Lady Dagger advice: fix it(how?) or leave it alone?

[Legendary_Jarl]

Hello everyone!

I've seen posts from these forums before regarding these type of daggers so I thought it would be the perfect place to ask. I had been looking for one of these daggers since at least 2008 when I first saw one of them at the gotavapen website for the fairbairn sykes dagger. I bought this one on fleebay and unfortunately the seller didn't say the guard was loose to the point it will rattle if moved. It has a good gap. My question is should I risk try to fixing it and if so how? I saw a person on instagram boiling one dagger to melt the resin/pitch keeping the handle attached and then reattach everything again. That dagger however had a bone handle. Mine is ebony wood.

Any advice would be appreciated. I wouldn't want to ruin or destroy this piece of history. But it sucks that when I finally get it it comes damaged like that. I've seen worse though.

If anyone has any information of time period and country of origin I'd appreciate any knowledge you may be able to share.

[ausjulius]

get a heat gun and warm the blade till its to hot to touch. hold the handle in a glived hand, when you smell the cutlers resin getcwarm push the blade firmly back into the hand.. hold it togeather and cool it off it some water.. fixed.. remember to head the blade slowly so the heat runs up the blade into the tang.. just use a cheap heat gun from a hardwear store

[Tim Simmons]

Just a warning, warm not heat, direct hot flame will change the the colour and nature of the blade. If you are unsure of this process, I doubt you intend to use the dagger perhaps a few spots of super glue just to stop it rattling.
Not gluing it all up.

[Saracen]

The tang on these daggers is riveted in the pommel of the handle.
Heating the blade will not help solve the problem. There is no resin there.
In addition, there is a risk of damaging the handle, because it is already cracked.
I would leave it alone.

[Ian]

Agree with Saracen. I would leave it alone.

[Sajen]

I guess that this dagger is German, from Solingen. I really doubt that the tang is riveted in up from the handle (maybe L_J can confirm) so I would try Ausjulius tip or open the handle and reset it new and strong.
Here a similar one.

Regards,
Detlef

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by Saracen

The tang on these daggers is riveted in the pommel of the handle.
Heating the blade will not help solve the problem. There is no resin there.
In addition, there is a risk of damaging the handle, because it is already cracked.
I would leave it alone.

ah yeah your right.. these are mostly full tags. .
my apologies. i have an ebonite handled german made one which is a partial tang held in with resin..

if it is a full tang tagger its a different game. youd need to file off the peen.. remove the blade.. (warming it slightly if its also on with pitch) and then set it again and repeen it very carefully with a small ball peen hammer and some very careful strikes. -
you must hold the blade in your hand and carefully strike the peen with a little ball peen hammer once the peen has formed you hold the handle in your hand and strike the peen.. you can then peen it together without crushing or breaking the handle as compression will happen only as the tang shrinks not through it bending or being crushed. ..

a lot more complex for a person with no knife making experience.