Carving knife

[roadkill]

This knife use to belong to my granddad, it was used each Sunday to calve the roast joint and brings back some happy memories of spending time with him and the family around the table usually enjoying a meal where most of it had come from his garden.. After he passed away I had the knife to use at home with my family... However as you can see its looking sorry and is now quite blunt, to be honest looking at the knife I'm not even sure it's a carving knife....

 

Could someone advise on what I would need to get the metal looking shiny, restoring some colour back into the handle and also what I would need to sharpen it?

Also any recommended you tube vids on the correct sharpening technique? I looked on you tube but there is so many different ways and with different tools..

 

Cheers Roadkill

[DUNKS]

23 minutes ago, roadkill said:

This knife use to belong to my granddad, it was used each Sunday to calve the roast joint and brings back some happy memories of spending time with him and the family around the table usually enjoying a meal where most of it had come from his garden.. After he passed away I had the knife to use at home with my family... However as you can see its looking sorry and is now quite blunt, to be honest looking at the knife I'm not even sure it's a carving knife....

 

Could someone advise on what I would need to get the metal looking shiny, restoring some colour back into the handle and also what I would need to sharpen it?

Also any recommended you tube vids on the correct sharpening technique? I looked on you tube but there is so many different ways and with different tools..

 

Cheers Roadkill

Hi can I respectfully suggest you leave it as it is. It has a lovely patina. Difficult to sharpen if it's really blunt. I would use experience and a small hand held stone then a steel. I have a similar knife used by my old dad and he used to sharpen it on the area of the ceramic sink that had worn through. Lovely thing.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Be very careful with whatever you do, that handle will be very brittle and dried out. Will probably give up the ghost as soon as you start to tidy the blade up. Keep it as is and remember him.

[Stonepark]

2 hours ago, roadkill said:

This knife use to belong to my granddad, it was used each Sunday to calve the roast joint and brings back some happy memories of spending time with him and the family around the table usually enjoying a meal where most of it had come from his garden.. After he passed away I had the knife to use at home with my family... However as you can see its looking sorry and is now quite blunt, to be honest looking at the knife I'm not even sure it's a carving knife....

 

Could someone advise on what I would need to get the metal looking shiny, restoring some colour back into the handle and also what I would need to sharpen it?

Also any recommended you tube vids on the correct sharpening technique? I looked on you tube but there is so many different ways and with different tools..

 

Cheers Roadkill

The handle is likely celluloid plastic, and appears to still hold the correct colour and whilst it can be brittle with age, it still is useable as long as you don't put it in dishwasher or start chucking it about.

 

On a tidy up project such as this I normally use a Dremel with a brass wire brush to remove rust, then buffer\polishing bit with polishing compound to bring back original mirror finish.

 

On sharpening, I would start with 600 grit on the bevel it is already sharpened to and then 1000 grit if needed.

 

It should be easy to sharpen as the Steel is quite normally quite soft.

 

P.s. if you put a 12 inch ruler in background of photo, it gives an idea of the scale.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Stonepark

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, would Renaissance crystalline wax help, it's what the British museum use on all kinds items, including metal and ivory ,

[DUNKS]

1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, would Renaissance crystalline wax help, it's what the British museum use on all kinds items, including metal and ivory ,

I think it's used to protect. Not to restore.

[oldypigeonpopper]

1 hour ago, DUNKS said:

I think it's used to protect. Not to restore.

Hello, I agree but if left as is it will preserve the blade and handle

[roadkill]

5 hours ago, DUNKS said:

Hi can I respectfully suggest you leave it as it is. It has a lovely patina. Difficult to sharpen if it's really blunt. I would use experience and a small hand held stone then a steel. I have a similar knife used by my old dad and he used to sharpen it on the area of the ceramic sink that had worn through. Lovely thing.

I think you are right looking at it, I will just try and get it Sharpe again 😉 

4 hours ago, Stonepark said:

The handle is likely celluloid plastic, and appears to still hold the correct colour and whilst it can be brittle with age, it still is useable as long as you don't put it in dishwasher or start chucking it about.

 

On a tidy up project such as this I normally use a Dremel with a brass wire brush to remove rust, then buffer\polishing bit with polishing compound to bring back original mirror finish.

 

On sharpening, I would start with 600 grit on the bevel it is already sharpened to and then 1000 grit if needed.

 

It should be easy to sharpen as the Steel is quite normally quite soft.

 

P.s. if you put a 12 inch ruler in background of photo, it gives an idea of the scale.

Great information,  so when you say the 600 and 1000 grit, are these the whetstone on ebay?

1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, I agree but if left as is it will preserve the blade and handle

I will give this a go to protect it for longer

[Stonepark]

1 hour ago, roadkill said:

I think you are right looking at it, I will just try and get it Sharpe again 😉 

Great information,  so when you say the 600 and 1000 grit, are these the whetstone on ebay?

I will give this a go to protect it for longer

 

Definitley a carving knife, that sort of knife and steel does not need a coarse sharpener, anything south of 400 grit is too coarse and will eat metal (i.e the standard two tone grey double sided sharpening stones), rather than sharpen the blade as the steel is likely quite soft.

For my kitchen knives, I use a 600 grit handheld sharpener to sharpen damaged edges or realign the bevel and a 1000 grit stoen to bring it to 'slicing' sharpness, along with a steel.

 

I would suggest something like this if you want to learn how to use water stones: -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165225869386?hash=item26783ab04a:g:3eMAAOSwDRxh38Sv

or this if a hand held diamond would be easier: -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352469566490?hash=item5210d2c41a:g:riIAAOSwvpNicR0Z

 

along with a suitable steel (most of the time you touch bone when carving, a few strops of the steel will realign the edge and return it to good condition) without needing to resharpen with a  stone.

 

 

 

[ditchman]

sharpen it up and use it ..........if the handle breaks...remove the plastic or bone ...and replace it..........start hanging around sale rooms when they are doing house clearances and you will pick up knives like this.........

[Stonepark]

2 hours ago, ditchman said:

sharpen it up and use it ..........if the handle breaks...remove the plastic or bone ...and replace it..........start hanging around sale rooms when they are doing house clearances and you will pick up knives like this.........

Could pick up a couple every weekend at the local car boot, given as wedding presents years ago and often never used....

[Mungler]

Big fan of the steel in these knives and the price.

I have picked up half a dozen along the years (pennies from junk shops) and I found a Chinese handle supplier off eBay. And yes, I used the expanding gorilla glue 😆 and could have done a better job.

However in our house everything lives or dies with whether it goes in the dishwasher. That knife as photo’d has been through the dishwasher 100 times. If the handle splits I’ll get another off eBay (the blanks are a couple of quid, drill it out, wang in glue, insert blade and job jobbed. 

[Mungler]

Cheeky monkey has put his prices up since I bought from him.

[Robden]

Trigger it..................change the handle every couple of years, and the blade every 4 years and it will last forever.