swedish barrel knife dilemma

[jimbo75]

We found this is my grandads shed last year after he passed away.. and i was very grateful to my dad for letting me have it.
i never thought id own one to be honest!
however, its not in great condition (not suprised, being so old and laying forgotten so long).
And I'm debating if i should replace/renew some of it?
The wood is starting to fail, and is corroding the metal (rust).
not to mention its impossible to sharpen, as he had put it on the grinder a few times!
Or. Do i leave it as is?
but then again, its a working tool (supposed to be)???
What should i do?
It would look great with a new curly birch handle.....

 

[mrcharly]

Photos not workign for me

Wood hardner on the handle?

 

[DurhamBushcrafter]

one of these?

 

[jimbo75]

one of these?

Same as, oak handle though

 

[brancho]

I didnt do much to mine

Its started liek this

Sewdish barrel knife 2 by alf.branch, on Flickr

and now looks like this

Sewdish barrel knife cleaned up by alf.branch, on Flickr

The metal was cleaned with wire wool and oil and the wood with fine wire wool and danish oil

 

[jimbo75]

Brancho, that seems to be the same as mine... you have done a splendid job on that!

 

[Wayland]

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of mine when I got it but this is what it looks like now.

 

[Man of Tanith]

I still covet one......

 

[jimbo75]

has this worked?pics

 

[jimbo75]

thats a great condition example... i think the main problem on mine is the amount the blade has been ground down.
seeing your example shows how much has gone! mind you, its good quality steel...

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of mine when I got it but this is what it looks like now.

 

[jimbo75]

Do you think it's possible to fit a new blade? Does anyone know any after market makers?

 

[jimbo75]

How nice would it look with a damascus blade and a new piece of curly birch on the handle

 

[mountainm]

It wouldn't be the same knife though. May as well commission a brand new one.

 

[jimbo75]

 

[jimbo75]

are the pics working now??

 

[Wayland]

Not on my screen.

 

[mountainm]

Nope. You're linking them directly to your email account. Try a service like imgur.com

 

[jimbo75]

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h419/jimbo755/image.jpg4.jpg

 

[Dreadhead]

still looks in fairly good nic mate. I wonder if it would be possible to just re-stabilize the handle? is that possible? so you can keep the original wood.

 

[jimbo75]

It's the inside that's corroded. Must have been put away wet or with dirt in it... The outside just needs cleaning.