I found an old Cattaraugus 225Q knife in my garage I am working on cleaning up and was wondering if anyone knew how to recondition the old stacked leather type handle. It feels very dry. My idea is to soften it up then maybe try and sand it down smooth as some stacked pieces are not even with the ones next to them. Anyone ever try this and have any advice?

If you clean anything old you ruin it's value.Leather conditioner and miniral oil is all you should do.

They are not too rare, i see lots on ebay, value on mine would probably be the lowest, no sheath, chip on blade, leather damaged, I would say $30-$40 if that probably lower. Its a good project knife. I was able to get the chip out of the blade with a little sharpening, its starting to shave too. The Handle worried me but Im gonna try the mineral oil. Also if anyone knows how to turn the blade shiney again. I tried a buffing wheel and steel wool, it came a little better probably just need more time with it, anyone know some short cuts? Im thinking wire wheel, but am a little worried, I definately dont want it heating up and losing temper.

If the leather is really dry I would apply some oil. Don't go too crazy, just wipe it on and let it soak in, you can always add more but you don't want the stuff dripping all over. Leather is like a sponge so it will suck up quite a bit, especially if it's really dry. Mink oil works well or any other oil designed for leather. It's like your skin, without oil, it gets dry and brittle. If you get it wet, the water pulls the oil right out. Good luck.

Kudo's for the Mink oil....It waterproofs as well.

well i screwed it up! the leather was too brittle and cracked and some was missing so it made it loose, when I handled it a little it all fell off. I ended up spending a few hours cutting new leather washers out of an old belt, came out pretty good, I just need to put the belt sander on it and smooth the leather washers out. Ill post pics tonight. Has a Ka-Bar look to it now.

If anyone needs to revive old leather try Picards leather care products.

Mineral oil is for metal blades.

Jim I just sent this thread to a friend of mine that is a custom knife maker, actually he has the title of "master craftsman." He wants some pics and he will coach you through the process of polishing the blade.