M3 Fighting Knife (pic added)

[TomADC]

I bought a M3 Fighting knife sort of its missing the guard and pommel plus somebody has sanded on the blade so much I don't have a clue who the maker is, but it only cost me $10 so maybe I can find or make the parts for it.
The bag has the leather washers in it.

 

[bikerdoc]

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck and share the results.

 

[TomADC]

Here's a little progress on the knife in the top photo, those are the original leather washers. found a pommel and made the guard. I'll do a little hand sanding and finish it with Blackrock leather n rich.

 

[rcmodel]

Looking good!
Real good!

But you need to bend the top of the guard before you get much further to make an M-3 out of it.

The top guard was bent forward to help with blade edge orientation in the dark just by laying a thumb on it.

It won't feel right upside down, dull side up!




rc

 

[TomADC]

Have that on the list to do, thanks for the reminder should have done that sooner.
BTW great looking pair there.

 

[rcmodel]

BTW: I'm thinking your handle looks a little fatter?
Or shorter then it should?
Or something?

Mine are:
Imperial - leather guard to butt cap = 4.536" long.
1.228" widest part of oval in middle of the handle.

Utica -leather = 4.239" long.
1.119" x 1.001" widest part of oval.

Both have 8 grasping rings in the handle.

rc

 

[TomADC]

I'm not a expert on these by any means, this one was a $10 garage sale, the washers were in a zip lock bag, I just like like putting them back together, the pommel cost me more than the blade and washers, made the guard out of a piece of cold rolled steel I had laying around. I have no intentions of selling or passing them off as unmolested originals. At my age (72) I still enjoy working with my hands, don't do old cars anymore the old knives I've picked up tend to keep me busy. If you hadn't mentioned the bend in the guard it would still be straight. Can't say about the handle it's old but doesn't have those rings not sure why, seller said they were original knife had been taken part but parts pommel & guard lost. I didn't need to add a spacer and used them all up, whomever took it apart did number them which helped. Will probably toss one in the RV and the other in a tool box.
Any ways I do like yours wish mine has had some markings on the blades, maybe they were made aftervthevwar as repops?

 

[TomADC]

Handle is shorter right at 4" some of the leather washers look real thin maybe a grasping groove gone wrong

 

[rcmodel]

I getcha!
I thought you were trying to restore it to as close to original as you could.
Never mind.

There were a lot of M-3 blades sold as surplus, or left over in the factory's when war contracts were canceled suddenly at wars end.
They were advertised as 'hunting knives' in the outdoor magazines into the 1950's for $1.85 + .15 cents postage.
Or something?

For instance, Utica got left holding the bag on a bunch of them when the war ended.

So, they ground the name off the guard, polished the parkerized blade, put a stamped chrome plated sheet metal straight guard on them, and marked them with a lightly etched 'Kutmaster' trade name.

There were also reject blade knives sold commercially by the manufactures during the war with unmarked blades or guards. Usually sold with a plain brown leather sheath.

And some wartime M-3's were reportedly produced with smooth handles.
So who am I to say what it 'should' look like?


PS:

Handle is shorter right at 4" some of the leather washers look real thin maybe a grasping groove gone wrong

I think what probably happened is the end of the tang was broken from pounding with it, or ground or sawed off in front of the pommel to get it apart.
That would shorten the tang & handle washers about the 1/4" yours is missing.

I have a very early KaBar red spacer that would be worth a few more bills if the handle wasn't a 1/4" short for the same reason!

rc