Loose guard on a #1217 C/U

[orca8589]

I need some advice from you Kabar users on how to tweak the guard on my #1217. It rattles a little bit, and it works fine, it just bugs me. How do you guys deal with that? Also, have any of you folks ever replaced the factory installed guard for a stronger (thicker) one?

~Chris

 

[Mistwalker]

The only times I've ever had a loose guard on one of these were older ones I picked up used and the leather was dry, and on ones where I "straightened" the guards because the angle bugged me and I was the cause of them being loose. With the dried leather a soak of the handle in a jar of water was a temporary fix that lasted a while and got repeated. With the ones I straightened I used some small wedges and used epoxy in a syringe to fill the gap. In my experiences with older Ka-bars (haven't bought a new one in several years) the guards were not as easy to bend as they looked, and plenty strong enough to do the job, but carrying a Catteraugus 225Q for a number of years, and having a couple of Next Generation Ka-Bars I understand them not looking strong enough to you.

 

[Moosez45]

OK, here is what you can do. Find someone that sells bees wax by the cake.

Get 4 cakes ( I tend to like having extra around ), melt the wax, then put the handle in it while the wax is still hot, not boiling, just really liquid. Let it sit until the wax cools and hardens. Then, heat the wax up again, until liquid. Let it cool again.

After that, heat it up and remove the knife. I promise, it will not get loose again, soak any liquids, or deteriorate until the end of time.

I have naturally oily hands, so, my leather handled knives tend to darken fast, and swells the leather.

When I played baseball, I bought a fielder's glove, and by the end of the season, it looked like a catcher's mitt.



Seriously, it will work.

How old is that Marine Fighting knife?


Moose

 

[orca8589]

Thanks for the input, guys.

I got this one here on the forum a few months ago, and it's been "foster/adopted" by my son; this isn't the first of my knives that has disappeared into his drawer. I've shown him some of the pics here, and he wants it to look a little more "retro" & used if possible. Way too large for him to carry in Scouting right now, but he's pretty good with it (read: very careful) around here with yard work & chores.

Here 'tis:

I was eventually going to strip & mod this one, so I plan to "straighten" the guard a little bit anyway. I've modified my vise to do it, I just have to quit being lazy and get it done. and I had already decided to do a handle treatment, so after reading what you guys have said, that may solve the loose guard problem. I've used beeswax before.

When I got this one, I was pretty spoiled by my old BK-7, so I didn't really care for the #1217. It kind of grew on me though. My son likes the #1217 USMC, and I plan to get a #1225 Navy for me - I was a squid from 1985-89 - and a #1250 small C/U for my wife.

~Chris