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Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
A lot of good advice has already been given for restoration of this knife, what I can add is really only fine tuning.
Disassemble by unscrewing the retaining nut in the pommel, it is really essential to disassemble the knife because you need to clamp the blade into a vice to effectively polish it.
Use abrasive paper to restore the blade surfaces; I would start with 1200 wet & dry paper and see if this has an effect or not, if no effect you work backwards through the grades until you get a result, then you go back through the grades and finish with worn 1200 W&D paper. There are other specialist metal finishing papers that can be used, but if I were doing this job I'd leave it at worn 1200 W&D.
The basic principle in using abrasives to polish metal is that you use each decrease in abrasion to remove the marks of the previous grit, and you finish the polish along the length of the object.
This means that in something that is in pretty crappy condition you might begin with say, a 120 grit along the length, then you reduce grit to 240, or maybe only 180 and you sand across the marks left by the previous grit, then you might go down to something like 300 grit and sand along the length of the blade, and so on until you get down to 1200 used along the length, followed by worn 1200 along the length.
You use the paper on a rubbing stick for flat surfaces, you use your fingers or a pencil eraser shaped to the curve for curved surfaces, such as in the hollow ground blade.
A rubbing stick is a piece of perfectly flat wood about an inch wide and half inch thick and long enough to hold in both hands, you cut the paper so it comes up the side of the stick.
With the hollow ground blade you do not touch the etching with anything more than oil and steel wool.
The red fibre washers should be replaced, here in Australia I can buy this fibre from a motor parts supplier.
Do not glue the separate handle parts together before assembly, most especially do not use Superglue:- Superglue dries too quickly and does not compress. When you reassemble the handle a tiny spot of slow drying Araldite between the loose parts of the handle can be acceptable, but it is really the pressure of the nut that will keep the handle together.
Re-shape and finish the replaced handle after assembly, again you can use abrasive papers and descending grades of steel wool, be careful not to damage the patina of the antler.
I have restored a few of these knives, and have made a few with the same construction; I was a member of the Australian Knifemakers Guild for a number of years --- no longer am, differences of opinion --- I mostly did bladesmith work for other makers, but also made more than a few complete knives myself, as well as doing restoration jobs.
Edit: sometimes the screw thread was peened over the nut to keep it from coming loose, so if the nut does not screw off and just jams, take a couple of passes with a file over it and it should screw off OK.
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Alan, you can always be relied upon to give us a detailed and informative response, thank you. How essential is it to use the same spacer material as the original? I have some extremely thin pieces of wood used in marquetry, could those be used? Whatever I use, I think the originals are toast, many are battered and no two are the same thickness. I have a feeling that once they are off and no longer under any pressure, they will prove somewhat warped.
Incidentally, I'm pretty impressed by the resistance of the thicker knife. It's sheath was downright rotten, literally the consistency and appearance of an old piece of dug up harness, green and blotchy.