Many people are requesting that we do a series of articles on knife restorations.
The question is: What is restoration?
An antique with the blade buffed shiny and new scales made out of non-original materials is NOT a restored piece. Let me give you some tips on whether a knife is a good candidate for restoration- First, the knife needs to have some historical or sentimental significance. Second, there has to be enough knife left to restore. Blades that are worn or ground down cannot be repaired. Dented bolsters may or may not be repairable. Scales can be replaced with original type materials. True restoration work is time-consuming and expensive- is the knife worth it?
I have seen many attempts at restoring old knives. Usually, they can be spotted from across the room. Oversized pins, wrong scales, wrong scale shapes are some of the dead giveaways. If a knife's handle looks new, but the blade is worn out, someone has been polishing. While these efforts are gallant and sometimes innovative, most people attempting this work do not have the knowledge, experience, tooling, or craftsmanship to do the job correctly. Be careful who you choose.
A properly restored knife should not look like it has been repaired. The polishing should be similar to the finish originally applied. Modern digital photography has made it possible to have cutlery evaluated remotely, before you buy, or choose to have the knife restored.