M3 restoration Progress

[Barryeye]

Gentlemen. Last month I told you of the bubbud M3 Kinfolk that I acquired. The cross guard was bent far out of shape. A leather washer was missing and had been replaced with a bit of rag .Perhaps most important of all the blade had been snapped and welded back together. The handle had been painted green and then black. The scabbard had been painted black and silver.
Well the knife cleaned up far better then I hoped. I carefully bent the cross guard back in to shape .Without removing the pommel I managed to slide in a tap washer above the cross guard and glued it closed. Then I shaped it with a file. The blade responded very well to steel wool and oil followed by some light polishing with some emery paper. As advised I used acetone on the handle to remove most of the paint. Careful scraping with a pocket knife and a little sanding got rid of most of the remaining paint. I used leather shoe dye to bring the handle back to a uniform colour and then fed the dry leather with a bees wax based product I have used before on old leather. The leather lapped it up and I had to feed it often over a number of nights. As the leather was nourished it expanded and compressed the tap washer. This will need to be reshaped again.
Then I got impatient and tried acetone on the scabbard. When that failed I used commercial paint stripper. Left it on for two minutes. As a result I may have ruined the scabbard. It has gone a pale green and a lot of canvas is showing. A coat of paint or two may help recover it but I don’t feel confidant. I should have listened to advice I was given on this forum. So now I am looking for an appropriate scabbard for it.
All in all I am very pleased with my US$16.00 purchase. I like to think that I have given this old relic back some of the dignity it deserves. It sure doesn’t look out of place with the other M3s in my collection.
Barry

[JohnMOhio]

Good job Barry!

[Guamsst]

Good job, not perfect but MUCH better than before and doesn't raise eyebrows at first glance.

[Guamsst]

Barry, It always gets worse before it gets better. But I think I passed that point already. I am trying to figure out how to replace the raised detail that was sanded away but I think I have that figured out. Here is what it lookslike right now. The brighter grey areas are where I am using model paint as filler to remove scratches, dents and dings. It also filled in the large crack to the front, near the tip and has fixed the areas where the threads were coming through. I think a 50/50 mix of WW2 OD green and Magpul OD green will make a perfect color match. The parker will be easy to replicate. The cloth actually cleaned up well with bead blasting. I never thought that would work.

Do these colors sound right to you, I am no expert on WW2 U.S. stuff. Green scabbard, parkerized metal at the throat. Semi gloss black over the brass rivets and the end tabs?

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3309.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3308.jpg

[Barryeye]

Hells Bells Guamsst are you sure that is my old scabbard? I had it marked down as a right off. What a brilliant job. As for colour, I think you are on the right track. The colour is I think the same as the later M8A1s that you have. You are doing a fine job and I am very grateful and pleasantly surprised. Thank you.

[Guamsst]

Hells Bells Guamsst are you sure that is my old scabbard?

Most of the problems were just tarnish and scratches. As Joe Dirt said "That $#@% will buff out" ;) I really think it will turn out pretty darned nice. I need to find my JB Weld to fill the hole for the leather thong so I can redrill it. Looks like it spent allot of time hanging from a nail or something. That hole is pretty chewed up.

The Later M8A1 scabbards were all green including the throat metal or atleast that's how the ones I have are colored. I found a pic of a near mint M8 and it seemed to be colored as I mentioned above.

[Barryeye]

I dug out one of my M4 bayonets. It is in a U.S.M8A1 scabbard. Acquired the bayonet less the scabbard. A mate gave me the scabbard later. I have no idea of its age. Looks unissued. The main body and throat are not the same colour. Throat looks like parkerised so I assume it is an early one. I have filmed it next to my best USM8 BMCO. The main body of the scabbard is perhaps a fraction darker than the M8A1. The throat appears “brown” could be oiled rust. It is after all it is close to 70 years old. All my M3s have been used. Some may even have seen action. I have no idea what the original throat finish was. Like you I am sure it was not green. Thanks again.

[Guamsst]

Well, I did what I could with the scabbard body and throat. Should I finish it or do you figure it's still a loss and needs to be tossed in the bin? The Parker grey is very dark but Parkerizing ranges from black to dark green so it looks alright I think. I need to wipe it down with gun oil to remove the adhesive from the tape still, then I will paint the tabs and rivets. If you right click and save the pics you can enlarge them a little bit.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3327.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3329.jpg

[Barryeye]

Only one picture came through but I am very very impressed. First class job. One of the best salvage jobs I have ever seen. I know that given time I might have been able to find another scabbard for it but I get a real sense of pleasure knowing that my abused M3 will again have the exact original scabbard it was issued with almost 70 years ago. Don’t you dare bin it. Thanks

[Guamsst]

Odd, it should show one pic of the front and one of the back. It shows both when I view it.

I will look for some green clothing dye. If I can find an appropriat color I will dye the hanger as well. I'm really starting to enjoy it now. It is a good feeling seeing something like this go from beat up to almost as new. I was surprised to have removed all traces of that crack on the front. It isn't perfect, but from what I have seen, the war time scabbards weren't they tend to show the weave of the mesh through the coating and paint as opposed to later ones that seem like perfectly smooth plastic instead of fiberglass.

Will post more pics when I finish the next step.

[Guamsst]

Well, I do believe I am about finished. I would still like to find a decent green dye fore the hangar. The plastic and metal are about as good as they are going to get though. It isn't perfect but it looks good from 3ft away and I did get rid of things like the initials and the crack near the tip. The hole in the tip is also closer to being round again.

Also, I believe the colors are lighter in person. It may just be my monitor but it looks dark in these pics but close to original colors in person.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3348.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/guamsst/DSCF3350.jpg

[Barryeye]

You know I am so looking forward to casually showing that knife and scabbard to the bloke who sold them to me for $20. Full credit will go to you and the advice I got from others on this forum. Thank you all.