Knife Polishing Removing Rust Pitting How To

[stagman]

Thanks Scott..got a great old stag fixed blade and really look forward
to getting into this....will keep ya posted.

Will

[stagman]

Hey Scott...when you say sand left to right and then up & down....on a fixed
blade knife, do you just sand the length of the blade up & down with your strokes ???
Have not even got the knife yet, should be here in next 2 days
I will try to take before and after pics
Ordered the sandpaper & steel wool from ebay today

Will

[TripleF]

Hey Will.......knife makes no difference.

Sandpaper is resting, face up on a hard flat surface. I hold the knife in my hand and swipe left to right, right to left.......like a real fast waving motion.

Then up and down, down and up like the opposite.

Change grits when the knife begins toshow a blurry image of you, then change again, then again until all you can see the different colors in your eyeball pupil!!

[WV Papaw]

This is a great thread! I hadn't ever heard of the No. 2 pencil lead idea but it sure works. This inspired me to finally try to clean up a couple of my Dad's old knives, though they aren't pocket knives, that I'd never thought about before. Thanks for the great post and tips.

[orvet]

I missed Paul's post on preventing rust in a knife that has had some problems with rust.
I agree with all the steps used in cleaning it and drying it but my last step after it has been washed, WD-40ed, and dried with compressed air, but after that I apply a liberal coat of Eezox. Eezox is a product made for firearms and rust has always been a problem with firearms. Eezox works as a lubricant as well as a rust preventative.

Birchwood Casey's Barricade and CLP's Break Free are also supposed to help prevent rusting on firearms.
If it will work with firearms it should work with pocketknives!

I have used all three products but Eezox is my personal choice for rust prevention on a knife that I suspect will be at risk for rusting.

[MTHall720]

Mothers
Blue Magic
SemiChrome
Turtle Wax red and the white compound.
If you've ever used any of those 5 metal polishes...how do they compare to Flitz ?
I've used all three on cars and bikes with good results.

I have found Mother's to be a good, general purpose polish, and use Flitz as the final step.

[Mark in PA]

Thanks for the post and instructions Scott,

You have inspired me to find an old knife in dire need of a cleaning and trying my hand at it. Just one question. What do you use the pencil lead for?

[WV Papaw]

Just one question. What do you use the pencil lead for?

Not Mark but the pencil lead is harder than the rust, softer than the blade, so it removes quite a bit of the rust without scratching the blade. Just “scribble” over the rust spots.

[Mark in PA]

That makes sense. Thanks.

[Mark in PA]

I'm curious. If you are going to clean up and do some refinishing work on an old knife with the intent re-sell it for a profit, should you make it as shinny as you can or leave the old patina? To me, it seems like one would want to make it look like it did when it was new.

[Mark in PA]

I have a large fixed blade that was given to me years ago that I had left in my truck and discovered that it began to rust. It was a mistake to do that. I know. No name or tang stamp on the knife so I have no idea who made it. I was going to use this to experiment on. I had in mind to sand this down and make it as shinny as I could. I had already sanded it down with a 160 grit sand paper and steel wool just to get rid of the red rust. I was looking at the dark spots from the carbon steel and wondered how deep I would have to go to remove them. I thought I would use some white vinegar on it to see if it would touch the dark spots. I wiped it down with a paper towel soaked in white vinegar and didn't really notice anything. I then wrapped the paper towel around the blade and walked away for awhile and came back. I knew the vinegar would start to react to the blade but was surprised to see that it already had a dark patina to it. The more I looked at it, the more I liked it. I think I'm going to go back and sand some more of the rust out and try some of the vinegar again. I saw some forums where people will try different methods to put a design in the patina which I may try.

What are your thoughts?

[Reverand]

I cleaned some badly rusted blades in vinegar, then went over them with a brass wire brush. It cleaned all of the rust out of the pitted spots and made the blades all one color. To me they looked much better that way, and I did not want to remove thick layers of steel by sanding.

As to an earlier question, polishing an old blade until it shines does not make it look like it did when new. Most blades did not have a mirror finish. Polishing blades only make them look polished.
"Shiny sells" may be true when selling knives to the general public, but it makes them look worn and reworked to me.

