Thread: Knife guards

Hope you guys dont mind me asking this question here, I thought you guys would be the best ones to ask.
My Dad asked me to fix this set for him. They were a wedding present and after many years of abuse they are in desperate need of repair.
I'm half way through making new handles from red cedar burl and thats going well, but it's the guards that are going to look crappy when its all finished. Do any of you guys have any suggestions on how I can make them look a little more presentable? I can just give them a clean and put them back on but I thought I'd get some expert opinions first.
They seem to be plated, so I guess sanding is out.
Thanks
Grant

They do look plated and you really can't even polish out those bumps in the plating.

My best suggestion would be to find a local electroplater and have them re-done. They look like they would be hard to reproduce in detail to the originals, and the form of these is quite nice.

I hope that helps.

Will N.

I've sanded chrome (that crap is hard!) off small parts and used cold blueing on them. If you have access to someone with a sandblaster would be handy. Yep, same stuff you use on guns.

Hi Grant,
not much help with the guards, sorry. Me - i'd just try a light buff and see how they go with that. i restored an old Wade and Butcher Bowie i found at Mum's last year. Used to be my Grandfather's - i removed the guard and buffed it and it came up great; much better than expected. Maybe i was just lucky?
Red cedar burl sounds great. Did you get it in Aus? What finish will you use on it? Don't forget to post pics please.
All the best.