife supplier, and does all the rest of the work, including making the leather sheaths. The striped section of the handle, as well as the round pieces on the lanyard, are the Westinghouse Micarta. He does all the artwork on the leather, too.
He brought them over for me to see before they were finished. It seems that every now and then the Damascus steel comes out darker than normal, and the second piece did just that. Her showed it to me and dais he could polish it out to make it look more like the first, but I could tell that he really wanted to leave it dark. I told him that he was the knife maker, and to use his own good judgement. He smiled and went back to work. Here is the one that now belongs to my son:
The Westinghouse Micarta is used again. The letters in the sheaths are their initials, with the maker's name on the back.
Sorry again for the poor photos. They don't do justice to the fine work, and the red handle in the second knife doesn't show well in the photo.
His knives sell almost as fast as he can make them. I told him I'd order one for myself sometime down the road.
His name is Namen Borras, and his business name is Borras Kustom Designs. Google will give you his website to see some of his other products.
I acquired a fairly large stack of phenolic sheet at government sales, and have saved it for years. We are 99.9% sure that the one small batch is Westinghouse brand (according to government procurement history), which Micarta is the trade name. Phenolic is popular in making knife handles, and through a series of by-chance events, it seems there is a local knife maker who found out about it and came to see me. It ends up I used to work for a company that his great uncle sat on the board, etc. There's more to the story, but that's enough for now.
He had a burning desire to own a large quantity of my phenolic, and I wanted to help him in his knife making pursuit, so we did a major trade. There's no way to put a potential value on the phenolic sheet parted with (a few sheets could be worth up to 15K each), so we decided to do some trading. The first part of the trade was for him to make a knife for my son, and one for my future son-in-law (this coming May 25). Here's the knives:
The first is the one for my future son-in-law. The photos don't do justice to the work, but you get the idea. He buys the Damascus steel bars from a well known knife supplier, and does all the rest of the work, including making the leather sheaths. The striped section of the handle, as well as the round pieces on the lanyard, are the Westinghouse Micarta. He does all the artwork on the leather, too.
He brought them over for me to see before they were finished. It seems that every now and then the Damascus steel comes out darker than normal, and the second piece did just that. Her showed it to me and dais he could polish it out to make it look more like the first, but I could tell that he really wanted to leave it dark. I told him that he was the knife maker, and to use his own good judgement. He smiled and went back to work. Here is the one that now belongs to my son:
The Westinghouse Micarta is used again. The letters in the sheaths are their initials, with the maker's name on the back.
Sorry again for the poor photos. They don't do justice to the fine work, and the red handle in the second knife doesn't show well in the photo.
His knives sell almost as fast as he can make them. I told him I'd order one for myself sometime down the road.
His name is Namen Borras, and his business name is Borras Kustom Designs. Google will give you his website to see some of his other products.
MaxxVolume
Lunatic Member
Those are STUNNINGLY beautiful ! You made a fine deal, Sir !
IPADave
Turning a whiter shade of pale.
That's a great story. Those knives are beautiful! Art and functionality at its finest.
-Dave
jojo0416
aka Karipas
So I purchased a buck ranger 112 back in Oct 2018, after 6 weeks waiting I did not get the package. It was declared lost and money got refunded.
Last month I also moved to a new address. Surprisingly after 7 months this ranger 112 with nice handle followed me to my new home.
I felt like I was a kid who got a post Christmas present.
Last month I also moved to a new address. Surprisingly after 7 months this ranger 112 with nice handle followed me to my new home.
I felt like I was a kid who got a post Christmas present.
jojo0416
aka Karipas
I also have the Tinker in Black. Victorinox has a very good warranty.
One of the scales got chipped when I dropped it on a concrete and the small knife has scratches it was replaced for free. Another is my chef knife with rosewood handle, the blade was badly damaged from misuse and was also replaced free of charge.
