USMC Ka Bar questions

McClellan Made Blades

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys,
I have a vintage Marine Corp Ka bar, I bought it in 1984. It is a bit rough looking. I want to refurbish it...not back to original, but with my own flare. I need to dismantle the pommle and guard. Anyone have any idea how to remove the pommle? The guard I'm sure is probably set in not secured, it's pretty loose. This is more a nostalgia piece for myself, not to mention, I think it would be pretty cool to see a Ka Bar thats been customized...provided I can pull it off like I want to. This baby has been abused for years, it was actually lost in the pasture for like 3 years, the leather washers are rotten, from my use in the corps, the guard (which is flimsy) is bent up pretty good, and the tip is broken off. I will to anneal it, regrind the tip keeping the original shape, re-heat treat it and attempt to get a hamon line on it. I carried this knife al over, from Bridgeport , Cali., Okinawa and Mt Fuji Japan, all over Norway. So I really want this one to be a family heirloom, as I'll pass this one down to my son...one day. Thanks for all who chime in, Rex
 
I've never taken one apart but I still have mine from Nam days. I would say if you took what's left of the washers off you might be able to see how the pommel is attached and go from there.
 
It's not easy. I gave up trying to remove the pommel and refurbish one. The tang and pommel are extremely hard and I guess the tang is peened.
I'd like to know if it can be done also.
 
USMC Ka Bar Question

Well, I went ahead and started working on getting the leather washers off, it was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be, but once I got all the way through to the tang they just fell off. One disappointment was finding 2 "keeper" washers made of plastic behind the guard and in front of the pommle. I just didn't think they would use plastic on these. Anyway, once I got all that off it was clear that the tang was attached inside the pommle. Since I'm going to make it a hidden tang I went ahead and cut the pommle off. Problem solved. The guard is pretty beat up, I may make anotherone for it ( much beefier) or I may straighten that one out and use it, not sure yet. It's in the kiln now cooling s l o w l y. I heated it to non-magnetic, checked it with a magnet, then put it back in the kiln cut it off and left it to cool. I have a customers order to finish, hopefully tomorrow. The I'll devote all my attention to the Ka-Bar, if I can figure it out, I'll post pics when I get done. It's seriously pitted, I know I mentioned that it was in the pasture (lost) for 3 years, it was more like 6 or 7 years, my son just lucked up and found out playing.

GREAT to another DEVIL DOG on here, and a Nam vet no less. My hats off to you sir, and I have to give you a heart felt THANK YOU. As a Marine or any other service man, the commander in chief tells us what to do, and we do it, we don't ask questions, we don't waiver. We get our mission and we accomplish our mission, no matter if we agree or disagree, that concept is so hard for so many people to understand. But that is the way it is-period. Semper Fi BROTHER

I'll keep you all posted on my progress, Rex
 
Well, I went ahead and started working on getting the leather washers off, it was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be, but once I got all the way through to the tang they just fell off. One disappointment was finding 2 "keeper" washers made of plastic behind the guard and in front of the pommle. I just didn't think they would use plastic on these. Anyway, once I got all that off it was clear that the tang was attached inside the pommle. Since I'm going to make it a hidden tang I went ahead and cut the pommle off. Problem solved. The guard is pretty beat up, I may make anotherone for it ( much beefier) or I may straighten that one out and use it, not sure yet. It's in the kiln now cooling s l o w l y. I heated it to non-magnetic, checked it with a magnet, then put it back in the kiln cut it off and left it to cool. I have a customers order to finish, hopefully tomorrow. The I'll devote all my attention to the Ka-Bar, if I can figure it out, I'll post pics when I get done. It's seriously pitted, I know I mentioned that it was in the pasture (lost) for 3 years, it was more like 6 or 7 years, my son just lucked up and found out playing.

GREAT to another DEVIL DOG on here, and a Nam vet no less. My hats off to you sir, and I have to give you a heart felt THANK YOU. As a Marine or any other service man, the commander in chief tells us what to do, and we do it, we don't ask questions, we don't waiver. We get our mission and we accomplish our mission, no matter if we agree or disagree, that concept is so hard for so many people to understand. But that is the way it is-period. Semper Fi BROTHER

I'll keep you all posted on my progress, Rex
How was the Pommel attached to the Tang?
 
Ka Bar rebuild

[[SIZE="4" said:
FONT="Arial Narrow"]Wolfe;26657]How was the Pommel attached to the Tang?


