Petty's Celebrated - shear steel butcher's knife

[kwakster]

Another thrift shop find is this old butcher's knife, made by John Petty & Sons Ltd in Sheffield.
The blade is most likely shear steel, and the plan is to make the knife at least functional again.













(more pics later)

 

[kwakster]

Handle disassembled:



Active (red) rust removal by using an electrolytical process:



Afterwards:

 

[-ItsJustMe-]

I think you're very lucky that the rust below the handles still left some metal, and didn't leave just a big hole.
Have fun with the restauration.
Exited to see the final result!

 

[herbert]

Same here! I think such knives are worth the effort.
Keep us updated, please!

 

[kwakster]

This is how the blade looks now, as for me this is a more useful blade shape.
I'm also starting to think the metal isn't shear steel but instead double shear steel.

 

[kwakster]

After hand regrinding up to 400 grit wet & dry. (burr is still attached)
To optimize cutting performance the blade now has a full convex shape with long swedge & an edge angle at ~20 degrees inclusive.

 

[kwakster]

Tidbit of info: It seems that the knife was made before 1888, as in that year the trademark was changed by removing the line under the barrel.

 

[boogerbrain]

... more, please ...??

 

[kwakster]

Update:

I still have to make a new handle for it, but at the moment i'm unable to do that.
A few years ago i won the jackpot regarding eye problems, and as a result my sight has deteriorated quite a bit.

 

[boogerbrain]

Whoa ... that doesn't sound nice ... :-(

Keep my fingers crossed for you.