Prussia A butchered butcher blade

[Jock Auld]

Guys,

Got this tonight, the sawback appears to have been removed at some point, it is dated 18 and the frog is the best part I think?

I will try and strip back the scabbard while my hand is still in having done the MG 131 recently, I also have some of the hammerite left, can't do any worse than it looks now.

Jock

[Hoss]

Jock

Pity about the scabbard why not take it to a facility and get parkerised painting is yuk swapping one colour for another or hobby it yourself, bead blast heat cherry red dump in a bucket of waste oil, job done errrr unless your a bachelor don't do it in the kitchen lol!

Eric

Edited April 28, 2014 by Hoss

[Chris Boonzaier]

I think a pit of paint remover and leave the scabbard plain steel.

I think the saws were removed wartime, so it is a legit piece as is.

Not a bad find at all!

[Jock Auld]

Guys,

I will see what is under it and probably leave it at steel as I don't have access to anywhere that I can heat it so hot.

Cheers

Jock

[Jock Auld]

This is the limit of my skills, it is back to steel and I think a bit of the original finish. It is shiny as I have covered it in rifle oil at the moment as I have washed off the paint stripper with very warm water.

jock

[Tony]

Jock

Pity about the scabbard why not take it to a facility and get parkerised painting is yuk swapping one colour for another or hobby it yourself, bead blast heat cherry red dump in a bucket of waste oil, job done errrr unless your a bachelor don't do it in the kitchen lol!

Eric

Please, please heat it up in the kitchen and dump it in a bucket of old oil, then let us know what your wife said and then did to you.

Tony

[Jock Auld]

Tony,

We have an electric cooker, after my destruction of the bath and the wash basin by the MG project I am banned from trying to restore stuff inside the house (smell of the paint stripper was not pleasing for the wife). I will quit while I am ahead!

Jock

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi Jock,

You've done a nice job and undone an error in judgement by a past owner.

I agree with Chris, the saw teeth were removed later in the war from all German bayonets.

Regards

Brian

[Trajan]

Guys,

 

Got this tonight, the sawback appears to have been removed at some point, it is dated 18 and the frog is the best part I think?

 

I will try and strip back the scabbard while my hand is still in having done the MG 131 recently, I also have some of the hammerite left, can't do any worse than it looks now.

 

A nice bayonet, nice frog, and a nice scabbard also now that you have finished working on it! But, the data you give raises some questions...

Waffenfabrik Mauser 98/05's dated 1918 are not that common, as most of their production was in 1917, with only (according to my notes) about 239,000 being made in 1918. But a sawback made / issued in 1918 is even less common, and extremely odd as - according to my notes - the order to stop making these 98/05's with sawbacks was issued in July 1917. That aside, the order to remove sawbacks from all those bayonets in service use that had them followed  (again according to my notes) in January 1918. Incidentally, given that only 6% or so of 98/05's ever had sawbacks, and that not all were removed, then in reality the sawback removed version that you have (Säge abgeschliffen) is one of the rarer types of S.98/05's...