Restoring a Cattaraugus 225Q Knife from WWII
2022 ж. 31 Жел.
142 688 Рет қаралды
I picked up this WWII vintage Cattaraugus 225Q knife on a local auction for $14. Let's restore it to its former glory.
I picked up this WWII vintage Cattaraugus 225Q knife on a local auction for $14. Let's restore it to its former glory.
i like to see motivated people take something old and restore it. well done.
Finally restoration videos where the maker actually talks though the process. We need more of this on KZhead! Nice work
It seems to be a problem of content creators thinking everything need to be a type of "asmr" when it really has no reason to be. Its like a virus that has crept into many genres.
Wes, I have my Dad’s knife from WWII. It is still in good shape and has the original sheath. It may only be worth $20, but to me it’s priceless and I plan to pass it down to my grandson as a reminder of the greatest generation. Thanks for this video.
Worth a lot more than $20. I just read a great comment on the Ka-bar company story video. Guy was in Nam during the war working to recover his shot down helicopter in a river. He had a rope on him and was swept under the helicopter by the current. Before he drowned he pulled his knife from his hip, cut himself free and survived. Said that Ka-Bar knife will be buried with him.
Me too. My dad carried it in Africa then in to Europe. Has his name and serial number on the sheath.
Nice job Wes, beautiful knife, if that knife could talk! It's about the history. My dad was a Marine in WW II, growing up he always had a pocket knife in his pocket, his whole life. Almost every boy or grown man carried a pocket knife from that generation. I keep a Leatherman close by.
Collector value are increasing substantially, hold on to it!
The way I do my stacked leather handles...get a long 1/4-20 carriage bolt and a couple large fender washers and nut. Cut your leather disc's, punch center holes in them then soak in water. Stack the disc's onto the bolt with washers on each end and crank down as tight as you can. Sit it somewhere to dry for several days. Then remove from bolt and use as normal. This method takes a lot of guesswork out, as the disc's are already as compressed as they can be. It also reduces any issues of handle shrinking in the future and handle loosening. I usually finish by melting beeswax into the leather until it won't accept more, then buff.
Nice! It’s refreshing to see someone redo something their not satisfied with rather then messing with it until it’s worse and also making practical decisions based on the item, compared to the countless videos where people shine shit or try to make an heir loom out of a utilitarian product! Looking forward to see more, thanks for the content!
I absolutely agree. 💯
Finally someone that doesn't give in to the epoxi trend.
Right! Why waste the leather if you plan on turning it into a hard plastic handle anyway.
Natural leather has way better grip than epoxy and looks so much better
Pero de todas formas, arruino un cuchillo original! 🤦♂🤣🤣🤣
Stacked leather needs no epoxy.... I did one of these too.
So much more rewarding than fixing a ford , gm or mopar huh.
The end result turned out great. Being patient and willing to re-do something you're not happy with really pays off.
My father brought one of these home from Korea , I never found out how he got it but rumor was a Master Sargent from Iowa was going home from a bullet thru his love handle his second wound and dad and his tank hunter picked him up from the battlefield and drove him straight too the field hospital. Not sure if he was Jim Foot or my dads friend was Jim Foot but anyways that’s how I heard he received a WWII knife in Korea . I received it on dads passing . I loved it it would chop about anything stayed sharp and it had its original sheath . But I kept it in my garage on my work bench and well someone stole it . I was crushed so now I am searching for one that was as close to dads and make a new one ! I can’t find one and I can’t remember the makers name but it’s a much better knife then the one here . Maybe when I retire I’ll spend some time looking for that knife so I can remake it ! And pass it on too my son or make a few and pass them too all dads mine male children .? Lol reason too stay in the shed longer lol😅
I watched a lot of restoration videos on KZhead and the majority were hacks. You my friend have talent and did this knife justice. Love both your channels…some of the best on KZhead. Btw, think you would like the firearms channel, Anvil with Mr. Mark Novak. You remind me a lot of his style..do it right or don’t do it. Keep them coming please.
Gotta love Anvil!
One of those and an old tool box full of bayonets has been laying around our shop,for at least 60 years Now I have to dig them out and look Thank you for great video
I find this inspiring in a couple of ways. Not being afraid to redo something because it isn't right. It's easy to just say "good enough", but it takes dedication to make it just right. It's also inspiring to see someone who isn't ashamed of his vices and in fact, finds creative ways to make them work positively.......
Lol,I see what you did there.
More Wes is better than less Wes. It is always good to see a new video from Wes and now there is another channel. Thanks.
