Misfit 45 Posted February 9, 2017 Share #1 Posted February 9, 2017 Hi Folks, You may have seen this on ebay a few days ago. I bought it because this is probably the closest I will ever come to affording a blade dated M3. The blade has been shortened by 1 3/8 inches, so it cannot be restored, in my opinion. What I planned on was to clean up the blade and put a on a new handle. I want to make a nice knife that will preserve or restore the current shape of the blade without trying to make it look like an M3. I thought it would be so cool to make a knife that has "U.S. M3 CASE 1943" on the blade. So, do I make it look like a theater knife, or what. As you can see there is no pommel, so I'll have to find or make a new one. I'm thinking that I will rule out using leather washers, but my mind can be changed. Suggestions welcome. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw517 Posted February 9, 2017 Share #2 Posted February 9, 2017 I would use leather washers. I make my own but a guy sells them on eBay for the m-3 and he has pommels too! If you have a belt sander,epoxy, your half way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy69 Posted February 9, 2017 Share #3 Posted February 9, 2017 I would probably re-finish and do leather washers. I think it would look odd with a new handle and a worn blade. A theater handle sounds neat too. Stacked plexiglass of a couple colors or some kind of wood with finger grooves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 9, 2017 Share #4 Posted February 9, 2017 I just finished a Case M3 yesterday for a customer that had the same handle issues as yours. The pommel had broken off at some time in the past so the handle had been shortened & the pommel welded on. I added some steel stock to get the handle back to length, milled the slot back into the pommel, new leather stacked washer handle (aged to look period) then peened the pommel back on trying to repliicate the unique "case style" factory peen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 9, 2017 Share #5 Posted February 9, 2017 finished job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 9, 2017 Share #6 Posted February 9, 2017 Great work Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw517 Posted February 9, 2017 Share #7 Posted February 9, 2017 Very nice! They are fun projects too. You can do it Marv! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted February 9, 2017 Share #8 Posted February 9, 2017 Steve does do nice work! Marv-As an alternative handle, try plastic grips from a beat up old M4, or maybe an M7 bayonet. I believe they could fit. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
268th C.A. Posted February 9, 2017 Share #9 Posted February 9, 2017 Dang that's a great job! Thats very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted February 9, 2017 Share #10 Posted February 9, 2017 Like Steve said, the pommel is broken off with the end part of the tang.....you won't be able to put a new pommel on it without restoring the length of the tang. I have an M4 with the pommel broken off the same way. Blade is nice. No guard with it. My thought was to put a nice civilian handle (pearl or stag), make a guard from German Silver and polish the blade. It should make a nice looking dagger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 9, 2017 Share #11 Posted February 9, 2017 Meant to add to the OP, I would be more than happy to help you with your project in any way. I've got PAL & Boker M3's I'm fixing to replace rotten handles on & if time permits, am planning on doing a picture tutorial that should help anyone wanting to do their own replacements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John762 Posted February 9, 2017 Share #12 Posted February 9, 2017 I would probably re-finish and do leather washers. I think it would look odd with a new handle and a worn blade. A theater handle sounds neat too. Stacked plexiglass of a couple colors or some kind of wood with finger grooves? I'm on the same page as Jeremy, I was going to suggest some wood but I like the idea of some plexi added in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryeye Posted February 10, 2017 Share #13 Posted February 10, 2017 I am pleased to see those old war horses salvaged. I jumped on the knife pictured as the trader was taking it out of a cardboard box onto his table. There was a $10.00 sticker on the scabbard and I bought it before I’d even taken it out of the scabbard. I knew I had landed on my feet as the M8 scabbard alone was a bargain at $10.00. The handle was in poor shape with the bottom washer missing and the cross guard badly bent. Some previous owner had painted all the leather black. When I drew the knife from the scabbard I was in for another surprise. The Kinfolk marked blade had been snapped and welded back together. I cleaned the leather up and made a poor effort at replacing the bottom washer. Straightened out the cross guard and ended up with this slightly sad but much improved M3. If I can find a way to replace that bottom washer without removing the pommel I will revisit that problem. I apologise as it appears I am unable to upload the picture of the broken, welded, blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share #14 Posted February 10, 2017 The leather washer idea is becoming more interesting as I think about it, but here's a crazy idea I had. I would re-shape the M1 handle to conform to the narrower blade, plus shorten it which would get rid of the M1 release button hole. Then I would make blood wood grip panels. I also thought of putting a strip of blood wood into the bayonet slot. Is this a little too crazy? Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 10, 2017 Share #15 Posted February 10, 2017 that favors a 1907 british bayonet I have that was cut down into a knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 10, 2017 Share #16 Posted February 10, 2017 I am pleased to see those old war horses salvaged. I jumped on the knife pictured as the trader was taking it out of a cardboard box onto his table. There was a $10.00 sticker on the scabbard and I bought it before I’d even taken it out of the scabbard. I knew I had landed on my feet as the M8 scabbard alone was a bargain at $10.00. The handle was in poor shape with the bottom washer missing and the cross guard badly bent. Some previous owner had painted all the leather black. When I drew the knife from the scabbard I was in for another surprise. The Kinfolk marked blade had been snapped and welded back together. I cleaned the leather up and made a poor effort at replacing the bottom washer. Straightened out the cross guard and ended up with this slightly sad but much improved M3. If I can find a way to replace that bottom washer without removing the pommel I will revisit that problem. I apologise as it appears I am unable to upload the picture of the broken, welded, blade. is that "bottom washer" one of the plastic spacers or a leather washer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryeye Posted February 10, 2017 Share #17 Posted February 10, 2017 This is the first Kinfolk I have come across Steve and I am not sure if it is supposed to have a plastic spacer or a leather washer. It is the area directly above the crossguard that appears to have the vacancy. I would have thought that chances of getting a plastic spacer were remote but a leather washer could be "slit" on one edge and pushed onto the tang,then glued closed. I am relutant to try to remove the pommel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryeye Posted February 10, 2017 Share #18 Posted February 10, 2017 I think I have just worked out how to post pictures. Here is my welded Kinfolk M3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 10, 2017 Share #19 Posted February 10, 2017 This is the first Kinfolk I have come across Steve and I am not sure if it is supposed to have a plastic spacer or a leather washer. It is the area directly above the crossguard that appears to have the vacancy. I would have thought that chances of getting a plastic spacer were remote but a leather washer could be "slit" on one edge and pushed onto the tang,then glued closed. I am relutant to try to remove the pommel. I wouldn't remove the pommel. Chances are, some of the other washers will go to pieces trying to remove them. I have this knife that was missing a few at the guard like yours & I did the "split washer/glue" method & it worked great. A little blending with dyes & nobody would ever notice. Had a real hard time deciding to do this as I have a hard time "half-assing" anything but convinced myself it was worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John762 Posted February 10, 2017 Share #20 Posted February 10, 2017 I think I have just worked out how to post pictures. Here is my welded Kinfolk M3. Man that's painful... But ANY Kinfolks blade marked example is better than no example. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryeye Posted February 11, 2017 Share #21 Posted February 11, 2017 Thank you all for your advice. I will try the split washer technique again. Some great looking results above. I feel inspired to give it a go again and maybe see if I can clean up that weld. Pictured is the $10.00 M3 as I got it. Very sad indeed but who amongst us could turn their back on this poor orphan. I must also apologise for hijacking Misfit's thread some. That was not my attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share #22 Posted February 11, 2017 I enjoy looking at the old Blade Warriors that still survive. I started to work on the blade; no problems yet. When I finally decide how or what to do with the handle, I'll get it finished and post the finished knife. Thanks for all the input. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share #23 Posted February 12, 2017 I've gone as far as I should for now. I would like to find an M3 pommel off another trashed M3. I'll check a couple gun shows. I know a few knife guys that may have some spare parts. I plan on having the blade parkerized in a light gray and will have to wait until I get the pommel to do that. So, until then, here's the results so far. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryeye Posted February 12, 2017 Share #24 Posted February 12, 2017 That looks great Misfit. May I ask how you got the blade looking that clean ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S. Posted February 12, 2017 Share #25 Posted February 12, 2017 very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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