Enamel On Stacked Leather

[KleenCut61]

This Decoration Was Done with the Best Intentions By My Grand Father , It Is To My Knowledge Testor"s Model Enamel , Wood Be My Guess Because it looks like it did 30 Years ago , I Would Like To do Restoration on the Handle And Sheath , Were I See Crosses and Four Leaf Clovers and such , Without Doing Damage to the Leather or Stampings .. ( Enamel Paint Removal ) Any Help Here Would Be Most Appreciated .. Ty >.K.C.

[orvet]

My personal take on this would be that this was my grandfather's attempt to personalize and customize his knife. A lot of guys did that during World War II, depending on where they were and what kind of materials they had access to.

I don't know if your grandfather was in World War II or not, but I would at least think that he was influenced by "Theatre Knives" as they are known. Theater Knives are basically modifications made to knives to make them more functional or more appealing to the user. Or in some cases just to establish who the knife belong to.

Someone once said; "Combat is days of sheer boredom, punctuated by moments of absolute terror!"
I am sure this was the case in the trenches of World War 1. There is a lot of "Trench Art" that was produced in World War I because there was so much boredom among the troops. Soldiers would whittle wooden figures, make lamps from shell cases and all sorts of things primarily for the purpose of passing time.

A friend of my father's was a prisoner in World War II in the infamous Stalag 13. I remember one time he showed my dad and I a wooden picture frame that held the pictures of his children which his wife had sent him. He had whittled it from pieces of wooden shipping boxes. It was held together with wooden pegs which he also whittled. It was whittled from pieces of wooden boxes, probably from the Red Cross, that were sent to the prisoners. The Germans that allowed him to keep a small pocket knife and that's what he used to whittle the frame with, and as I recall a number of other small wooden objects.

If it were my grandfather's knife I would want to know the story behind it before I changed anything. There may be a very significant reason why he painted it and why chose the color he did.

That's my two cents worth.

[KleenCut61]

Thank You Dale for your Input on The Matter , The Knife Looks to Be Modified Guard Also , I may have Left Out Some Significant factors Now that I have Someones Attention I do have some further Recollections On The Knife , Yes I Have Hurd of Trench art and such , Shells , Knives , Figurines , Some very Talented Pieces Hence the Art ( Stigma) , This One How ever Has a some what different History , ( My Grandmother ) Was the Youngest Of 11 Children When She Lived in west Virginia on a Farm . Two of Her Brothers Were in Service , One Was a Tank Crewman , The Other Drove a Motorbike , Any How When her Husband Passed at an early age of 56 , She Remarried to my (* Step Grandfather *) Whom She Lived With When she Received The Knife from a Brother of One Of the Brothers That served ! The Knife Was Infact as I Remember it as A Child Going Fishing With Step GrandDad In Pristine Condition ..Who Was a Barber By Trade , But also a Basement Doodler For Lack of a Better Word Which is Why I Feel the Need To Resto the Entire Rig , And I Would Like To Complete the Work My Self No Matter How Difficult the Task ! Any Pointers Would Be a Great Help .. Thank You Very Much K.C. ( Joe )

[eveled]

If I were you. I’d rehandle it. You can get a kit from KaBar. It will work on the Camillus. The red paint doesn’t bother me. But the guard is destroyed. Here is one I redid. I reused the original guard.

The sheath on yours does not look original to me. I’d toss it and buy a new one.

[KleenCut61]

[quote="eveled"]If I were you. I’d rehandle it. You can get a kit from KaBar. It will work on the Camillus. The red paint doesn’t bother me. But the guard is destroyed. Here is one I redid.~~~ You did a fine Job !! I will Look into The Kit As well , I no of only one Way to Remove Paint And That's with Blast media , ( Dry ) Method … Hence chemically ( Wet ) Method . To Me The Sheath is more important than the Knife We Have to see What I can come up with Ty for your Contribution on the Matter K.C.

[eveled]

If you want to save the handle. Use a mechanical means to remove the paint. Sand file scrape pick etc. then sand it smooth then I used black sharpie in the grooves finished with Cordova shoe polish. The metal parts can be painted with black model paint.

[KleenCut61]

If you want to save the handle. Use a mechanical means to remove the paint. Sand file scrape pick etc. then sand it smooth then I used black sharpie in the grooves finished with Cordova shoe polish. The metal parts can be painted with black model paint.

Got It , Thanks again … K.C.

[eveled]

And post more pictures when you are done!

[mrwatch]

while I really don't know, I suspect that any paint remover on the sheath will dry it out or damage it, removing the design you want to keep. You may want to search YouTube for ideas first.

[Byrd]

Use a round needle file to scrape the paint out of the grooves. As others have said you will need to treat.The bare leather with something like Minks Oil to preserve it. OTOH since the knife was your Grandfathers I'd leave as is for memories sake.

[KleenCut61]

Well Here it is With Enamel Blasted off , I just happened to have the right stuff For the J-O-B ! The ( R ) Could be Rory WWII , Or Roger ( Korea ) Either Way It Was A Neat Discovery ! K.C.

[Meridian_Mike]

Well.... it does look nice. Good work!
I'm glad you could get the red off since that made you happy.

[KleenCut61]

Thanks Mike … Yes I am happy Know

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks Mike … Yes I am happy Know

That's what knives really are.... something that makes us HAPPY!!

[Byrd]

Well that sure looks a lot better than it did! It would've driven me nuts too.