Wicked
Active Member
At an auction over the weekend I picked up an old super-beat-up bayonet for $5. I've been wanting to have a go at a bladed weapon for awhile now, and when I saw it I realized how much easier it would be to go this route than to fabricate one from scratch. Now that being said if this thing had been in any kind of condition other than totally destroyed I wouldn't have even considered tearing it up and re-making it into something else. There are a lot of bayonets out there apparently (after a little research) that are very collectible and possibly valuable so I would suggest unless you want to be really PO'd at yourself later you either buy one in totally beat condition, or do your research. This is kind of where I'm going with it, though I'll probably change the design some. I really love the hilt on this one though.
Don't blame me if you cut up and destroy a $500 bayonet. I didn't think to make a thread on this until after I already removed the wooden grips (they were COMPLETELY rotted out). Mine were so nasty I didn't even need the dremel for this, but if yours are in good shape you can cut the rivets out with a cutting wheel if you don't care to use them. After that I cleaned the hell out of it as best I could, then took a grinder and got all the rust and oxidation off I could.
Then I cut off the barrel mounting ring and the butt cap/lanyard hole.
I did a little more spot-grinding after this, but it's pretty much where I stopped for this weekend. The upside is the steel is old and pretty soft, so it's not that hard to cut. The downside is that it's old and pretty soft, so there's lots of small pits in the metal. I think after I'm done with it though those very same pits will add character to it. If this one goes well then I may start doing this regularly.
Don't blame me if you cut up and destroy a $500 bayonet. I didn't think to make a thread on this until after I already removed the wooden grips (they were COMPLETELY rotted out). Mine were so nasty I didn't even need the dremel for this, but if yours are in good shape you can cut the rivets out with a cutting wheel if you don't care to use them. After that I cleaned the hell out of it as best I could, then took a grinder and got all the rust and oxidation off I could.
Then I cut off the barrel mounting ring and the butt cap/lanyard hole.
I did a little more spot-grinding after this, but it's pretty much where I stopped for this weekend. The upside is the steel is old and pretty soft, so it's not that hard to cut. The downside is that it's old and pretty soft, so there's lots of small pits in the metal. I think after I'm done with it though those very same pits will add character to it. If this one goes well then I may start doing this regularly.
