Old military knife

[Jonah71]

I have a knife that my uncle gave me in 1962. He said he used it in the Army during WW 2, but I'm not sure this is an army issue knife. I lost it years ago but found it in the basement last week. The handle is covered in a gray colored mold now, but the blade (about 6") has a surprisingly small amount of light surface rust in just a few spots. Glad I put a dehumidifier in the basement several years ago.. A friend of mine told me the handle is actually layered leather (for some reason I'd always thought it was something else). I remember the handle being mostly black with a couple of red layers, The rather large butt end of the handle is what appears to be aluminum. You can obviously tell by now I have no knowledge of knives, but I'd like to clean it up and try to restore it to the condition it was in when I last handled it in 1966. What do I use to remove the mold from the leather without damaging it, and should I attempt to put a better edge on it?

 

[Gord]

Is it a Ka-Bar?

 

[rcmodel]

I like Camp Dry Leather Lotion for restoring old leather washer handles.

It is a water based wax and will remove dirt, mold, etc. before it dries to a tacky surface.
You can then buff it off with a soft cloth and it becomes a nice sheen.

I would not recommend anything else other then removing any red surface rust with 0000 Extra Fine steel wool & oil.

DO NOT use Neatsfoot oil or other oils or greases on the leather.
DO NOT remove the old dark patina on the blade.
DO NOT attempt to sharpen it.
It could be something valuable or collectible and any polishing or sharpening will devalue it considerably.

Try to provide any more info you can as to a manufactures stamps on the blade or guard, etc. and maybe we can ID it.

rc

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Sharpen?

DO NOT attempt to sharpen it.
It could be something valuable or collectible and any polishing or sharpening will devalue it considerably.

Except for this proviso: if you mean to use it, and you mean for it to be a keep-in-the-family user, then of course you would sharpen it.

Now that you have our attention, I must request that you take some pictures (or have some taken) and post them up here.

A number of us are old-cutlery junkies.

 

[Jonah71]

I'll find someone to help me post pics when I get it cleaned up. Thanks for the help.

 

[rcmodel]

then of course you would sharpen it.

Lets find out if it's a $2,000 Boker M3 fighting knife, or an early red-spacer Ka-Bar or something first, O.K.?

rc

 

[Todd A]

Black leather, with red spacers...Like this?



What type of material is your finger guard made from?

 

[Jonah71]

That's it I think.But I don't recall the last piece toward the blade flaring out as much. Now I will HAVE to go by the house and pick it up just for comparison. I don't have internet at home (I'm in my office at church). You pic is the first one I've seen that even resembles my knife. It's been so long since I've seen it, it may even be identical. I WILL find someone here this week to help me post a pic...or I'll send one to someone through reg mail service if I have to. I'm not sure what the finger guard material is, but both ends are slightly bent from me using it for a throwing knife in my early teens (what an idiot). The guard was longer too I think.

 

[hso]

If you just want to clean the mold off so we can look at a picture and advise you, I'd get a little saddle soap and a clean terry towel and soap up the towel and clean the leather. Don't do anything else until you can get a picture to us so we can let you know if you have something too valuable as a collectible to just start "restoring".

If you can get 3 sets of pictures, handle, 2 inches to each side of the guard, tip it will help a lot.

Value on real WWII knives can vary widely depending upon manufacturer and the little details.

 

[Todd A]

Definately follow hso's advice.

While we can't ID any knife without photo's the reason I posted mine is that black leather/red spacers were used heavily by Kinfolks. Is your's one ? No idea until we see pics. While not super rare Kinfolks of that era are not super common either.

Just to show off mine.



It is a pre-war model 925, though it is not marked with a model number. It was ID'd for me by Dean E Case (Grandson of Dean J Case, one of the founders of Kinfolks).

It is listed in a 1939 Kinfolks catalog as being " This pattern has been selected for U.S Air Craft Equipment"

Whether or not my example was will never be known.

 

[alex_champ]

That's a nice one you have right there Todd. I'm really interested to see Jonah71's knife though it might be something I'd like to collect. I'd pay the right amount for it of course and only if he would allow it

 

[T.R.]

This is my KA BAR model 1205 from Viet Nam era. I rub brown shoe polish by KIWI into the leather handle from time to time. Value as shown is approx $40.

I doubt if your knife has collector value. KA BAR has been mass producing their knives for several decades and are not scarce at all. I suggest sharpen it and use it. In contrast, Camillus built knives similar to this model during WWII but dropped it from production in 1950's. Camillus closed their USA factory a few years back and all their knives are now made in communist China. CAMCO is the new name.

TR

 

[hso]

Camillus closed their USA factory a few years back and all their knives are now

Camillus just closed and ceased to exist as a company. Their remaining inventory (both complete, partially finished and raw stock) was auctioned off as well as their equipment and the employees laid off. They were one of the great knife manufacturing losses in the US since they made knives for many other companies as well as their own. Any other company claiming a legacy to Camillus has no real connection to them and is simply using the references to Camillus and old divisions for marketing purposes.

 

[Todd A]

I suggest sharpen it and use it.

Ummm.. we don't even know what his knife is.

CAMCO is the new name

.

CAMCO had been the tang stamp of a budget line of Camillus (the REAL Camillus) for decades before the close.

That's a nice one you have right there Todd.

Thank you. This one is my favorite though.

My Grandfathers issue Case. WWII , United States Army Air Corps, PTO.

It will be passed on to my son.

 

[eastbank]

Here's pictures of my late father's knife that he was issued early in WW-2; he served in the South Pacific theater.

It's a Ka-bar made in Olean N.Y., looks like the blade was chrome with a leather and brown plastic handle with a steel guard and end cap. The original scabbard fell apart long ago and I replaced it. I have used it as a deer hunting knife for over 50 years.

Its a little big, but I think of my late father and how he carried it in WW-2 and a good knife needs to be carried and used. It will go to my oldest son.

eastbank.

 

[hso]

eastbank,

The handle is stacked leather washers, not plastic, and if your father was issued the knife he went to a great deal of trouble to remove the parkerizing and polished the blade and buttcap very carefully. Some work went into that.

 

[eastbank]

he never said any thing about that, but he could have, what i was told at a knife show was that at the begining of the war, many civilian knives were bought up and issued,before the procuement programs were in place for bidding on the contracts. and the man at the knife show said he had seen knives that were issued like that early in the war, with out dull or parkerd finish. i only took it to one knife show as i am not into knives that much, maybe another knife show is in order. thanks eastbank.