The pommle has the tang in it, there were no signs of how it was attached, my guess is it was attached with some sort of adhesive. I hammered on it, gently, and it would not move. There is a chance it was peened, and done so well I can't see the pin. Cutting it off was my only alternative. I've thought about doing a through tang and threading it and tapping the pommle to keep it. But that would hinder my fun, I love shaping the handles with lots of curves. Of course keeping the ergonomics to fit the hand comfortably. Wish I had more answers, but once I got into it and saw nothing showing how it was attached, I cut it off. It's annealed now, but I still need to finish a knife for a customer, once I get it in the kiln I 'll get to work on it. It IS EXCITING!!! Thanks for the interest, Rex
[/FONT[/SIZE]]
 


The pommle has the tang in it, there were no signs of how it was attached, my guess is it was attached with some sort of adhesive. I hammered on it, gently, and it would not move. There is a chance it was peened, and done so well I can't see the pin. Cutting it off was my only alternative. I've thought about doing a through tang and threading it and tapping the pommle to keep it. But that would hinder my fun, I love shaping the handles with lots of curves. Of course keeping the ergonomics to fit the hand comfortably. Wish I had more answers, but once I got into it and saw nothing showing how it was attached, I cut it off. It's annealed now, but I still need to finish a knife for a customer, once I get it in the kiln I 'll get to work on it. It IS EXCITING!!! Thanks for the interest, Rex[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT[/SIZE]]
OK. Thought you might have found the secret. Doubt there was adhesive or a pin. Pommel might have been put on Hot and hit or something. I'm sure someone knows.
 
The early Ka-Bar pommels were peened on and is easily seen on the end of the pommel. The later ones had a steel pin driven part way through the tang and then ground off. You can't usually see the pin, at least on the ones I've seen.
 
Well, I went ahead and started working on getting the leather washers off, it was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be, but once I got all the way through to the tang they just fell off. One disappointment was finding 2 "keeper" washers made of plastic behind the guard and in front of the pommle. I just didn't think they would use plastic on these. Anyway, once I got all that off it was clear that the tang was attached inside the pommle. Since I'm going to make it a hidden tang I went ahead and cut the pommle off. Problem solved. The guard is pretty beat up, I may make anotherone for it ( much beefier) or I may straighten that one out and use it, not sure yet. It's in the kiln now cooling s l o w l y. I heated it to non-magnetic, checked it with a magnet, then put it back in the kiln cut it off and left it to cool. I have a customers order to finish, hopefully tomorrow. The I'll devote all my attention to the Ka-Bar, if I can figure it out, I'll post pics when I get done. It's seriously pitted, I know I mentioned that it was in the pasture (lost) for 3 years, it was more like 6 or 7 years, my son just lucked up and found out playing.

GREAT to another DEVIL DOG on here, and a Nam vet no less. My hats off to you sir, and I have to give you a heart felt THANK YOU. As a Marine or any other service man, the commander in chief tells us what to do, and we do it, we don't ask questions, we don't waiver. We get our mission and we accomplish our mission, no matter if we agree or disagree, that concept is so hard for so many people to understand. But that is the way it is-period. Semper Fi BROTHER

I'll keep you all posted on my progress, Rex

Have it done for our birthday...tomorrow????
Semper Fi.
 
How was the Pommel attached to the Tang?


Wolfe,
The best I can tell is the tang is inside the pommle, it maybe force wedged, it could be some sort of adhesive, I honestly could not see anything that would tell me the "how" it's attached, I tried hammering on it, although not very hard. I gave it a few wacks, and it didn't budge. I really don't know much more about how it's attached now than when it was still attached. I thought about cutting the pommle in half to see what was holding it, but I'm may incorporate it back into it. I haven't sat down and drawn the design I want to accomplish yet. The knife I've been working on hit some snafuu's, and is taking me longer than I expected. No...I'm still not done with it. I'm not a production guy, I take my time as I enjoy all the work I do...except when frustration kicks in and I figure out I didn't do something quite right. Then not so fun, but I embrace the challenge, figuring out what went wrong is more satisfying than enjoying what went right!!!
Thanks for the inquiry, I'll keep yall posted, Rex
 



Wolfe,
The best I can tell is the tang is inside the pommle, it maybe force wedged, it could be some sort of adhesive, I honestly could not see anything that would tell me the "how" it's attached, I tried hammering on it, although not very hard. I gave it a few wacks, and it didn't budge. I really don't know much more about how it's attached now than when it was still attached. I thought about cutting the pommle in half to see what was holding it, but I'm may incorporate it back into it. I haven't sat down and drawn the design I want to accomplish yet. The knife I've been working on hit some snafuu's, and is taking me longer than I expected. No...I'm still not done with it. I'm not a production guy, I take my time as I enjoy all the work I do...except when frustration kicks in and I figure out I didn't do something quite right. Then not so fun, but I embrace the challenge, figuring out what went wrong is more satisfying than enjoying what went right!!!
Thanks for the inquiry, I'll keep yall posted, Rex
Well I really wacked mine and also heated it up good and still couldn't get it to budge. I could have cut the pommel I guess, but I was trying to just disassemble it and not damage it. Don't believe it was made to take apart. I think it was swaged on to stay put.
 
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