I'm thinking of buying a Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife?

[37thguy]

Appears to be unsharpened. No nicks, or chips, hardly a scratch even. Straight blade, everything's tight, no wobble.

[37thguy]

I see most of these knives have brass handles. Mine appears to be some sort of Alloy? Can anyone tell me what this one is made of and how to clean the oxidation off?

 

Also whats a good value to put on this?

[37thguy]

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[37thguy]

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[37thguy]

This will represent a private purchased dagger by an SF Green Beret for my Vietnam display.

[Bob Hudson]

I would say don't clean it: if it has the same alloy as the WWII USMC Raider knives, it can be fragile. However, does yours look greenish on the handle? It appears so in the photos so that could be an alloy with copper in it, but even still I'd leave it alone.

[37thguy]

Just grey in color. I just used a bit of oil and wiped it down. I'll do no more to it.

[sactroop]

I've never seen a British F-S knife with a similar zinc alloy handle as the WW2 vintage Camillus, Marine Raider stiletto's. IMHO, this looks like an oxidation of the paint on the hilt. I also would tend not to change the appearance of the aging of the knife.

 

Really nice grouping 37thguy!

[doyler]

Thats a nice 3rd pattern.Scabbard is in great condition as well.Good WW2 era one from what I see.

 

Congrats on the addition Mark.

[37thguy]

Thanks Ron. I wish it had a brass handle but for what I have into it, and the condition, I'm very happy to own it.

[Bob Hudson]

I see most of these knives have brass handles. Mine appears to be some sort of Alloy?

 

In lookng aorund online it seems the wartime F-S knives were alloy but the 3rd pattern grip was coated with copper flashing. Yours very much has the look of a piece with traces of copper that has turned green.

[37thguy]

There really isn't any green to it. Just sort of a parkerized grey to it.

[doyler]

Thats typical on some 3rd patterns.Alloy handles that were plated or copper/bronze finnish.Dont recall what the Brits called the process.Even seen some painted black like the tang nut.

 

Possibly this one may have missed the process at wars end or assembled from parts and exported for resale here.One old timer he told me he bought several from Navy Arms Corporation back in the day.

[Bob Hudson]

Thats typical on some 3rd patterns.Alloy handles that were plated or copper/bronze finnish.Dont recall what the Brits called the process.Even seen some painted black like the tang nut.

 

Possibly this one may have missed the process at wars end or assembled from parts and exported for resale here.One old timer he told me he bought several from Navy Arms Corporation back in the day.

 

Here's the one under discussion and one found online that had the copper flashing finish. I used to own and work on wooden boats with brass and bronze hardware of all sorts and the green/grey tone in both of these photos is consistent with what I have seen in various copper alloy patinas.

 

 

[37thguy]

Very cool Bob. So chances are with such little wear it's just close to un used?

[doyler]

Marks knives appears to have a little black paint o er splash from the tang acorn nut unless Im not seeing clearly.

 

Many alloys when plated have to have a base material to plate to like brass plating or copper to get the final finnish to adhere properly.

[37thguy]

Yes there is a bit of Black splash from the top nut area on the top side of my handle

[doyler]

Very cool Bob. So chances are with such little wear it's just close to un used?

Not in my thinking as these third patterns were typically blackened over final finnish.The comparison photo shows the copper/brass under coat with the black on top.The black wears off over time and the base aging lea hes through.

[37thguy]

So my handle was ALL black and has completely worn or was taken off?

[Bob Hudson]

There's a nice article at http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/third-pattern.html that says of 3rd patterns, "The handles had the mold parting marks removed and they were then copper plated. Most of the handles were finished black although some were nickel plated."

 

They also write that when the copper started showing through, people thought they were brass:

 

[Bob Hudson]

So my handle was ALL black and has completely worn or was taken off?

 

So yes, the black wore off and the green-grey is from the remnants of the copper. Notice that in the other photo I posted you can still see traces of copper on the raised areas of the grip.

[37thguy]

Thanks for the link Bob I'll go read up on it.

[37thguy]

Great link. Bookmarked that one! So any idea as to value on this?

[culdee]

What about the Spanish made ones?

I would avoid Spanish ones and ones from Pakistan and Taiwan.

[Bluehawk]

Question from knife ignoramus:

 

Approximately how many Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives are there in existence?