All About Pocket Knives

I searched forum and did not find answer to this question. Anyone know source to replace leather handle on WWII M3 trench knife?

Check on eBay, I saw some leather washers for handles on there the other day.
There are number of different places I have bought them before, Jantz Supply usually has them as well.

KaBar sells a kit to replace handles. I used them on a WW2 RCC USN KNIFE.

MAN... that is a NICE restoration job!!!
WOW......
(Better than new!)

Excellent work!

love that clamp setup, proper compression of the washers is one of the trickiest parts of doing these

Eveled...great job. I checked the Kabar site and loved how they characterized the project as requiring quite a bit of "magic". I then went out and saw several YouTube videos and saw what they meant.

Thanks for the kind words guys. It’s really not that hard. I used a hand held carpenters belt sander and sanding drums in a drill press. No way you could do it by hand. It’s tough stuff. I finished it with cordovan shoe polish.

Clamping it was a challenge. Here is a thread with more details.

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=57781&p=658469#p658469

It really did feel good to bring it back from the dead.

Here is another I did from the same kit on a different style knife. Just to see what I could do. I mostly wanted to see how finger grooves would work in the leather.

You've got more options here. Having been called a tight wad before I did the math and the leather washers for sale on ebay will cost you about $10 an inch counting the shipping. On a knife with a 4" - 5" handle that is considerable. I watched the talented people on Forged in Fire make stack leather handles one day and saw they were using leather strips. Off I went to the Thrift Store and bought a genuine leather belt for $1. I was able to get enough pcs for the handle from that belt. Then when I was at Hobby Lobby I discovered they sell leather over runs. I bought the package shown for $4 and feel there is enough material in it to do an average size knife with some left over. Depending on what you're working on that might be a better way to go. The red spacers you see on my handle is actually an old make it yourself gasket material that was in the garage and I needed to get rid of. Use your imagination.

$10 an inch! The KA-BAR kit is only $7 and comes with pommel spacers and a pin https://www.kabar.com/products/product.jsp?item=1217HC

I don't see the ones that are usually listed. These are $13 for 1 1/2". I had never seen the kit you show.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/QTY-of-12-of-2 ... SwM7Fcywu4

Bob I wasn’t doubting you. Just giving the link to the better option. It is impossible to find on KA-BARS web site I found it with google. If anyone needs a kit. Monday is a big half off sale at their web site. I doubt the kits are included but you could get a good deal on a knife and take advantage of the free shipping.