Mystic
We're all born mad
I've held back on contributing "pieces" of my collection, all of which is comprised of military-issue -- original and theatre-modifed -- survival and fighting knives. I have several dozen examples, but decided I would show y'all one of the more special examples of the collection, a circa 1943 theatre-modified KA-BAR that has been "in action" @ three theatres of activity: (1) U.S. Army Rangers, Galahad Unit / 5307th Composite / aka Merrill's Mauraders, Southeast Asian Theatre (CBI), Japan, 1943-1944; (2) U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Vietnam Theatre, 1965-1966; and (3) U.S. Army Rangers, [Unit Codename Classified], [Theatre Name Classified], 1980-1985. This is a beautifully preserved, WWII-era KA-BAR that served The United States admirably for some 42 years. While there are lots of theatre-modified survival and fighting blades out in the ether, you'll not see many that match the spex of this example, which I acquired at a yard sale, Ft Bragg (NC), in 1978 or 1979. [nb: picked up most of my "similar gear" @ Bragg during the late '70s and early '80s, but also in such far-flung places as Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Lyon, Odessa, Sevastopol, and Tashkent] Like I said, I have close to one hundred of these and nuthin', but nuthin', matches this guy re: effectiveness in the field.
Description:
- Basic Spex: Circa 1943 fighting knife stamped "KA-BAR Olean, N.Y." Overall length (tip of blade to top of brass "skull crusher"): 12 1/4 inches. Length blade only: 7 1/8 inches.
- Modification Spex: "Ranger style" toothed knuckle guard composed of heavy iron; fully-Parkerized blade; custom-installed brass Skullcrusher pommel.
Pics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Yes, my (right) hand & wrist/forearm in 3rd and 4th photos. I actually "used" this (and other) edged weapons w/ my left hand, but in order to make the 3rd and 4th photos, I needed to hold & operate the phone/camera in my left hand.
So, is it still serving @ the post-military setting? You bet: this baby has been @ my side during "personal" excursions to several places, including (among others) Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington (DC), Baltimore, Paris, Lyon, Nice, Berlin, Barcelona, London, Marrakesh, Istanbul, and Tijuana. And it has proved handy on a few occasions. That old saw "don't bring a knife to a gunfight"? It's not applicable where this blade is concerned.
Description:
- Basic Spex: Circa 1943 fighting knife stamped "KA-BAR Olean, N.Y." Overall length (tip of blade to top of brass "skull crusher"): 12 1/4 inches. Length blade only: 7 1/8 inches.
- Modification Spex: "Ranger style" toothed knuckle guard composed of heavy iron; fully-Parkerized blade; custom-installed brass Skullcrusher pommel.
Pics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Yes, my (right) hand & wrist/forearm in 3rd and 4th photos. I actually "used" this (and other) edged weapons w/ my left hand, but in order to make the 3rd and 4th photos, I needed to hold & operate the phone/camera in my left hand.
So, is it still serving @ the post-military setting? You bet: this baby has been @ my side during "personal" excursions to several places, including (among others) Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington (DC), Baltimore, Paris, Lyon, Nice, Berlin, Barcelona, London, Marrakesh, Istanbul, and Tijuana. And it has proved handy on a few occasions. That old saw "don't bring a knife to a gunfight"? It's not applicable where this blade is concerned.
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Mystic
We're all born mad
One more, a good example of an unmodified fighting/utility blade. This was my #2 carry circa '79-'85: Gerber, late '71 or early '72 model (slender wasp-waist with serrations), which was also purchased @ Bragg (yeah, @ a yard sale) in/around '79, this time from the original owner, a 'Nam veteran who was finishing up his time in a training billet @ Bragg. I no longer recall if he was Ranger or 5th SpecOp (Green Beret). [note: this one still has its "web belt" hanger intact]
Anyway, I have several "unmodified" survival and/or fighting blades, including (several circa '68-'77) Gerbers, Eks (WWII) SF daggers, Randalls ('Nam), Richtigs (WWII), Pickens (WWII), KA-BARs (WWII & 'Nam), Western G 46-8s (WWII), V-44s (ie, "Bowies", WWII & 'Nam), V-42s (WWII) SF daggers, MKIII Trench daggers (WWII), OSS "drop daggers" (WWII), MACV-SOG SF blades ('Nam), Hibben ('Nam), a few (British) Fairbairn-Sykes daggers (WWII), and even a (British) "Taylor Witness Sheffield" dagger. But of all my unmodified fighting knives, this '72 Gerber is my favorite. While it has not travelled to as many "diverse" destinations, post 1985, as the knucked KA-BAR, it's seen a lot of the world and accompanied the KA-BAR always from 1979-1985. The blade has been "blued" (not "Parkerized") and the sheath has also been darkened... not sure what he used/did to darken the sheath, but in 'Nam a lot of guys used animal (or other) blood, and the sheath sure has an "iron-ish" aroma. Very trusty & very "salty", this particular tool.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Note: as w/ the knucked Ranger, I had to "hold" this one "rightie" in order to "work" the phone/camera w/ the left hand.
