Re-Handling an old Kitchen Carving Knife - Advice needed please!

[Androo]

There has been a Kitchen Carving Knife in my mums knife drawer, unused, for years. It came from my uncle who worked on Naval Ships in the 80's and It's believed to come from there. As the handle is wasting away, I'd love to re-handle it and get it all sharp and clean again, but I've never done this before.

I'd like to ask you very experienced and skilled lot on here for some pointers and advice if you would be so kind

After some research, I know I'm gonna need to get some pins/rivets to replace the originals, and I'm gonna have to clean up the blade and tang, rehandle and then sharpen. I'm only just beginning to research, but is the blade potentially 'Parkerized' ? As it has a very dark colour to it that looks like it has some kind of finish on it. What metal is it likely to be?
Should I have a go with some wirewool/fine sandpaper, or should I soak it in something first?

Also: the wood for the handle... I assume most woods are gonna be fine but as this would the main carving knife for the kitchen, I'd like to give it something dense and hard wearing that will last for many years to come. I have some well seasoned Yew, and some Purple Cherry Plum (which will hopefully yeild enough for a full handle) - or am I better off using another wood?

Should I begin to remove the tattered handle? then remove the rivets?
Are some simple Corby bolts (copper, brass, which type?) good enough or do I have a knife that requires something a bit more special? (The existing rivets look like brass, but I'm no metal ID expert!)

There might be a few questions that further research will answer so if anyone wants to give me some starter points, I don't expect a full "this is what you do, step-by-step"...unless you want to (!) or there is a very good and reliable tutorial out there that the knife makers/fixer-uppers can recommend.

This is the knife in question.

To be honest, the yellowing in the pic below is not what it looks like in normal light, but there is small surface rust to the blade face:

Again, the rust is mostly surface rust, but I'm sure I'll have a better idea once the old handle is removed.
Looking down on to the top of the handle:

Looking up at the bottom of the handle:

I would just get stuck into cleaning this up and removing the handle but I don't want to mess it up as it has a lovely balance, and was always a pleasure to use when growing up and carving roasts....
So any advice pre-clean up would be most valued.

 

[plastic-ninja]

I'm no expert but I'd say you have a classic French Sabatier
chef's pattern knife from the pre-war 20th century.
Chances are it is a good high carbon steel blade and the
marks you describe are the patina of it's past life. Personally
I would leave the blade after removing the rust and just make
a real nice job of the handle.
Cheers , Simon

 

[Androo]

Pre-War? cool I've inspected the blade and can't find any markings. I rather fancy the blade patina too, and I probably don't have the tools to take it back to it's original finish anyway! WD-40 and a fine steel wool for the blade clean me thinks.

Just looking on BritishBlades at the Knife Handle Material Encyclopedia thread, some lovely woods! Although people are talking of resin impregnated handles if it will be getting wet (as most chef's knives do at some point) but I reckon a tight grain wood with sufficient boiled Linseed oil should be sufficient?...in some ways it looks easier than I thought, but then there's pins and bolts...

 

[bushwacker bob]

The Handle will be held on with cutlers rivets and will be bakelite or a similar plastic. remove it I usually use hammer and or chisel.
Clean it up. rehandle with stable wood that is well seasoned, I have used oak floorboard samples from builders merchants on more than one occassion. Finish with lots of coats of Danish oil and never put it in a dishwasher or leave it soaking in water overnight.

 

[Androo]

Thanks Bob
I'm gonna get to and remove the handle this aft, so I can confirm the rivet type and hole diameters.

 

[dwardo]

I re-handled an old sheffield knife an ago ago. Just used liners and alu pins.

 

[Androo]

Nice work dwardo. By liners do you mean the material that inbetween the scales and tang? What is the benifit of this?

I've removed the handle and WD-40'd it, but it's uncovered a few tiny holes in the tang due to the rust corrosion..a bit worried about it now Just uploading some pics now. Might start up a thread on British Blades aswell...

 

[mountainm]

Will wait to see the pics - but I wouldn't worry too much about holes in the tang if the surrounding metal is sound. Give it a soak in some vinegar to harden off any remaining rust.

 

[Androo]

Hmm, this is what I worry about Mountainm, the surrounding metal looks (to my untrained knife-making eye) like it is not sound.
This is what it looks like right now. Work has stopped until I can find the next move (and some cutler's bolts!)

The dark area around the hole (farthest left in pic below) is quite thin:

Holes:

When I epoxy the scales on, will that 'fill' the holes and regain some integrity? Or should I use something else to 'flatten' the tang ready for epoxying the scales on?

 

[Androo]

And a pic of the Cutler's rivets.

 

[dwardo]

Nice work dwardo. By liners do you mean the material that inbetween the scales and tang? What is the benifit of this?

I've removed the handle and WD-40'd it, but it's uncovered a few tiny holes in the tang due to the rust corrosion..a bit worried about it now Just uploading some pics now. Might start up a thread on British Blades aswell...

I was always let to believe that it would stop any reaction between the wood and the tang. It also makes for a nice mate between the two. I would just give it a good clean with some thin oil, wirewool and fine wet n dry if needed.
Then just used a good layer of 24 hour epoxy when glueing it all together and pinning. Dont worry about the tiny holes, once cleaned up and covered they shouldnt get any worse.