KA-BAR Mk 1 Rebuild

With washers removed,tang is in very good condition.
Washers are very brittle,salt stained and some are missing as is the pommel.
 
Old washers at top with new bits and pieces for the rebuild below.
New leather washers are actually from a modern Mk1 I rehandled a while ago,waste not,want not.
Centre section is stag with masking tape to protect it.
 
Looks like a good project but the knife is not a MK 1. It is a wartime produced model 598 which were civilian knives and some were Official BSA knives.
 
Thanks for the info gunsil,very much appreciated!
The blade shape did have me wondering,but all good.:thumbsup:
 
Being a wartime production civilian knife. The pommel may have been wooden. Which explains it being missing. It probably split and the handle fell apart.

I’m not sure if KaBar did the wooden pommels but I know others did during the war.

I’m looking forward to seeing the finished result.
 
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Ed, that knife most likely had a steel pommel like the wartime BSA 598s did. There is no room for a wood pommel either and when KA-BAR used a wood pommel it had a steel butt cap on it and the blade was peened in the cap, there were no pins going through the pommel.
 
Thanks. The wartime BSA PAL knives had wooden ones. Thought these might have been the same. The wooden ones didn’t survive very well. Thanks for the lesson.
 
Here are the two WW2 versions of the 598-5 KA-BAR. The steel pommel one is an official BSA model and the other one with the wood pommel had a steel butt cap which is peened onto the tang. The steel pommel is pinned on like a MK2. Don't know why it uploaded double photos, sorry. Both also have steel guards.

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Thanks fella's.
I like doing little weekend projects such as this.
Simple,cheap and fun to do.
Also allows a bit of artistic freedom in handle styles.
Finished product looks great on the belt,feels nice in the hand,and still does what it says on the box decades after being first built!:thumbsup:
 
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