Work in Progress by Richard J

[timsclips]

A couple of months ago I had purchased a typical example of a PAL RH-36 knife in less than great shape. I posted a notice that I was looking for a knife maker to refinish the knife in order to make it a personal hunting and all around outdoor use knife. Richard J from the forum said he would take on the project and these are some pictures of his progress so far (used with Richard's permission).
This is what I sent him and some pictures of the work so far.

Can not get the full knife picture to load for some reason. Close up of the old handle pommel.

Disassembled handle.

New leather rings.

New leather rings sanded down.
The knife already looks much improved. Richard is states that next he will do what he can to remove some of the pitting on the blade.
As soon as I can figure out why the picture of the original state of the knife cannot be loaded on photobucket you all can see what Richard J had to work with.

 

[IVANKERLEY]

sharp when its finished! i love the RH-36's i dont have one yet but i got my eyes peeled They have a similar appearance to my Catt 225Q which i love
Richard J:thumbup:
looking good
ivan

 

[Haze]

looks good so far :thumbup:

 

[richard j]

i just glued up the washers and i'm letting everything set to dry. the old washers were so dry they crumbled. i put a few decent ones in between the new washers when i sanded them down to get the same shape as the old ones. i left things a little oversize to allow for final sanding.

 

[macgregor22]

Thats great Richard!
Didn't know you could do something like that.

 

[richard j]

didnt you remember my leather washer handle knife i made? you held it

 

[timsclips]

Richard J just sent me a few new pictures of the reworking of the PAL RH36.

First two shows progress overall, the blade had quite a few deep pits from rust.
Second shows the new leather handle.

I say great job!!!!!

 

[richard j]

i still have to make a new pin and bead blast the blade.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Great job, Richard.

 

[David1967]

Looks great!!

David

 

[Morrow]

resurrection !


nice job richard.

 

[timsclips]

I believe that everyone would agree that in this condition the knife had little or no value/interest by nearly everyone. Too many nicer condition knives still out there for the collectors. I thought bringing it back to life as a user was the best alternative.

As you can see, there was some major pitting and/or corrosion issues but the blade was almost completely full.

I will be posting the completed knife when it is returned by Richard J.

 

[timsclips]

Sheath made by CJPGEYER here on the forums, was recommended by Richard J.

Left and Right views of the blade. Richard J is going to bead blast the blade next.

 

[HikingMano]

Wow, amazing transformation!:thumbup: Can't wait to see the final before and after pics.

 

[macgregor22]

Timsclips, I got to check out your knife yesterday.
It looks fantastic, amazing turn around.

 

[ron_m80]

Nice Richard.

 

[lava_lamp]

Nice work. Something weathered and useful is always more appealing to me than something bring new. It's like a new baseball glove or pair of dress shoes; they are better when broken in.

 

[richard j]

wait till you see the one i'm fixing up now. ever heard of a sheriff knife? its stamped solingen germany and is about 60?+ years old.

 

[Mack]

That looks great. After meeting Richard recently it is no surprise to me.

 

[deltablade]

really nice job