Anyone have any experience with these knives? I had one given to me that is in need of restoration. It was made by Robeson (Suredge no20) most likely for WWII. It's missing the leather washers and pommel and the guard is not correct.

I've got an old Camillus Navy MK1 in great condition, but other than it being a good, solid knife, I couldn't tell ya much more. Cool project. If you need one to work off of, you can barrow mine.

Ok so the hardest part is attaching the pommel. Im not sure how it gets attached to your MK 1.
Is the tang pend over ? Is it riveted in place? Or worse....is it cast in place?

My first leather washer rebuild was a Cattaraugus 225Q. I did it back before I had a computer. So no photos.
The knife now resides on the wall in my dads workshop.
I bought shoe grade leather to make the washers and I made a die out of a brass, sink drain pipe.

Yes brass is soft for a cutting die but I actually used my vice (not a BFH) to push the die through the leather with a
solid piece of plastic backer ( old cutting board ).
The original washers where not round. So I oblonged my die. It is also a bit larger diameter.
After the washers where all cut I just punch out the tang hole with a basic leather hole punch.
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My second and yet to be completed knife has a screw on pommel. They are much easier to rebuild.

I also added some red paper shims. I got that material from Jantz. Its specifically for knives.

So Red shim, brass shim, red shim, aluminum shim, red shim, white polypro shim and red shim.
When all assembled I treated the leather with Sno-Seal All Season Leather Protector.
It is a bees wax based product.
There seams to be a bit of a controversy on how to treat leather knife handles, sheathes and holsters.
So do your own bit of research there.

Did you heat up the leather a little for the beeswax?

Oh Yes. Multiple times. With a heat gun
But the one in the photo is not done. I'm not very happy with how the guard turned out.
Got frustrated and put it on the shelf ....lol

excellent! Thanks for the tips!

I have a MK 1 knife that was my fathers. The markings are similar to the one in this link, but the handle on my knife is in much better condition. Let me know if you need any pictures.

http://www.quanonline.com/military/mili ... pal35.html

I was at my folks place this weekend so I took some photos of the Cattaraugus 225Q.