I have several of the old Rapala fillet knives. The handles are in rough condition from years of use. Does anybody have any suggestions or experience refinishing them? I know the new ones are pretty cheap to purchase but these are the older ones made in a Scandinavian country.
sand them by hand and apply a couple coats of poly
wood filler first, if cracked, then sand and poly.
I’d upgrade a bit from poly to spar varnish. just my $.02
Tung oil works well and doesn’t leave you with a slippery handle.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I am going to try to fix them up. I have had these knives for a long time and it would have been a sad day if I had to retire them.
After sanding, take a wood burner to them. Put you name on them or draw a fish outline…. Something to make them one of a kind.
BEFORE you varnish, etc. fill any cracks in the wood with epoxy, AND fill the voids around the collar and blade with epoxy. Keeping water out of the handles on Rapala knives is an absolute must or they WILL crack and/or the finish will peel off. After each use, and after washing them, shake the knives to get the water out of them.
I have a few oldies at the cabin–this thread reminds me that I want to refurb them. 
This thread inspired me. I refurbished one this week, and I have another one that needs it. I wish I would have taken a before photo–oh well.
Sanded the handle down, burned the name of the lake that our cabin is on on one side of the handle and the outline of the lake on the other. Then, I finished it with tung oil. I also polished the brass and got it razor-sharp again. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Now, what should I do with the other one?
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Looks good Ralph!
Looks good Ralph!
second that…………so…..how many more would you like to do?????? 
I’ve done a couple for buddy’s kids. I wood burn their name, do a fish outline and checker the handle.
Did another one this week and took a before photo this time. Wasn’t sure how it’d turn out but decided to try burning a pic of our cabin. I’m happy with the result!
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The cabin is in the background, for comparison.
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nice!!! But that sunfish didn’t come from games. I’ve fished that lake.
I like it!
OK….Found this Rapala in the lake. It’s too far gone for wood filler. Anyone ever replaced the entire handle?
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Geeze Ralph, it’s too bad that you don’t possess and artistic talents!
Well done, Sir!
OK….Found this Rapala in the lake. It’s too far gone for wood filler. Anyone ever replaced the entire handle?
Got any shed antlers?
Check out Forest and Field Custom Cutlery’s Facebook page. Dude does some cool resin handles if you are looking for some ideas other than refinishing/replacing the wood. He made mention of using some Rapala blades in some of his work. Pretty cool concept.
Maybe a railroad spike handle would be cool.
All depends on what materials you are comfortable working with I suppose.
Yea, I’ve got some antlers around. That’s a good idea. I think I’ll use some interesting wood I got recently.
Ground off the remaining rotten wood w my Dremel. Never seen a bare Rapala blank before. It’s interesting that the blade is still in perfect condition.
Yep…Interesting site.
I completely removed the rotten handle and now have a perfect blank in excellent condition..
I found a couple really interesting videos on YouTube.. One of them was “How they make Rapala knives” That was helpful because they showed how the factory attached the anchor rivet on the back of the blade.
Another site showed a full handle replacement on a similar tang that involved drilling out the center, using epoxy and when complete, he had NO tang exposed at the butt of the handle. This will be an interesting project.
Yep…Interesting site.
I completely removed the rotten handle and now have a perfect blank in excellent condition..
I found a couple really interesting videos on YouTube.. One of them was “How they make Rapala knives” That was helpful because they showed how the factory attached the anchor rivet on the back of the blade.
Another site showed a full handle replacement on a similar tang that involved drilling out the center, using epoxy and when complete, he had NO tang exposed at the butt of the handle. This will be an interesting project.
Post some pics when you finish!
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