# Vintage Sabatier Refurb



## Dave Martell

Here is K-fed's vintage carbon Bresduck Sabatier that's been completely refurbed. I started by re-setting the profile where the heel/tang section had been neglected during sharpening, then I removed rust from the blade through grinding and thinned it a bit at the same time, then a new buckeye burl handle was installed (not an easy one at all - the tang and bolster were so whacked!!!), then finished up with an overall polish/clean & sharpen. 

This was a fun diversion from the norm - thanks K! 










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## don

WOW!


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## DeepCSweede

Dave,

The finished product is absolutely beautiful. Nice job.


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## clayton

Stunning!


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## apicius9

Clearly an improvement, maybe you do know what you are doing after all  Nice piece of burl also.

Stefan


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## kalaeb

:ubersexy:

SPECTACULAR!!!!


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## obtuse

Thats better than new, nice job!


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## Dusty

Is the buckeye burl dyed? 


That's very fine work indeed.


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## WildBoar

awesome job, Dave -- that knife looks great!


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## 99Limited

Beautiful workmanship. It's cool how you were able to grind on the blade, but able to save the logo. This knife when new never looked this good.


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## mr drinky

Great (too great), now I have to go to eBay and start shopping for vintage Sabs.

k.


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## Johnny.B.Good

mr drinky said:


> Great (too great), now I have to go to eBay and start shopping for vintage Sabs.



You better hurry up. I already have three on hand and this looks pretty good to me too. 

Nice work Dave.


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## Dave Martell

Thanks for all the kind words folks. 


To answer some of the questions/statements...

The wood isn't dyed (well not that I'm aware of anyway) and it was quite a lot lighter before the final stages of sanding.

I got real lucky with the preservation of the maker's mark. This is something that I was afraid would disappear (as they often do) but the luck came from a deep stamping that somewhat deformed the blade face making an impression. I was able to grind pretty deep and not touch the maker's mark until the final steps - SWEET!

I'd love to do another (or 10) of these because it was fun. Please feel free to go run up the bids on ebay. LOL


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## Eamon Burke

That is the best resto job I've ever seen.


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## SpikeC

Ya, it's ok if you're into knife stuff.


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## wellminded1

Wow...


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## ecchef

Hey Dave...remember this?


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## Dave Martell

ecchef said:


> View attachment 6013
> 
> 
> Hey Dave...remember this?




Yes sir I sure do.


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## ecchef

How's about I send you an old Sheffield for rehabilitation? :funfunfunfun:


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## JMJones

Very nice!


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## K-Fed

Jaw dropping... I can't wait to see it in person. I may have to send you my other sab for a new dress.


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## Dave Martell

K-Fed said:


> Jaw dropping... I can't wait to see it in person. I may have to send you my other sab for a new dress.




And I can't wait for you to see it in person. Thanks for the cool project.


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## EdipisReks

dude, Dave, that's awesome!


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## heirkb

Looks great, Dave. 

Any reason you didn't just grind that bolster around the choil completely off? I don't mean the bolster that is part of the handle, but the part that create sharpening problems.


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## steeley

Outstanding Dave .
ya know a couple of those pictures posted on some of the gourmet sites or forums could start something.


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## sachem allison

very nicely done sir.


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## Dave Martell

heirkb said:


> Looks great, Dave.
> 
> Any reason you didn't just grind that bolster around the choil completely off? I don't mean the bolster that is part of the handle, but the part that create sharpening problems.




I felt that it was best to leave the Sabatier look which is somewhat that full bolster style so I made corrections to allow the knife to go to the stones without problems now. The idea is to sharpen the bolster and edge as one.


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## Dave Martell

steeley said:


> Outstanding Dave .
> ya know a couple of those pictures posted on some of the gourmet sites or forums could start something.



I wouldn't mind but I have no idea where to go for that.


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## kalaeb

Next time we need a WIP. I would be curious to know how who got it to look that spectacular, unless it was just a ton of sweat.


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## Dave Martell

kalaeb said:


> Next time we need a WIP. I would be curious to know how who got it to look that spectacular, unless it was just a ton of sweat.




I think that the knifemaking has played a role in me getting better at this type of stuff. I noticed how quick I was able to do some of the finishing bits that used to take me forever to do before and the handle shaping was a cinch from all the rehandles I've got to do so yeah I really do believe that this is the reason why this one went so well.

Maybe I'll do a WIP some day but if I know myself I'd forget to stop and record what I'm doing because I can really get into the work and time just disappears and the next thing it's done. It sure would be cool do document some of this stuff sometime though.


