My first resto attempt

Howdy,

Finally got finished with my first blade I picked up at an antique shop for 10 bucks. The scales were broken when I snagged it and after cleaning off the gunk on the blade I found a fair amount of pitting. Having no power tools of any sorts I opted to give it a light sanding to get some of the more minimal pitting out but I dide not even fake an attempt at getting a mirror finish. The scales are made of Ipe (Brazilian Walnut or Ironwood) and the wedge is a piece of scrap black locust I had laying around. I used the Dovo pin set for the pivot point and then I took a piece of hobby aluminum and cut down two pins for the end. Both ends are peened and I left the aluminum feeling a bit more bulbous as I liked the masculine look. Over all I am pleased as this is my first attempt at "restoring" a blade but I will admit this was a learning experience. I will note that I dont think I would ever use iron wood again without some sort of mechanical help as the wood was very time consuming to form with a coping saw and block sander. I finished the wood with mineral oil. The blade is a J.R. Torrey Company blade and my next step is to send it out to get honed. Comments/suggestions always appreciated for future attempts.

Thanks!

DennisAttachment 118771Attachment 118768Attachment 118769Attachment 118770

Great work my friend looks fantastic! The scales are beautiful! What grit sandpaper did u use?

On the blade or the wood? I used 180-800 on the blade and I only took the scales to 400. Thanks for the complement, pretty much a perfectionist when it comes to things and this is by far not perfect so hemming and hawing about the whole thing.

Scales turned out great! The thick pins at the wedge end are great as well, however, I think I might have made the wedge itself a tad thinner. Either way, it turned out awesome!

Thats a nice result. Love the color of the wood you have made your handle from.