Help me with my 1870s barrel knife?

[spartcom]

I'm new here and to knives as well. I am huge into collecting antiques and when I came across this it was too cool not to buy it. I don't normally buy knives but this was an exception. How old might this be? I was looking at others online and I believe it to be 1880s? Maybe later? can anyone tell me about them? Like what they were used for? Any ads depicting such knives from that time?
Finally, I would like to clean it up some. I can see the blade isn't in the best of condition with a chip on the edge. I don't plan on using it but would love to clean and preserve it. I don't have access to power tools or anything like that. Someone recommended I use a little bit of olive oil to clean it up? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[kootenay joe]

Hi spart. Welcome to this great knife forum, very friendly and much knife knowledge.
Nice old barrel knife. Blade has been sharpened with some blade loss so the original owner must of really liked it.
Have you checked the brass sleeve which the blade rotates into with a loupe looking for markings ? Most will have the maker's name and occasionally a date, and "Sweden". Could well be from 1870's up to early 1900's ? I don't know when these were no longer made.
These are very collectible even the well used examples. It does not need much in the way of cleaning. The most would be to use a mild metal polish like Flitz (and others) on blade and brass and steel handle ends and then coat with a very thin film (very, very, thin) of mineral oil. Maybe clean the wood with something to remove old dirt and grease like a rag dabbed in hot water and dish detergent. Then dry thoroughly and coat with a few very thin films of mineral oil.
Or: just coat whole thing with very thin film of mineral oil.
This is the knowledgeable knife collector way and the most widely accepted among knife collectors.
Those who are not knife knowledgeable might power buff the entire surface to make a shiny knife 'better than mint', which is nonsense. This deeper cleaning removes some of the metal so there remains less of the knife making it further from original state.
kj

[djknife13]

Hi and welcome to AAPK. I agree with all Joe said. You can clean the blade some right away with a number 2 pencil. I have about a dozen of these. Your knife's blade loss isn't bad considering it's age. You could us that knife for years yet if you choose and not do it any harm. ___Dave

[RobesonsRme.com]

Welcome to AAPK!!

Swedish barrel knives are quite popular. They came in a variety of sizes and a display of a half dozen or so can be quite impressive.

I think the smallest ones tend to be the most scarce and valuable, but that is merely an opinion derived from watching Ebay auctions for these over the years.

Charlie Noyes

[LongBlade]

to AAPK!!!

Lots of good info above - personally I really like the aged look of handles and would get any active rust off of blade (reddish brown in color) - black stains will most likely not come off - I like Dave use the #2 pencil - sometimes hit the blade with a few drops of oil, let it sit and then a use Xfine 0000 steel wool to remove grime etc - the nice thing is oil and 0000 steel wool leaves the nice gray patina... what size is your knife?? I have heard the same as Charlie - those 2” maybe 3” are worth more than the 4” or bigger - though not sure how big they were ever made and wonder if a really large one would also be more valuable ...

Nice knife!!!!

[Steve Warden]

Cool knife!

Welcome to AAPK!!

Not much to add to the above as far as care, but I would avoid olive oil or vegetable oil as they can go rancid over time.
Mineral oil or a light weight machine oil (3-in-1) would serve well.

[spartcom]

Thanks for the advice! How do I use a pencil to clean it? Just use the eraser I assume? Also, does the Flitz Metal Polish act as a cleaner? So metal polish and then a little mineral oil? The main issue right now is that the brass casing is so dirty and grimy it's hard to pull it out of the barrel.

Also, I am confused as to what part of the knife I measure to get a size? The barrel or the blade?

[Steve Warden]

Not the eraser, the graphite point. It's abrasive enough to take out the rust, but soft enough so it doesn't scratch the blade.

[spartcom]

Oh wow ok, I will try that! Thanks!

[kootenay joe]

The size of any 'folding' knife is given as length of handle. So a 4" knife has a handle that measures 4". Length of blade is not part of the measurement.
The mild metal polishes like Flitz or Simichrome will remove dirt, grime and superficial oxidation but does not remove much of what might be left of original blade finish. Go slowly using a small amount of polish, your cleaning rag will soon be black. Finish by rubbing with a clean rag. Don't overdo it. You can always come back later and repeat if necessary which it probably won't be.
Some collectors would just give light coat of mineral oil, no cleaning. This is equally acceptable. Only 'over cleaning' is 'not acceptable'. It takes a few years of knife collecting to appreciate this approach.
kj

[deo-pa]

Welcome spartcom. Use the Search function (see the Quick Links pull down menu on the left side of the banner above your post) and search on terms such as "Barrel," "Holmberg," "Engstrom," and "Eskilstuna" (the town in Sweden where most of these barrel knives were made) and you will find a lot more information and some great photos in older AAPK posts.

Dennis