Thread: Pig-In-a-Poke

An auction on Ebay had three old, odd kitchen knives and a razor off to the side. The photo was blurry, but it appeared to be an early blade. I said what the heck, if it's cheap enough, I'll bite. It was, I did. Although it is allover pitted and has a partial tang stamp, I'm glad I did. It is most certainly a Marsden Warranted from the blade configuration and stamp. Measures .03" shy of 7/8 at the widest part of the bow, and the spine is flat. Because of an extreme case of RAD it is about number five on the refurbish list. Wife took my favorite close-up camera on vacation, so minimal photos for the moment.

Originally Posted by Oldnick

An auction on Ebay had three old, odd kitchen knives and a razor off to the side. The photo was blurry, but it appeared to be an early blade. I said what the heck, if it's cheap enough, I'll bite. It was, I did. Although it is allover pitted and has a partial tang stamp, I'm glad I did. It is most certainly a Marsden Warranted from the blade configuration and stamp. Measures .03" shy of 7/8 at the widest part of the bow, and the spine is flat. Because of an extreme case of RAD it is about number five on the refurbish list. Wife took my favorite close-up camera on vacation, so minimal photos for the moment.

I would agree with your assessment. Probably also had Magnum Bonum etched on the spine. Good luck with the edge - I see some heavy pitting there but you never know.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

I would agree with your assessment. Probably also had Magnum Bonum etched on the spine. Good luck with the edge - I see some heavy pitting there but you never know.

I just introduced it to some 320, and it just might have enough distance from the bad pitting to make for an edge. I'm going to give it a quick two tape layers hone on a dry 800 and judge where to go from there. If not, I'll just appreciate it for it's age -- I'm not above keeping a nonshaving historical artifact. Needless to say, if it ever had the Magnum Bonum etch, it succumbed a long time ago.

Originally Posted by Oldnick

I just introduced it to some 320, and it just might have enough distance from the bad pitting to make for an edge. I'm going to give it a quick two tape layers hone on a dry 800 and judge where to go from there. If not, I'll just appreciate it for it's age -- I'm not above keeping a nonshaving historical artifact. Needless to say, if it ever had the Magnum Bonum etch, it succumbed a long time ago.

I didn't stop at 800.
Even though most of the blade looks like a relief map of the moon, and I had to do a bit of bread knifing at the toe end to relieve a slight frown area, 99% of the edge looks like the top photo, and the two pit remnants that have survived are not an issue. One divot has already been removed with more CRO2 stropping after I took the photo. Speaking of which, the almost knife edge of the tang makes finger position during stropping......interesting. It popped a hair, and I will shave with it later. A lot of honing would undoubtedly reveal more micro pitting, so easy does it on the use, but at least a few fun, early blade shaves it will do.

nice one! you're a braver man than I, shaving off an 800 stone, CrOx or not!

Originally Posted by TwistedOak

nice one! you're a braver man than I, shaving off an 800 stone, CrOx or not!

Oh, no, no.......that was the starting point to see what was there. I went all the way through the stones to double sided coticule and slurry. I had planned to shave, not peel......

Nice score! Let us know how it shaves

Well, back to the drawing board. Needs another run through the high end stones, but on a scale of 1-10 I'll give it a 5.75. Definitely has a sweet spot,and the toe needs more attention.

Originally Posted by Oldnick

Oh, no, no.......that was the starting point to see what was there. I went all the way through the stones to double sided coticule and slurry. I had planned to shave, not peel......

well from your pic it looks like you managed the former!