Anyway, I have several "unmodified" survival and/or fighting blades, including (several circa '68-'77) Gerbers, Eks (WWII) SF daggers, Randalls ('Nam), Richtigs (WWII), Pickens (WWII), KA-BARs (WWII & 'Nam), Western G 46-8s (WWII), V-44s (ie, "Bowies", WWII & 'Nam), V-42s (WWII) SF daggers, MKIII Trench daggers (WWII), OSS "drop daggers" (WWII), MACV-SOG SF blades ('Nam), Hibben ('Nam), a few (British) Fairbairn-Sykes daggers (WWII), and even a (British) "Taylor Witness Sheffield" dagger. But of all my unmodified fighting knives, this '72 Gerber is my favorite. While it has not travelled to as many "diverse" destinations, post 1985, as the knucked KA-BAR, it's seen a lot of the world and accompanied the KA-BAR always from 1979-1985. The blade has been "blued" (not "Parkerized") and the sheath has also been darkened... not sure what he used/did to darken the sheath, but in 'Nam a lot of guys used animal (or other) blood, and the sheath sure has an "iron-ish" aroma. Very trusty & very "salty", this particular tool.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Note: as w/ the knucked Ranger, I had to "hold" this one "rightie" in order to "work" the phone/camera w/ the left hand.
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Lo-Fidelity
Super Member
Picked up a rather battered Marbles today.
Thoughts on how to clean this baby up? Blade has some pitting. Handle is all there and should respond to some leather cleaner and conditioner. I am not looking to remove the patina just get it presentable with a nice edge.
Thoughts on how to clean this baby up? Blade has some pitting. Handle is all there and should respond to some leather cleaner and conditioner. I am not looking to remove the patina just get it presentable with a nice edge.
Good question. I would have probably tried a fine scotchbrite pad with some chemicals I have around the house (oil works well) but I'd also be interested to learn the proper technique.
I work in the printing industry and we have something labelled 80/60 that dissolves grease, adhesives, even some plastics and with just a little elbow grease, rust.
I'm not sure if it's available to the general public in small quantities but I've "borrowed" a cupful here and there and it's awesome stuff.
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You didn't mention what is wrong with the knife. If it's just cosmetic I'd say just clean it up a bit and you're done.
If the mechanism is off than of course get it working again. Don't try to make it look like new though. You will probably regret it.
As was mentioned before, it earned those scars. It just won't be your 'Grandfather's knife' anymore if you do.
Lo-Fidelity
Super Member
Mainly want to get the rust and pitting off. Other than that it doesn’t need much.
Cleaned handle with Lexol cleaner and followed with Lexol leather conditioner. Came out ok.
Cleaned handle with Lexol cleaner and followed with Lexol leather conditioner. Came out ok.
Lo-Fidelity
Super Member
Doing to sharpen, call it good, and use it. Not bad for $1 and a little elbow grease.
KingBubba
"Too Much Stuff"
Oxalic acid is great for dissolving rust. That handle will need to be soaked for some time to fill out that dried out leather. Marble knives are great old specimens. I had an old hunter and it disappeared during a move. My last move my big Swiss Army Knife went away. Nice catch on that old skinner.
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Lo-Fidelity
Super Member
What do you soak the handle with?
Mystic
We're all born mad
Reminiscent of the Marbles "Gladstone" series, but (appearing) to have the shorter blade (guessing length just shy of 6"?), and a typical "trainling point" blade w/ an exaggerated "swage". I like it.
Did it come w/ a sheath? And if yes, an original sheath? Sometimes lots of information imprinted @ sheathes.