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Sad tale of Sabatier abuse, abandoned Alligator, Help wanted,

I offered a now former 40+ year old friend my house in Palm Springs for a few weeks as he and his wife were going to be between homes.
For my generosity they pretty much destroyed the place, broke lamps and vases, poured kool-aid on the carpets, drank all my booze, used all my personal products, brought in un-housebroken pets etc. Real classy activity. There was a LIVE ALLIGATOR in my Garage when I came back to throw them out after 3 months. You can't make this stuff up.

Here's what they did to some of my vintage carbon Sabatiers:
$2012-04-17_08-43-56_530.jpg


Yeah, these obviously go in the dishwasher.

So I was thinking with all the straight restorations going on here, there might be someone that I could compensate to bring these back to life.
They need serious help. New wood, rivets and polishing.

Anyone have the time and inclination and an idea of cost to fix this tiny part of the mess?

I thought about posting this in the straight resto forum, but realized it belongs here. Please spread the word on this post to someone you know that might be able to help.

Cheers,
Ray
 
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Geez, what a friend. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I guess if your friend lives his life like that, there's a reason why he was going to be homeless.
 
Sorry for your situation and the blades too! Going to follow this thread, as I have the mid-sized Sabatier chef's knife, but in stainless steel. It is in need of a new handle, and a professional sharpening. I have scale material, and the rivets...was going to attempt myself but wanted to look for someone on here first, due to the fantastic workmanship on display throughout. Good Luck
 
I have two carbon Sabatier and two stainless Sabatier kitchen knives. There are Sabatier kitchen knife lovers who post on Fred's Cutlery Forum (Foodie Forums). They may have good advise for restoring your poor knives to good health.

HTH
 
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I'm really sorry about this. Just one thing, is the alligator away? If it isn't, it'd be interesting to phone a zoo or whoever deals with this animals.
 
I offered a now former 40+ year old friend my house in Palm Springs for a few weeks as he and his wife were going to be between homes.
For my generosity they pretty much destroyed the place, broke lamps and vases, poured kool-aid on the carpets, drank all my booze, used all my personal products, brought in un-housebroken pets etc. Real classy activity. There was a LIVE ALLIGATOR in my Garage when I came back to throw them out after 3 months. You can't make this stuff up.

Here's what they did to some of my vintage carbon Sabatiers:
View attachment 236749


Yeah, these obviously go in the dishwasher.

So I was thinking with all the straight restorations going on here, there might be someone that I could compensate to bring these back to life.
They need serious help. New wood, rivets and polishing.

Anyone have the time and inclination and an idea of cost to fix this tiny part of the mess?

I thought about posting this in the straight resto forum, but realized it belongs here. Please spread the word on this post to someone you know that might be able to help.

Cheers,
Ray
Yeah I had rented my house to a friend and her two girls and next thing I knew there were 8 people livong there. I had just put in mew carpet and tile. No you can't make this stuff up and fact is always stranger than fiction.
 
He came and got the alligator after a week. He left my garage half full of old refrigerators and useless crap. Then 9 months later he called and wanted to pick up the refrigerators. I couldn't stop laughing. I of course called the Goodwill after a month. Never offered to clean, replace, fix anything. Wouldn't do it when I asked. Number blocked.
 
Sorry to hear about your mis-adventures in house-sitting ... too bad that after knowing this guy for 40+ years that he would pull something like this and leave you to clean up the mess.

I don't blame you one bit for donating those old refrigerators to Goodwill. I would have done the same thing. And what were the fridges doing there in the first place? Does he collect vintage ice-boxes like we collect razors and brushes and soaps? There are people that have some strange hobbies (including Yours Truly) and I wouldn't be surprised if your ex-friend was into it just for the collectible value. In fact, I may be upgrading my kitchen this year, so if your ex-friend is interested, I have an 18cu.ft. GE that will be available to him at a fair price. Once I get his money, I might go get some Sabatier knives myself.

As for the knives that he ruined, don't wait to find someone to do the restoration for you. At a bare minimum, get the rust off the blades using oil or some other chemical. If it sits too long, it could eat up enough metal that the knives will be ruined and you will never be able to restore them. The handles and rivets can wait, but do what you can right now to save the blades.
 
The most generous of us are always the ones being taken to the cleaners. Sorry to see such nice pieces in that condition. Good luck restoring. Hope the experience doesn't sour you too much to offering your generosity the next time it may be needed (for someone other than that guy of course).
 
He's 40+, a former friend of 6 years, not 40. They weren't collectable refrigerators, just 10 year old beat up low end crap.

I guess some mineral oil wouldn't hurt at this point!
 
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