House fire cutlery.

[johnny twoshoes]

Hey guys, unfortunately we had a house fire on Tuesday and the vast majority of my collection is damaged or destroyed. What I'm trying to decide is if it's even worth the rescue effort for restoring these knives?

I have a few knives that mean a lot to me and hold sentimental value and I'd hate to just throw them out. If it's not completely burnt it's damaged from water or smoke. How do I go about cleaning them up? Soap and hot water?

These are all knives I use for edc, will the temper of the steel be affected? It's almost all 1095 carbon. I appreciate any and all techniques and tips for fixing them up.

Thanks guys!!!

P.s.
Everyone is safe and sound and celebrating the fact that no one was hurt. Yeah, we lost a few guns a few knives and some venison out of the freezer, but we are extremely blessed and thankful to know and be surrounded by good people.

Also, save some of that knife money and invest it into a little fire safe. They really do a good job and keep things from total ruin. I wish I had my knives in our safe, but I didn't.

[caddyman1973]

Hey JTS, so sorry to hear about y'alls home. But glad to hear no one was hurt. I've never had to clean up a knife with that kind of damage so I'm not gonna act like I do and suggest something that probably won't work. It will depend on how hot the knives got whether or not it affected the temper of the blades. I'm sure someone will have some good ideas on clean up. Again very sorry to hear about y'alls home....

[philco]

I'm sorry to hear about the fire. I know that's a rough thing to deal with.

The impact on the temper of your knives will depend on how hot they got during the fire. The only way to tell that for sure will be to use them. Smoke tends to be acidic and will cause corrosion and pitting on most metal surfaces. The longer it remains on the metal, the more it will impact the steel. Clean each knife in warm soapy water then dry thoroughly and used some WD 40 to help disperse any remaining moisture.

[johnny twoshoes]

It's all good Caddy!
Could have been so much worse!!!

Also, my uncle is a contractor and brought over some very heavy duty cleaner used for cleaning houses after a fire. I'm hesitant to used it because it's really strong.

[johnny twoshoes]

Thanks Phil, I'll get on that today.
I wasn't sure if I could tell just by looking at the blades.

I was able to find my favorite hunting knife that has been missing for years. It was in perfect shape and was as sharp as can be. It's been in my pocket nonstop since our reunion!

[zp4ja]

Hello Johnnie,

Thank God everyone is OK. Phil's idea sound good to me especially if the knives are non stainless and got doused with water. Same process for the stainless ones too.

Real sorry to hear about the fire.

Regards, Jerry

[orvet]

Sorry to hear that Johnny.
I have cleaned up knives that had some smoke damage to them. They did not get too hot, but did have a smoky deposit on them. I tried a lot of cleaners and polishes on them, but the best I found was Walker Wax. If you will PM me your mailing address, I will send you a jar Monday,(no cost)
You will have to use some elbow grease with it and maybe multiple applications, but I found it worked better than anything else.

[johnny twoshoes]

Graphic image below!!!



http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &id=220970

[jerryd6818]

Caleb -- So sorry to hear of your misfortune. Nature's big three, fire, water and wind. You were hit with a double whammy. I'd like to suggest you take a look at the knives with synthetic handles. If it didn't get hot enough to melt those, then it didn't get hot enough to damage the temper in the blades. It looks like an insurmountable nasty mess right now but as a two time flood victim I can tell you, this too shall pass. You have a lot of hard work in store for you. I don't know why bad things happen to good people but I send my best to you and your family.

Edit: While you're waiting for Dale's generous gift to arrive, may I suggest you try a regime of soapy water and scrub brush followed by a liberal dousing of WD-40 to chase the rinse water and some Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish to see if that will bring them back to life.

Please let us know how you're getting along and what works and what doesn't work. There's no substitute for experience in a case like this. (yours or that of someone else)

[Colonel26]

Johnny, so sorry to hear about the house and the knives and guns. But I praise God no one was hurt!

[johnny twoshoes]

We've got a really strong family and we'll get through all this in no time. We have the house ripped down already and are working on clean up. Lots of friends have made this easy and work has been very understanding.

I'm really thankful for the kind words guys and I could agree more, "this too shall pass".