Wes...GREAT job!! I'm a self-confessed knife junkie too. Just a quick tip here...get two thin strips of rubber (can be very thin and still work) and put them between your blade and the Lansky clamp. The rubber will protect your blade from any scratches while sharpening.
I always learn something when I watch you work... thanks for the great content Wes
WOW….You absolutely brought that blade back to life….amazing job bro!
Some things are genuinely collectable, extremely rare, and should be restored to their virtually perfect condition to be shown off or wall-hung. Those things are NOT as much a connection to history (or family in such cases) as an item which is lovingly maintained through regular use and then restored once or twice in order to continue being used. That you decided to restore this for your own use is a fantastic connection to the history of such a knife.
225Q knife , very nice , just down then road from me . They also made K Bar knifes for the military during WWII , The other big maker of military knifes was Ontario Knife , , Olean NY . They still make knifes for the military . I have several among my collection. They also own CUTCO knife , They make IMO one of the best set of Kitchen knifes , life guarantee and free sharpening all you pay is postage .great video , knife looks great , stay safe be well Bob k
I’ve got my Dad’s he carried in WWII. It’s probably 90% clean with the original sheath.
Hi Wes, I am from Cattaraugus, New York . Graduated in 1983 and remember the factory. It is now just a museum at the top of Main Street. Thank you for sharing. My family has been there for about 200 + years.
00:26, I think that knife looks just great as it is right now. As I look at the knife it tells a story many stories in fact
One of the best looking leather stacked handles I’ve seen. Great work
The first handle failed because the water expanded washers, drying shrunk them. Fantastic job fixing the issue. Excellent end product. I'd trust it in the field.
I have one of these knives with the original sheath. I found it in my 93 year old father-in-law's garage. The knife is in near perfect condition. I removed some of the rust from the pommel and guard, otherwise it is shiny and sharp.
My dad had one most of his life. When he passed my oldest brother got it. It is to me the perfect camp/hunting knive. It hold an edge well. In my youth we used it for everything. If I could I would have one for every car or truck I own. I learned to use it young and it just a great knive
Left this off. My dad got his as a boy as a boy scout kit knife. Great way to get rid of surplus blades
Reminds me of my grandfather’s knife. His was from ww2 to. He also had a ww1 as well both I have now. I hurt with the ww1 one great knife.
You did it the way it should be done. I think you could put in a museum now if you wanted to. Great work.
I'd be a happy man if I had just half the knowledge you have Wes, there's nothing you can't repair.
Wes, you did the workers at the Cattaraugus factory proud..
Nice! Always like second channels, I feel like I learn about a whole side of the person I couldnt have imagined before
I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video and the fact you will use your knife. I don't have any military knives. However, I do have a "Boy Scouts of Canada" knife made in England that my father had for many years before he joined the RCMP on his 21st birthday, which happened to be the day (Sept. 1939) Canada declared war on Germany. I still use the knife and the construction is very similar to yours. I've only made a new sheath.
Wes, thanks for the heads up on this new channel, it's nice to see what you're into when there's no rusty old junk involved, or did I speak to soon.
"The Bridge on the River Kwai." How very clever of you. Fantastic video! I enjoyed very much. Now, on to the next one.
"Let's just do it. I'm never going to be happy with the way it is". Great attitude and I respect you for having it.
Beautiful! I'm 2 mins in. Locally it's CAT - ER- AU- GUS. It was actually in a place called "Little Valley". The Case brothers worked there then eventually moved to Bradford PA. The favorite knife in this style was made 40 minutes down the road in Olean ( figure out how they say that) at a company named Ka-Bar. Love old knives.
Also the "Cutco" brand kitchen knives are from one of the factories there; top grade knives worth their price. I had friends in West Valley (RIP) so I know how to pronounce Olean 😁 which is the Catteraugus county seat. Somewhere I still have a Loonie I picked up while visiting E-Ville last time I was up that way 😊
@@P_RO_ yes, Cutco is in Oh-lee-anne. East side. Cutco now owns KaBar as well. Actually Little Valley is the county seat. At the time it was a larger community. They often chose a more central hamlet for the county seat. Little Valley now (other than private homes) is mainly the Government offices, a Fairgrounds and a Lumber store.
Beautiful finished product. Simple, yet functional sheath, and a usable edge on the blade. Overall a very good restoration. I can understand being irritated by having to redo the handle, but that's natural. Sometimes we have to try again. Good work.
After seeing this I got a Romanian surplus combat Knife and got her all fixed up. Thanks for the inspiration :)
I have one of these that my grandfather refit a handle for in ww2 using Pieces from .50 cal shells and epoxy One of my prized possessions
A rather unique way to honor those who served!
