The Gun Counter

There's a guy around here selling a broken 16" M1 bayonet. It comes with the sheath, so I'll probably grab it, since it's dirt cheap. It's broken just behind the crossguard, underneath where the grips would be.

Then I found this:
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Det ... et&catid=0

I'm thinking that it might be a fun project...especially if I could rely on someone here who could weld...would this be repairable? I'd wind up with a "real" though repaired 16" bayonet for under $80, plus whatever I'd have to [strike]bribe[/strike] reward someone with for fixing it. I'd have to set up my electrolysis tank to get the rust off of the blade. It's likely to be pitted, based on the pics that I saw.

Add this:
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Det ... et&catid=0
And some grips and screws.

Of course, this would be for me, I wouldn't sell it without disclosing exactly what it was. Think this is worth it?

No one? No opinions from the most opinionated opinioners who ever opinioned?

I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it, if you just want something for display purposes.

Not sure what alloy(s) they used for bayonets. Also depends on the carbon content. Maybe just plain medium to high carbon steel. You'd want to find an appropriate filler metal, pre-heat and post heat after welding and re-heat treat. Some alloy and high carbon steels don't weld very readily without extra measures. They'll sometimes crack right behind the weld as you're welding. Given a good preheat , post heat and slow cooling or immediate re-heat treat, you can probably stick it back together successfully.

Worst case, it ends up as a dagger project, as in "Knifemakers don't make mistakes, they just make smaller knives".