Damaged Khyber knife 57cm
 

Dear forum members

I recently aqquired 18th century khyber knife with heavy patina. One side of the ribbed grip (buffalo) is cracked. Can anything be done to repair it ie a glue if some sort?
Moreover, one of the steel bolsters is slightly lose and out of place. See pictures attached please. Any input is highly appreciated.

A

Before anyone answers, please show a picture of the whole piece!

It would help tremendously.

Dear sir. I am struggling to upload pictures. Error keeps coming up RE size of image. First it was the MB size. Now size of image. Tried many times.
IMG_20200905_205816_174.jpg:
File Too Large. Limits are 1280 x 1280. Your file is 3419 x 1877.
Will try to upload again tomorrow by taking nee images and editing the size which allows upload. Kind regards

This thread might help. :)
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13631

That looks more than just 'cracked' - it looks like a fair amount of material is missing. Cracks can be filled by wicking in superglue and sanding/polishing. Missing pieces can be filled in with coloured epoxy putty and easily shaped to match the rest before it hardens, further finishing it by sanding, etc. after it hardens. It will of course stand out from the rest as a repair. You could drill out the rivets and replace the grip scales. That would not be my choice tho unless the whole grip falls apart. Some may say that the missing pieces are part of its history and should not be repaired. I favour the repair to a level of making it again a 'living' functional weapon.

Better pictures will of course help the rest of us offer opinions and guidance as well as documenting the knife for posterity.

If the cracks are not separated by more than a millimetre or two, I'd use the brand of superglue featuring a large African primate on it, it has a bit of rubber in the formulation to help absorb shock by flexing, some other brands may break rather than bend.

Do not use their regular non-super urethane glue as it expands on curing if not clamped, into a foam which will exude from the slightest opening or crack that is difficult to remove and can force cracks open further.