Fixing up an old knife

[Nantahala Nut]

I have my grandfathers combat knife from WW2 and it needs some TLC.  He carried it from D Day til VE Day and my father carried it in Nam and I carried it on the Appalachian Trail.  It has got some rust and needs a good sharpening. Anyone have some good ways to get that rust off and restore it to it's former glory?  I would love to carry this into the woods again and hand it down to my son someday.

[Flying Dutchman]

I know Bark River restores knives in a great way. You could ask Jason Thoune from DLT knives to take care for routing and shipping. He is a stand-up guy for sure!

[Roadkill]

I use a pencil eraser for light rust. Then I take the lead end and scribble all over the rust area and re-erase.  Is it a KaBar?  I have mine

[ksbowman]

I reworked my dad's that he carried thru the south Pacific during WW2. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures and what I did. I do know it wasn't hard at all.

[Nantahala Nut]

It is a KaBar

[Bladepeek]

A lot depends on what you call "restoring to its former glory". If your granddad and dad sharpened it with a coarse stone, as I suspect they did, you will have to remove more than just rust to get back to a factory new look. Usually those scratches are mighty deep and you have to remove all the metal around the scratches until everything is at the same depth. Rust is easy. The suggestions above work, as will fine steel wool and light oil.

Taking scratches out will entail a lot of sanding. Don't try to do it with finger pressure, as you will round everything over. You have to use a hard backing bar to prevent hollowing out sections and rounding over others. Clamp the knife down to a board held in a vise or clamped to a table - don't try to hand-hold it. Believe me it will be a lot of work to do it right. You will probably have to start with something like 220 grit wet or dry paper and sand until you get all the deep sharpening scratches out. Then go to 320 grit, sand in a different direction until the deepest scratch is from the 320 grit. Change to 400 grit and a new direction. Repeat with finer grits until satisfied.

Personally, given the history of the knife, I'd settle for just removing the rust and preserving it the way they used it. If you want to see one like new, buy a new one to keep along with the original.

[kbaknife]

I've done some wonders on old blades with the three grades of scotch brite belts.
Might work well by hand, too.
That knife will never retain it's old glory.

[Jim Jackson]

I have an old Camillus with a story similar to yours.  Several of the guys on this forum helped me restore it and I am very grateful.

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