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Odds and Ends


thorin6
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I was cleaning up around my desk, and came upon these four blades that were projects, rejects, etc. from flea market and estate sales buys. Normally these would not be considered collectable, but they are part of the hobby. I’m sure many of us have these hanging around, maybe an M5 with missing grips and parts, a Mark 2 with damaged and missing leather washers, or a shortened M3 without its guard. If you have any of these, feel free to add on to this thread and give those knives and bayonets (or whatever) their 15 minutes of fame.

 

To start off, from top to bottom, left to right are four blades I rediscovered around my work space.

First is a 1944 steel pocket knife with U.S. MARINE CORPS, below that is a giant jack knife for USAAF emergency vests and kits, then to the right are what I first took to be a file altered to be a knife, and then what was a “theater” knife that I bought for the sheath.

 

 

 

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Let’s look at the steel pocket knife. Usually collectable, and I have several, but this poor little knife has a problem. From the side it looks great with the bail marked Kingston. Unfortunately, when you look at the bottom, you’ll see that the spring for the blade and punch is completely missing.

 

 

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Next is the giant pocket knife. It doesn’t look to bad right now, but when I picked it up at an estate sale for $2, it was rusted shut. It took me three weeks of oiling, prying, and working the saw and then the blade to get it open without breaking anything, and then more work on the metal surfaces to get the rust off. Still a lot of pitting, but the blade and saw don’t look too bad. I was going to sell it, as I have both a Colonial (with bail) and a United marked knives. However, this one is unmarked, and as it is the third version of these knives as shown on pages 140-141 in Cole’s III and it’s the first time I’ve seen one of these, it will stay in the collection.

 

 

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Then we have the blade shown here. The handle is a piece of aluminum tubing, and the scabbard is also piece of aluminum tubing that has been flattened. When you take it apart, it turns out the blade is from an M3/M4 (not sure which); the end is peened, showing that this came from an actual M3 knife or M4 bayonet and is not an unused blade.

 

 

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Last is the “theater” knife, which was actually the most expensive item in the lot at $10 (everything else was $5 or less). This knife was in a NOS sheath for a USMC fighting knife with nine staples and having the light tan color and condition indicating it hadn’t been issued. The sheath was used on a Ka-bar and the knife, being incredibly sharp, has become my letter opener.

 

 

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So, let’s see those off the wall blades that lay around in our houses, come out of our tool boxes, or rest in the trunk of our cars (I’m lazy; there are several more in my cars that I just didn’t feel like getting out).

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Then we have the blade shown here. The handle is a piece of aluminum tubing, and the scabbard is also piece of aluminum tubing that has been flattened. When you take it apart, it turns out the blade is from an M3/M4 (not sure which); the end is peened, showing that this came from an actual M3 knife or M4 bayonet and is not an unused blade.

I like it! How well does that handle fit? Being aluminum, it seems like some play could have developed in it.

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I like it! How well does that handle fit? Being aluminum, it seems like some play could have developed in it.

 

There's a little play in it, but that could be remedied by using a punch to stake it in place.

 

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