Sidearms & Scatterguns Puma Solingen Knife restoration?
- Thread starter TripleOrNothing
- Start date
I don't see anything that needs to be restored. I'm looking at the tip and looks like it might be rounded. If so that is an easy fix. I wouldn't try to polish out the staining. It's just honest wear and tear. If you try to polish it out you will loose the crisp edges of the blood grooves and the top of the edge grind.
I'm pretty sure it's a through tang design. As such the foot long blade can put a lot of stress at the intersection of the shoulders of the blade and the tang. Use with some allowance for this.
I'm pretty sure it's a through tang design. As such the foot long blade can put a lot of stress at the intersection of the shoulders of the blade and the tang. Use with some allowance for this.
Oil it and leave it alone. Better to maintain the patina than ruin the knife.
There is definitely some pitting in there, but as said above, trying to remove it will round off all the lines and really ruin the knife. One of the nice things about real Soligen steel, whether on that Bowie or on old carving sets, is that it developed character after a few decades. That blade has amazing character and perfect aging. And it’s real antler... where a lot of the cheap ones had cheap plastic antler... to quote the crocodile guy... “this is a knife.”
Though a heavily mass-produced knife, those original 60s and 70s Pumas are fairly rare in un-messed-up condition. So many have been butchered, ground, rusted, and otherwise abused... that is a lovely user right there. And looks just like it should.
put a razor edge on it and use it for another 100 years!
if you are going to store it in the sheath, oil it, put some vapor paper around the blade as a sleeve before putting it in. That will arrest further staining and rusting.
beautiful blade! Thanks for sharing and posting!
Sirhr
Though a heavily mass-produced knife, those original 60s and 70s Pumas are fairly rare in un-messed-up condition. So many have been butchered, ground, rusted, and otherwise abused... that is a lovely user right there. And looks just like it should.
put a razor edge on it and use it for another 100 years!
if you are going to store it in the sheath, oil it, put some vapor paper around the blade as a sleeve before putting it in. That will arrest further staining and rusting.
beautiful blade! Thanks for sharing and posting!
Sirhr
You might want to do some more research on that blade or post it here:
https://classicpumaknives.com/?p=2901
It really interested me, so I did a bit of digging around and it looks like it fits in several categories under the (ever-evolving) Puma catalog. Sometimes described as a Scout, sometimes as a Bowie and even in some posts as a Fahrtenmesser (sort of a do-all).
But your blade shape and features may make it a really early one, possibly in the 1950's. Pre-64, like Winchesters, seems to be a landmark year for Puma as well.
The only one I found with the 'exact' shape as yours sold on a knife traders site for $565 a couple of years ago. They are valuable knives!
So do some research. Would love to find out what you discover!
Cheers,
Sirhr
Awesome. Thanks. My father in law got it many moons ago while he was in Europe. I will let you know what I find out. He seemed to think it was a Fahrtenmesser.
If he bought it Europe, that would be about right. The name/use was that it was sort of a camping utility knife that could do everything from chop wood to carve up dinner to... whatever. Fahrtenmesser is just a generic term. Direct translate is sheath knife or 'case knife.'
But that big blade style is still popular with German campers. When I was motorcycling up in Norway a few years ago, lots of the Germans with their little campers had huge blades as part of their cooking, fire-starting, tent-peg-making, looking all outdoorsy attire. Germany bans everything fun, but I think these are just considered too big to be anything but camping implements. Or they just don't care.
Cheers,
I did the same thing earlier - searched for that style Puma. I don’t know if I’ve seen one before.
Oil and luck are your friend. Your Puma never dated with a grinder - congrats.
I’d be hesitant to sharpen it, while it won’t hurt anything, grab something else if you need to cut something.
That is a beautiful hog sticker - makes me want to hunt for one.
Oil and luck are your friend. Your Puma never dated with a grinder - congrats.
I’d be hesitant to sharpen it, while it won’t hurt anything, grab something else if you need to cut something.
That is a beautiful hog sticker - makes me want to hunt for one.
I saw that while I was looking for information, but it looks to me like someone sanded and polished the blade. Look at the rounded edges, lack of definition. I think it's been buffed half-to-death. Also note that the blade seems to be a bit deeper and have more rounded cutting edge than yours. Yours seems to have a back edge and a cutting edge that are perfectly parallel. The one in the video has a sweep to it.
But there were a ton of different variations on the theme from what I could see. If you post at that Puma collectors site, they will have a perfect response for you.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Update** this is the email I received from the website linked.
Your 12” knife is known as a Scout Knife. This style of knife was popular with Campers and
the Boy Scouts. The Germans refer to them as Fahrtenmessers ( Traveling Knives ) and
Sportsmessers.
The Model 6320 Scout came in various blade lengths. 6”, 7” , 8” 10” and 12”. The 7”
and 12” are not seen that often.
Scouts have a following among collectors but they are not as big or popular as the Hunting Models do.
The condition of your knife is fair to good. Cosmetically, it could stand some polishing.
The problem with polishing is that there is a thin chromium layer which usually gets
worn away with an over aggressive polish. There is some indication in the photos that rust and corrosion
may have gone through the Chromium. You must be careful.
Your knife also lacks the orginal sheath which would add much value if you do have it and
it is in excellent condition.
As to value, that is hard to say. If I was to hazard a guess, in the current conditions of the
economy and the virus, I would say a high retail value would be $300-350 to the right buyer.
If it were a perfect knife with sheath, I would say $400-$450.
I have a website where I take items on consignment and sell them for the owners. If you
have interest in exposing it to some collectors, please let me know.
Your 12” knife is known as a Scout Knife. This style of knife was popular with Campers and
the Boy Scouts. The Germans refer to them as Fahrtenmessers ( Traveling Knives ) and
Sportsmessers.
The Model 6320 Scout came in various blade lengths. 6”, 7” , 8” 10” and 12”. The 7”
and 12” are not seen that often.
Scouts have a following among collectors but they are not as big or popular as the Hunting Models do.
The condition of your knife is fair to good. Cosmetically, it could stand some polishing.
The problem with polishing is that there is a thin chromium layer which usually gets
worn away with an over aggressive polish. There is some indication in the photos that rust and corrosion
may have gone through the Chromium. You must be careful.
Your knife also lacks the orginal sheath which would add much value if you do have it and
it is in excellent condition.
As to value, that is hard to say. If I was to hazard a guess, in the current conditions of the
economy and the virus, I would say a high retail value would be $300-350 to the right buyer.
If it were a perfect knife with sheath, I would say $400-$450.
I have a website where I take items on consignment and sell them for the owners. If you
have interest in exposing it to some collectors, please let me know.