[johnny twoshoes]

Another pic.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &id=220975

[FRJ]

Very sorry to hear about the fire, Caleb.
I hope you and your family recover in the best way possible.

[big monk]

JT ---Another "sorry for your loss & glad all you guys are ""OK"" ----good luck with the knife recovery -- hoping insurance will help you some with your loss ??? ---- Monk

[Dinadan]

JT - very sorry to read of your misfortune! Good that everyone is okay and moving forward.

Regarding your knives, I do not see that the handle material is damaged by heat, though it is hard to tell from the photos. I do not think that the temper of the steel will be affected if the heat was not intense enough to scorch the bone or wood, or melt synthetics. So I am thinking that a good cleaning and you are good to go!

[johnny twoshoes]

Unfortunately some of the delrin, micarta and carbon fiber is melted or distorted. The stag and bone also show some signs of heat damage. These knives may be a total loss as far as ever being able to use them again, but if I can get them to where they aren't decomposing I'll be happy!

Thanks again for the kind words and well wishes!!!

[wlf]

Caleb, really glad no one was hurt. As Jerry said ,if the synthetic handles didn't melt,it should not have damaged the steel.

Hope to see you again at GEC this year.

[glennbad]

Sorry to read about this, Caleb, but I am glad you are okay. Stuff can be replaced.

That being said, if you have any knives that need some new covers, I'd be happy to do a few on the house for you.

Let me know.

Glenn

[#goldpan]

So sorry to about this.... Not much to add to whats already been said. My prayers and best wishes to you and your family!

Randy

[johnny twoshoes]

I've been blessed to have many experiences in my life and those memories will last forever. Along the way I've also been able to acquire a rather wonderful collection of knives and I've gotten to use most of them and make a story or two with them along the way, I'll never take that for granted.

A lot of the knives were gifts from family and many were gifts from friends, a lot of which from this very site. I could have lost so much more that I'm not even saddened by the loss of those knives. I still have a good one with a sharp edge in my pocket and that's all a man needs when push comes to shove.

Glenn, I may have to take you up on that offer down the road once things settle. I appreciate the generosity!!!

[bighomer]

Sorry for your loss brother. I lost every thing in a house fire in '69,like you my family made it out okay. I thank the good Lord every day for that. I had a very small knife collection at the time plus my trading knives, I could not find any of them. Like you the ones that belong to my dad and grandpa had a sentimental value that I can't replace but in the scheme of things it just don't matter. I said at the time I'd never collect anything again and I haven't , but I sure do have a bunch of piles of stuff.

[1967redrider]

Sorry to be reading this post, glad no one was hurt. Most things can be replaced but sentimental things, like gifts from loved ones or pictures, are the toughest things to lose. Looks like you have received some good recommendations. Take care!

[garddogg56]

Man Caleb thats horrible,glad too hear no one was hurt.How'd your guns fair??

[muskrat man]

sorry to hear about your misfortune. all the fire victims I have had through the shop were either minimal damage or total burnt up with handles missing. If they still have the same spring strength they always did then the temper probably wasn't effected in the blades either. Heat that will distort or damage handles isn't necessarily hot enough to alter temper in blade steel. There is still hope

[johnny twoshoes]

Lyle, barring any set backs I will be back to GEC this year. I'd hate to ever miss out on that event, especially with it being so close to camp!!!

Robert, we lost a total of 8 guns. A Springfield 1911, a Walther 380., and a SKS just to name a few. My older brother and myself kept retrieving whatever we could until the smoke got to be too much, (plus a cop showed up and kicked us out). Thankfully the high end rifles were in the safe and we were able to carry the cabinet that had all the users in it.

Kaleb, I will work with the knives tomorrow and see how much head way I can make. I'm hoping there isn't a problem with the pull but they are pretty coated in dirt and grime right now.

BH, I've slowed way down on new additions anyhow and I never collected to pay a kids college fund, I've always done it because I enjoyed discovering what I like about certain patterns or blade steels. I'll always have that passion, but I'm content with just a few users! The fire fighters were able to put out the fire before my display cases were completely destroyed so I'm hoping the most sentimental knives will be okay.