Wade and Butcher FBU/What the hell caused that wear pattern?

One thing this blade has going for it is it has far and away the nicest tail design for control I have ever seen on a butcher.

[As quoted and subsequently deleted by mistake]That shoulder line and tapered angle on the shank seem pretty consistent IMO, leading me to think that these were done at the factory. So I still think it was a factory second, bought by someone on the cheap. Whoever put the third pin's hole as it is would seem to have been a novice, as it should have been closer to the shoulder. New on the job?[/As quoted and subsequently deleted by mistake]

kcb5150 said:

The way the scales are just leads me to think it was meatier at some point and reground. It would just be surprising to me if a major sheffield cutler would put their mark on something subpar. You'd think it would be left blank or they would have had some secondary brand for lesser stuff if that were the case...

Click to expand...

Points well taken.

Well, it pays to be an insomniac sometimes. I have the blade ready for the stones, now I just need to figure out the best approach to tweak the scales.

HA! Solved the scale issue using brute force tactics. Took my emerson portable steamer which runs for about 20 minutes on a tank of water:



Then I jammed two pennies and one dime in between the scales behind the bulge at the wedge end to keep that area open while I bent and compressed the rest. I cut a piece of old waxed lace meant for ice hockey skates (basically they won't get loose for anything), cranked it around the really bulged out zone on the scales and began steam blasting and occasionally re-tightening. When it got really pliable, towel in hand, I bent the scales back to true. Just kept steaming away till the tank ran out and then straight away popped the entire tied end into a glass of ice water. The result:





At least I can hone the thing now.

Nice fix on the scales. I like the blade, ugly regrind and all. It's sorta so ugly it's beautiful in a way.

It honed up easily enough. i needed to work through some metal at the toe that was microchipping, but all seems well now. i just need to give it a go and make sure it is fine after that.

Gave it a go. Weird wear patterns aside, this is one hell of a blade...