When i was a kid i broke my 225q off at the guard. The small town I lived in still had a blacksmith. He took it apart welded it together and i still have that knife
Wes, I’ve never posted a comment in KZhead but your restoration of this knife touched my heart. Dad was a bomber pilot during the war in Alaska. I pulled out his old knife only to find it was a 225Q in the original sheath with his name and rank embossed on it. Thanks for paying homage to all the old World War II veterans. Good work.
You can't hide out of your fans Wes, we will chase you donwn! great job
Outstanding referb job. I’ve found with my Lansky the angles actually come out 4deg less than what’s stamped into the fixture. I measured my angles on a optical comparator at work, I sharpened on the 20deg slot, it actually measured 16deg. Something to keep in mind.
The angle is totally dependant on the width of the blade and the position you clamp it in.
Looks good. I got a Kabar 1237 at a garage sale for $5. Best garage sale find I've ever made. It didn't even need restoration. Just cleaning, sharpening, and a bit of restitching on the sheath.
*_I have watched many of this kind videos but honestly this one was more perfect and in detail_*
More Wes? More YES!
Nicely done Wes. Thanks for the video 🐾🍺
Excellent handle. One functional workaday military knife successfully restored to peaceful modern usage. As a first restoration video, I think that's pretty damn decent.
My Dads knife he carried in WWll for the Navy is a good candidate, now that I know how to disassemble one 😃😉👍
The same excellent workmanship I expect from Wes.................Jay
Awesome job Wess the old timers would be proud. God bless
You just made me watch a half hour knife rebuild video which I had no intention of watching. Well done.
Can't wait for the next project!
THe first handle build looked great. The second attempt was a piece of art, well done. I have two WWII KaBars one was my Dad's one was my Uncles, I never considered redoing them.
Finally , a craftsman who does things the old fashion way.
Dude, you killed it on this restoration, well done. Not only did I learn about the knife restoration (I'll be working on a USM4) but I also learned a little more about leatherwork, and to top it off, I found out Lansky makes a stand for my sharpening system! Who knew?
Great job refurbishing! You have the patience and the skills! Glad, but sorry you had to go to all the trouble to set up an additional channel, just to show different content. Don't understand KZhead, except I have no doubt it's about the money. I'll keep watching.
I like this other channel, keep up the more off topic kind of videos please. The sheath and knife both look like they came out nice.
I found one of these thrown away on a street corner. My Cattaraugus needs a little work and thanks to your video, I know how! Thank you!
What a good vid. I've been working on restoring my Grandpa's Cattaraugus knife. I got intimidated when I couldn't discern how to remove the pommel. You have showed me how and now I'm making progress. Thank you 🙏
Oh boy, when I saw you wetting the leather before you put the pieces on the handle, I thought you were gonna have trouble because if they dry in the wrong shape, they will be in the wrong shape forever. When you redid the handle, you really did a nice job. When I saw you making the sheath, I recognized you were very experienced and did an excellent job.
Im always willing to try a new content provider. Im sure this young man’s productions will grow and grow. I haven’t watched yet, but it I hope it has a pup called Max
Boy did you just reactivate some very old memories. I had a knife very much like that which my father got for me when I was about 13 and a boy scout when we lived on Guam. Think 1958-59. I took it with me on camping trips, snorkeling, you name it. I was even pretty good at throwing it for a while. I now wish I had kept it or at least kept up with it. I can assure you it never looked as good as the one you presented even before the restoration.
I own over 100 military knives mostly from ww2. This is my favorite knife as far as personal use goes and just so happens to be one of the least expensive
Did great. A tip for when you're stacking the leather, wet them all (maybe you did and I didn't notice?) and when you press them they'll really fuse well, just make sure you let the wad dry out before you go further. Also, some people (unless you're truly sticking to the old methods) will saturate each leather disc with epoxy before stacking them as an alternative to leather. Finished piece looks incredible. But you're looks gorgeous too, so great work.
Well Wes, now we know how you avoid involvement in hospital based T.V. dramas. Nice work Sir, thanks for sharing the "other side" of Wes..
VERY NICE complete overhaul. I have one of these knives. Got it from my pappy in 1962. No sheath, unfortunately. I didn't take it apart like you did, but I did give it a nice, 21-degree edge on a Work Sharp sharpener. It looks pretty much the same it it always has, but now it cuts off arm hair and slices through paper. Seriously sharp.
I grew up where that knife was made. Thanks for showing the restoration.
