Thread: W&B Hollow ground revamp

I bought this W&B from an antique shop for around $10. As seen in the before pics, someone had rounded off the end (very poorly); blade had some large rust spots and mild pitting and staining. The scales, while in decent shape, were stained / discoloured, and somewhat ugly.

For the blade:
Using a dremel with a cut off bit, I removed about 1/8" to get rid of the horrible "point" leaving a square point. The spine where it meets the toe was rounded off in an attempt to match the original lines.

I ran through a progression of 120 grit to 2000 grit (using a dremel for grits up to 600, and hand sanding for everything higher) to get rid of rust and much of the pitting (I wasn't even attempting a perfect finish) then hand polished with some Maas.

After rough shaping using a coping saw, I hand sanded the scales (Honduras rosewood) and wedge (cocobola) to the final size and shape, finishing with 2000 grit for a very smooth feel. Finish is around 8 coats of tung oil. This was my second set of scales that I made. First time around, while I was happy with them, I found them clunky. I spend quite a bit more time on this set.

Pins are brass with single washer. This is the first time I've attempted to pein pins (prior I was using micro fasteners). The blade had a twist in it which caused it to hit the scales. I added an extra pivot washer to push the blade back over and create the illusion of centering.

Before:







After:










Thanks to all who have posted their restores and tips which were a huge help.

Constructive criticism always welcome!

cheers,

Rick