Sabatier help

I know very little about Sabatiers. I met with a new chef instructor at the school. Will be teaching sharpening in her class of beginning students. In her knife bag were the usual suspects Victorinox, Mercer etc. I noticed what looked like a Sabatier handle and sure enough a carbon Sab.

It has patina & stains on the blade but no pitting at all. Very little wear looks like never sharpened much. The handle needs some First Aid. I offered to grind down the finger guard at the heel. Inspecting the blade think it is an older Sab. No stamps at all on ebony handle. Blade--K Sabatier-- Acier Forge-- Made In France. Most Sabs have the ring bolster after the finger guard. Not this knife the Ebony butts right up against finger guard. Like the blanks that guy sells on E-Bay. Can any of you Sab experts give me info on this knife?

Canadian. Made for the North-American market. Nothing wrong with the blade. Leave the fingergard as it is. Has been properly maintained. You should keep the flat spot that starts at the heel, probably with a more obtuse edge than other sections. No experience with handle replacement here.

Can't offer anything about Sab. But don't piss off the woman that wields that knife!

From your photo l do suspect some pitting and would clean it all up and force a new patina before sharpening.

Benuser said:

Canadian. Made for the North-American market. Nothing wrong with the blade. Leave the fingergard as it is. Has been properly maintained. You should keep the flat spot that starts at the heel, probably with a more obtuse edge than other sections. No experience with handle replacement here.

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Thanks, I checked both sides with 4x led mag. can't see anywhere that looks like pitting into the metal. Also no sharpening scratches on bladeface at all. Knife is pretty dull. Handle have couple options. Fast fix epoxy the gaps & crack at heel sand treat & buff. Other is to knock off the scales & rehandle. If I did that would use African Blackwood with nickel silver corby pins & a center mosaic with lots of silver in it.

Can you give me a time period when these were forged? Acier Forge

Show me a working carbon steel knife over 20 years old (and I think this one is) that doesn't have a little fine pitting someplace on it. I know all of mine do. I clean and dry them, maybe even given them a coat of one kind of oil or another, then come back in a year and find them pitted with rust.. Very common to my butchering blades that I only use once a year during hunting season.

I guess cleaning it up will tell. I used carbons almost 30 years at work. Most never pitted as long as I was using them. When they sit around not used or oiled they will rust in no time. With 1800's carving sets have seen major pitting to none at all after cleanup. Have had carbon cleavers start to rust sitting on my magblock. Now I have a couple nice stainless cleavers.

This blade may have some very minor pitting nothing major like you see on some Sabatiers. I think this knife has a lot of life left in it as long as it is well used.

Very similar to these 1950s - 1960s canadian sabs:

http://www.sabatier-shop.com/2577-a...-canadian---10-in-cooking-knife---carbon.html

chiffonodd said:

Very similar to these 1950s - 1960s canadian sabs:

http://www.sabatier-shop.com/2577-a...-canadian---10-in-cooking-knife---carbon.html

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Thanks I knew you sab guys would solve it:laugh: That is the knife & logo spot on. This is a little older version I think. the full tang is not anywhere as nice as the one in your post. It is thick at the front and more thin at the back different wood. I started epoxy the gaps on top of handle. I will do like Benuser mentioned, clean it up first than force a patina.

I used to discard Sabs out of the gate because have a over blown dislike of full heel bolsters. Now I have a old La Tropet nugent handle thinnest knife ever had. It had plenty pitting & well worn. This blade is in much better shape. 3.78mm spine at the heel tapers to a thin .34mm at the tip. I was wrong now can totally see how someone would like an old Sabatier. Kind of in the hunt for a reasonably priced great condition older Sab. with deep embossed logo on the blade. Maybe I will post some picks when pau with this one.

Stripped the existing patina, no pitting either side. The spine I eased to make more comfortable. Sorry Bernard cannot help grinding down fingerguard. I know that these old Sabatiers were all purpose blades the heel is thicker & more sturdy for certain tasks. They have dramatic distal tapers thin at the tip for fine work. Kind of like a Chinese all purpose cleaver thicker in back thinner in front, or a SB Deba heel is made thicker for chopping off fish heads.







Going to do the Handle next it has been muggy & lots of needed rain not good for slow dry epoxy though. Then I will do as Bernard said force a patina and sharpen it last. I want her to have a good blade that will last her many years.

You have found a very elegant solution with that fingergard, I must say.

Epoxy is the solution for half the world's problems, but please use a good laminating epoxy.


Rick

Hope the epoxy holds it is T-88 with a tiny bit of black die. Used 50/50 Dijon Mustard & White Vinegar little lemon put patina on with a kitchen sponge.







The Ebony still has some hairline cracks on left side of handle. Did fix the major crack and the gaps between the scales & spine.

Because I hand sanded it to the edge when cleaning it was pretty dull. Started with Gesshin 600 S&G for thinning bevel put in higher final bevel with Gesshin 4K soaker. Strop on leather

Looks great Keith- what did you use to clean the blade up?

Looks great Keith. I'm assuming that is still the original handle?
I would probably eventually slap a new one on there if so. I guarantee you the tang is rusty and gross underneath.

I hand sanded starting with 150 grit finished with 1200. wanted to see if any pitting. This blade was in great shape almost no wear & no pitting.

Yeh a new handle would be the way to go. I had only offered to grind down the finger guard for her. When first got left it in the sun a couple days & blew the gaps with a hot blow dryer. To kill anything that might be growing in there. If the epoxy holds I am sure she will use this knife a lot, it is a done deal.

That epoxy is rather thick, but I'm sure you got adequate penetration.



Rick

rick alen said:

That epoxy is rather thick, but I'm sure you got adequate penetration.



Rick

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I won't touch that! Sorry I am bad:beatinghead:

Nice rehab job Keith, just curious what particular product you used for black dye?

Just a Black Pigment for resin made here by Fiberglass Hawaii. I also use it when mounting Wa handles esp. with Buff. Horn. After making sure blade is straight with no tork fill in last bit of epoxy with die so any gap will blend in with the horn.

Thanks that's exactly why I was asking (to cap/seal the ferrule)

When you use pigment very small amount mixing with epoxy just enough to color it takes a tiny bit.