Nice channel, like it. This is what the current generation lacks, the knowledge, desire and work ethic to take something warn out and old and make it new again. I still have US Military folding shovels that were my dads, I’m 66 now so there older than I am? Excellent job.
I thought the leather would act exactly how you described too. Then in my mind I was thinking just to use linseed oil, but you did.. and it did nothing 😂 that's weird for sure. But I love how it all turned out. Good job
I love restoring old tools and knives. New steel just don't have the same kinda energy in it. Especially after someone invests the time it takes to restore them. Most people probably won't understand that and often thinks it a waste of time when you could just buy something new.. And that's alright, it makes such things available to people that do appreciate the history of them. Manu people who do such restorations just set their old tools on a shelf or in a box and forget about them. Not me, I like to put them back to work at least once and some end up being my go to tools because they actually function better than their modern-day interpretations. Your knife turned out great, it's a beautiful knife once again.
I love when "to make it right, you need to do it twice"! Happy to have just found the second channel. Well done, Wes!!
Beautiful restoration and I love my Lansky Sharpening System.
You did a great job. You kept it as original as possible and it now is a usable knife. I'm glad you redid the handle, you weren't happy with the first attempt, so you redid it till you liked it. It's a beautiful handle.
What a GREAT blade and restoration!
Typical Wes, taking it to the next level. Outstanding job, as usual.
A superb job, that 80 year old knife will last another 80 now. I'm certain!
Beautiful restoration my friend Very nice work
Wow!!! Beautiful knife, loved the finished knife. Amazing start to finish results. Grew up in Western NY, nice seeing something from my home town area. You would pronounce the word Catt-a-raw-gus. Drop the u and replace it with a w(for pronunciation purposes). Great video, love the second channel
Really enjoying the content of this second channel. Some of our interest are the same. I have a Navy issued K-Bar from WW-II ( or so I was told by my uncle who served in WW-II).
That came out excellent I am a big fan of the ww2 cattuaraugus fighting knife. I've restored 13 of them so far. That is a amazing finish of the knife an sheath.
Very interesting Wes. I learned several things by watching. Thanks for taking the time to share. Deb
I don’t know who you are or how I came across your video as I don’t know much about knives, don’t follow historical restoration, etc…. but DAMN that was so informative, interesting, and relaxing to watch! You have a very soothing speaking voice and though it seems off the cuff, your conversation is relatable and relevant. Thanks for the entertainment and education this evening! I’m a new follower!
Wes you are a man of many talents.
Took me a few minutes to figure out. I was like, is that Wes................? Nice work, I expected no less from you. 👍
Beautiful, a restored, with love, a treasure from the past and a reminder of all who sacrificed.
Wes, this was an excellent video-WOW!
Nicely done, restored enough to proud of it and not so perfect so you feel comfortable using it. Its a tool meant to be used. I like it. I suspect my dad could school us in the use of it, if he were here to instruct us.
The ones we got our hands on were surplus overruns, most never made it over seas, they languished in warehouses until found and sold off as war surplus. I have one, had it since I was a kid. My dad got it for me when I was young, used it in the Boy Scouts to hunting trips and camping. Just an all around great knife. However, mine is getting to the point of needed refurbshment as well. Thanks for the video.
Wes, It never seises to amaze me about peoples skills AND the tools they havbe hidden in their shops. Nice work!
I did not expect the quality job you did on the sheath, including the sewing work! Absolutely top class work Wes.
Great job on this knife and sheath. I have a similar knife my dad had when he spent several years on Kodiak Island. It’s been modified with a plexiglass handle and ivory pommel and tang. He also made a sheath from leather and engraved aluminum skin from an aircraft.needless to say it is a prized possession.
Good going west your kind of a jack-of-all-trades and I'm proud of you
wow i thought it was a super young man/teenager based on the voice then realized it was an older gentleman with a beard at the end. great video awesome job! really enjoyed this video thank you sir.
Dude, you did an amazing job!!! I love your leather skills!!! What can't you do??
You made the right call on the handle. The second effort is amazing. Digging the content over here. Good different.
We do it right cuz we do it twice 🤣😂 great restoration and video Wes!
That came out great! I like to put wax on the inside of the sheath before sewing together so moisture doesn't stay in the leather and cause rust. Chrome tanned leather has salts in it also. Good job.
Thanks Wes, really enjoyed this. Thanks for the second channel.
Wow a man of many talents, stunning work fella, well done..
WHAT you mean you don't fix vehicles 24hrs a day. All kidding aside. Nice job on the knife, probably the best stacked leather handle restore on KZhead.