[cudgee]

I cleaned some badly rusted blades in vinegar, then went over them with a brass wire brush. It cleaned all of the rust out of the pitted spots and made the blades all one color. To me they looked much better that way, and I did not want to remove thick layers of steel by sanding.

As to an earlier question, polishing an old blade until it shines does not make it look like it did when new. Most blades did not have a mirror finish. Polishing blades only make them look polished.
"Shiny sells" may be true when selling knives to the general public, but it makes them look worn and reworked to me.

The vinegar bath is an old garden tool restorers trick, they remove shovel head, rake, saw etc. from the wooden handle and soak them in vinegar for up to 7 days, then clean them with a stiff brush, this is a method that they were using before i was born. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways, those previous generations used what they had at their disposal and they got things done. You have a good holiday weekend, especially tomorrow.

[dlr110]

I've probably overlooked it but I'm looking for the best way to remove rust from
Damascus Blades. While my knives were in storage this past year many of my
fixed blade knives with Damascus steel developed a fine layer of rust on them.
Could someone let me know the best method or point me to the thread with
the answer I'm looking for. I've been using an eraser but that's not getting all
of it.

[edge213]

I've probably overlooked it but I'm looking for the best way to remove rust from
Damascus Blades. While my knives were in storage this past year many of my
fixed blade knives with Damascus steel developed a fine layer of rust on them.
Could someone let me know the best method or point me to the thread with
the answer I'm looking for. I've been using an eraser but that's not getting all
of it.

Try a no.2 pencil. It works on mono-steel, so I suppose it will work on damascus.

[Mumbleypeg]

I've probably overlooked it but I'm looking for the best way to remove rust from
Damascus Blades. While my knives were in storage this past year many of my
fixed blade knives with Damascus steel developed a fine layer of rust on them.
Could someone let me know the best method or point me to the thread with
the answer I'm looking for. I've been using an eraser but that's not getting all
of it.

David, see the recent post on Damascus care by Gary (hardman) in the Knife Care subforum on the CCC forum. Maybe he’ll see this and post his Damascus rust removal methods here too.

Ken

[dlr110]

I've probably overlooked it but I'm looking for the best way to remove rust from
Damascus Blades. While my knives were in storage this past year many of my
fixed blade knives with Damascus steel developed a fine layer of rust on them.
Could someone let me know the best method or point me to the thread with
the answer I'm looking for. I've been using an eraser but that's not getting all
of it.

David, see the recent post on Damascus care by Gary (hardman) in the Knife Care subforum on the CCC forum. Maybe he’ll see this and post his Damascus rust removal methods here too.

Ken

Thanks Ken, I believe I'll give his WD40 and Gibbs solution a try.

[dbe4876]

I've had a number of requests on what I do.....so before I post this to my blog (with pics) I'll post it here.....

If you are not going to disassemble a pocket knife, what tool/technique have you found that works best to clean out surface rust from the inside area the blades fold into? So far, I've used a little WD40, and then push some 0000 steel wool in there with a very small screw driver, to work the steel wool back and forth. Any better ideas? Tools? Thanks!

[Mumbleypeg]

Most pocket knife liners on older knives are brass or nickel silver, which do not rust. They will tarnish some, but being that they’re not visible I don’t obsess about it. So I’m thinking you’re primarily dealing with rust on the backspring (at the bottom of the blade well). Some older knives have iron or steel liners but those are not very common.

Regardless, what I typically use is a wooden popsicle stick to push 0000 steel wool, polishing paper or emery cloth into and around inside the blade well. Emery board (like used for finger nails) is another option, and those wooden stick cotton swabs are great for spreading lube and rust preventative products (like Tuf-Glide or similar) in blade wells. However I first try simply using a wooden stick cotton swab with some light oil or Tuf-Glide on it. If it’s just light surface rust it will probably come off without using any abrasives. If it doesn’t, you can always move on to a more aggressive method as the next step.

Ken

[TripleF]

I've had a number of requests on what I do.....so before I post this to my blog (with pics) I'll post it here.....

If you are not going to disassemble a pocket knife, what tool/technique have you found that works best to clean out surface rust from the inside area the blades fold into? So far, I've used a little WD40, and then push some 0000 steel wool in there with a very small screw driver, to work the steel wool back and forth. Any better ideas? Tools? Thanks!

I've never taken a knife apart to clean it.