ODC
 

Old Dirty Carbon.
I stumbled across a couple of old Forgecraft knives at a garage sale and decided to refurbish them. I'm wanting to try my hand at making kitchen knives, so I thought this would be a good intro to the subject matter.
I'm really digging these knives, so I'll keep track of any others I pick up here, as well.

First up:
Late '60's 8" chef's knife and 8" butcher's knife.
These knives are high carbon, 1095 steel and seem to have garnered a cult following.
Both were in pretty rough shape. Handle scales busted and loose. Rust on the blade.

First, pop the handles off and soak in vinegar to dissolve the rust. I tried to sand these by hand, but it was taking forever, so off to the newly improved grinder.
Take both blades up to 400 grit on the belt, then off to hand sand up to 800 grit.

I've never worked with wood handles before, but was interested, so I went to my local Woodcraft store and picked up a piece of bocote (chef's knife) and a piece of curly eucalyptus (butcher's knife).

Brass pins, 3/16" diameter. Glue scales, shape, then, hand sand to 1000 grit.
3 coats of teak oil and a buffing with carnauba wax and this one is done.

A few more pics.
I mentioned my "improved" grinder. The platen that comes on this 2"x42" Craftsman belt grinder leaves much to be desired. It flexes when you put pressure on it, which means it's harder to get consistent grinds on both sides, as I don't press evenly with both hands yet.

So I sketched myself up a new design using some scrap I had around: 3/8" thick aluminum angle bracket, some 1/4" thick hot rolled steel, and a shower tile.
Put it all together and I've now got a super ridged platen!

That'll work until I build my 2"x72" grinder....

Very nice work..
I probably would have ended up with a couple tooth-picks?? :D

Thanks!
Wood definitely goes away much quicker on the grinder than I'm used to...this handle has a couple 'features' because of that :D