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## DeepCSweede

Dave, 

Just have Randy swing by for a couple of days to take pictures of you in action. :film:


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## Eamon Burke

Dave Martell said:


> Maybe I'll do a WIP some day but if I know myself I'd forget to stop and record what I'm doing because I can really get into the work and time just disappears and the next thing it's done. It sure would be cool do document some of this stuff sometime though.



I know how that goes. I'm not a very sentimental person, so I rarely every stop to show off or preserve memories. My wife is always yelling at me for mailing things off that were a ton of work and not taking a picture! But she's a photographer.


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## Burl Source

Beautiful work Dave.
Your refurb made this knife look better than brand new.


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## El Pescador

Burl Source said:


> Beautiful work Dave.
> Your refurb made this knife look better than brand new.



+1 I, like probably everyone else is now searching ebay for a Sab like that for you to do another rehab.


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## Dave Martell

You guys have me looking at ebay too - LOL 


Thanks for the kind words everyone.


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## BobCat

:drool::hatsoff:


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## K-Fed

I just wanted to say thank you dave. I just unpacked the knife and it truly is stunning and a bit hard to believe that it is the same knife. I snapped a couple pics that I'll upload later when I can get on a computer( its in the process of being reformatted ). One of the taper of the handle, which is perfect. I was never a huge fan of the skimpy stock handles on sabs, and one of the distal taper which on a sab is dramatic to begin with, but with your regrind is amazing.


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## Dave Martell

K-Fed said:


> I just wanted to say thank you dave. I just unpacked the knife and it truly is stunning and a bit hard to believe that it is the same knife. I snapped a couple pics that I'll upload later when I can get on a computer( its in the process of being reformatted ). One of the taper of the handle, which is perfect. I was never a huge fan of the skimpy stock handles on sabs, and one of the distal taper which on a sab is dramatic to begin with, but with your regrind is amazing.




Hey it was my pleasure and I'm thankful for having the chance to work on it. I'll be looking forward to your pictures.


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## Twistington

A little late to the party but: damn fine work there!


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## Phip

Wow, it must be incredibly satisfying to be able to do that kind of hand work. Hats off.


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## K-Fed

Handle pic:







Handle topside/ taper:






Distal taper:


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## Dave Martell

Nice pictures Kevin, you captured the spine and handle tapers really well. I'm happy with how this came out and that's mostly due to how much you're digging it. 

Thanks again for giving me this cool project to work on. 

Dave


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## macmiddlebrooks

I'm still blown away by the job you did Dave, just flawless work.


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## Dave Martell

Thank you very much.


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## NO ChoP!

Besides Salty's new suji, this may be the best thing I've seen in a long while. Refreshing change from the norm. Great job! Photos are well done, too....


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## tk59

Very nice job, Dave. Why does this rehandle not have spacers?


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## Dave Martell

Thanks guys! 


@tk, I left liners off of this one for two reasons, the first is that I knew that I couldn't make them fit neatly with the bunged up bolsters/tang and the second is that I couldn't picture them on this knife.


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## xraygun

Hi Dave,

Could you have a look at my thread with a pic and tell me if these are up your alley to repair?

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...abatier-abuse-abandoned-Alligator-Help-wanted

I tried sending you a PM on both forums with no luck.

Thank you,


Ray


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## Dave Martell

Hi Ray, I just responded over at B&B 


*Note - to send a PM here you need to have 1 post first so you're good to go now.


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## SixCats

Hello Mr. M,

Simply OUTSTANDING! work. Private message sent. I have a similar vintage Sabatier I acquired recently at the "Flea Market". I'm not sure of it's age.....it has the word "SABATIER" and I think I can see the Grape cluster logo. I like the "feel/weight" of this knife in hand.

Regards,
SixCats!


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## brianh

Dave is going to be MIA for a little bit as he's moving. Just be patient. He does great work.


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## SixCats

Thanks for the "heads up" brianh.

Regards,
SixCats!


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## Dave Martell

SixCats said:


> Hello Mr. M,
> 
> Simply OUTSTANDING! work. Private message sent. I have a similar vintage Sabatier I acquired recently at the "Flea Market". I'm not sure of it's age.....it has the word "SABATIER" and I think I can see the Grape cluster logo. I like the "feel/weight" of this knife in hand.
> 
> Regards,
> SixCats!




Hi SC,
I'll reply to your PM ASAP.

Thanks,
Dave


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## rami_m

Dave is Back! 

Welcome Dave.


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