Clean without rubbing off printing?

[TripleF]

I've yet to learn how to clean a blade that has printing on it as do a couple of these shown below.

Any help is much appreciated.

[djknife13]

I use Wenol. ___Dave

[MrBlister]

Dave .. whot IS that Wenol
and where ya git it??

HET in advance . . Dave

[Dinadan]

Scott - I have the same problem. I have not tried Wenol (whatever it is) but the metal polish that I have tried takes the etch off along with the corrosion. I can see why you want to preserve those etches though I had to enhance the photo to see them.

[Colonel26]

I had a similar situation once Scott. I tried semichrome and it did clean the blade very well. Bht it also lightened the printing. So you may want to scratch that off your list.

[peanut740]

If it is acid etched I will coat the blade with semi-chrome or some other paste and let it set for several hours and gently rub it off.If it inked that is another story.A knife that is etched and just has some tarnish or spots away from the etch you can put some painters tape on the etch and rub the rest of the blade more aggressively.

[djknife13]

I get Wenol on line. Just type it in the search. I don't have any tie to the product and have no interest in promoting except that I've found it works better than anything I've tried. It doesn't have an abrasive. I thought it had a very fine grit but the advertising says it doesn't have any. It is amazing on pearl and nickel silver. It costs about $12 a tube and i buy the red tube with 3.98 oz. They have a few other products that I haven't tried so I don't know if they work as well as the one I use. Also a tiny amount goes a long way and the rag I use gets really black after a few uses and I often don't even have to put more on it to clean a knife. Just the dirty rag cleans pretty well. ___Dave

[FRJ]

I just bought a tube of Wenol 3.98 oz. for $7.40. Free shipping. Amazon.

[TripleF]

Well, here goes.....just bought one off ebay for $6.00.

Thanks for the heads up Dave. I'll post pics.

[kootenay joe]

I need Wenol too. We all need Wenol. An etched blade with tarnish or corrosion is very common, for example the Sears "Sta-Sharp" etch on all of their 1930's knives.
kj

[hardman]

I don't want to throw a wet blanket on the deal, but I think anything that will remove that tarnish/corrosion will remove the inked on "etch" as well. That includes Wenol. Personal experience. Try to avoid the etch as much as possible, perhaps using Q-tips to apply the Wenol on that side of the blade to have more control.

[djknife13]

I agree with you. If you rub hard enough it will take it down some but with care, this is the most gentle way I've seen to get the tarnish off and keep all the factory etch and original grind marks. ___Dave

[Tsar Bomba]

I don't normally try to preserve the etch on a tarnished or patinated blade per se, a lot of those for me are user knives and I always assume the etch will eventually go away.

What I am trying to figure out, however, is in a similar vein. If you look at the "today's carry" thread you will see one of my more recent acquisitions, an HS&B OVB one-armed Barlow, with some fair amounts of spotting on both blades and the mark side bolster. Somehow the pile side bolster escaped this fate, and I'm thinking of trying to even out the bolsters and clean the knife a bit overall. My main concern is losing any remaining finish on the knife's metal surfaces. That "overcleaned" buffed-out look is a little much. This knife has a ton of character and the pitting is fairly minimal for its age. I'm essentially trying to find a happy medium between that fleabay "shinier than the day it left the factory" look and the "oh, that knife is DIRTY yuck" look.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going to have to check out Wenol on a less-treasured knife (the Barlow is my very first OVB and my second or third HS&B knife overall) and see if it fits the bill for this one. Does anyone have any other success stories on vintage knives?

[rea1eye]

If you clean a surface ( tarnish, oxidation, dirt, rust, patina, etc, etc) your are going to
remove some printing also since it is on the surface as well. If you don't want to remove
all the bothersome surface, some of the printing should be saved. My opinion.

Wenol seems to be a mild abrasive looking at the ingredients ( aluminum oxide along with
kerosene, ammonia solution, and white spirit). per MSDS data sheet

Go easy on any cleaner and most of the printing should remain.

Bob

[TripleF]

Tony-

I resell knives.....and there's one saying the tings tall on ebay....SHINY SELLS!!!
I get the whole "character" thing, I do, but character doesn't raise bids!!

[gsmith7158]

Scott be sure to post your results. Enquiring minds want to know.

[Tsar Bomba]

I resell knives.....and there's one saying the tings tall on ebay....SHINY SELLS!!!
I get the whole "character" thing, I do, but character doesn't raise bids!!

For sure! I've noticed that pattern looking at the listings. Anything with a prominent bolster (Barlows, obviously, among 'em) always tends to show up with a "day-old" shine even if the knife itself is 100+ years old. It's maddening because the factory finish is almost always stripped off in search of that shine.

I definitely do not have any plans to sell off the OVB or really any of my Barlows; the few I've bought but do not have today were given away (and, in one case, simply vanished ) and the rest, well, I wouldn'a bought 'em if I didn't wanna keep 'em.

In the case of the OVB, I'm inclined to simply leave it alone short of a mineral oil bath and some cleaning with a very soft brush or cloth and some soap & water. I may order some Wenol and test it out on an old knife I don't mind "ruining" but if in fact it's a mild abrasive then it'll probably have the same effect that I'm trying to avoid.

[TripleF]

Scott be sure to post your results. Enquiring minds want to know.

Roger that! 10-4!!

Here's the BEFORE pic of the WHITE CAMILLUS....

[jerryd6818]

Scott, that's excellent patina to some folks.

[djknife13]

Oh wow, everything in my chicken barn has that same patina.___Dave

[gsmith7158]

The etch is very faint on that blade. It will be interesting to see if the wenol enhances it or obliterates it.

[Colonel26]

I agree with Cuz. But then again, I'm a sucker for patina.