Pocketknife restoration..What are the limits?

[Nihonto]

After seeing Gary/Bladerunner's awesome case trappers, it brings to mind some questions about some old knives I have. The trappers that Gary was kind enough to take the time to post all look to be in mint unused condition. I wonder if they were put away years ago in this condition and maintained for a future collector to drool over, or were one or more of them restored to their original beauty? Could a pocketknife even be brought back to this condition if it had been stored improperly and began to rust and oxidize? I would say from the posts that Gary made on my previous thread his knives are mint and unused.
The reason I ask these questions is I have an old Craftsman Barlow that my dad used to carry and gave to me when I was a youngster. It was my first pocketknife and was really the impetus for this whole collecting curse that I have been stricken with. The problem is this knife along with several others I have from childhood were stored in a a box in the basement and have started rusting. I am gonna talk to Muskratman about doing some restoration, but I wanted to get a consensus from the group about restoration.
Can a knife be restored to like new condition? Should it be, or would it be better to just clean it, try and remove any active rust and corrosion?
If anyone has any knives they have had restoration work done on I would love to see pics, especially before and after would be great. On this Barlow value is really not an issue for me as it is really a sentimental knife and I will never sell it. However on other knives value must be considered. How is the value affected once the knife has been worked on? I would like to keep this Barlow as original as possible yet I would like it to be rust and wiggle free again.
If everyone will let me know what they think I would really appreciate it. Thanks to everyone in advance, and dont forget to post those pictures of restored knives if you have them.
Dave

[justold52]

Well I can help you some and others will too.

Look at it like this. If you find an ANTIQUE roll top desk over 100 years old and you see a for sale price on it for $1500.00 and the varnish is starting to crack. So you buy it and take it home to restore the varnish.
Now the roll top desk is worth $500.00. Because you did not know.

First thing to do is ask and YOU did just that. So congrads on not makeing this mistake.

Cleaning you knife with Ren-Wax after you oil it is best.

P.S. WELCOME to AAPK i see you are new here. This is a real good place to learn from. That knife is very very good and keep it to pass down to one in you familey some day.

[Blade Runner]

Nihonto, the tested trapper and the tested frame XX trappers have full blades but have been professionally cleaned(by previous owners). The rest are mint.knives. Both these knives were made to use and are extremely rare in mint condion. I have seen mint ones, but precious few. Every now and then mint examples of older knives are found in hardware store stock or the like. I heard several mint Case Tested knives were found recently in an attack in Bradford Pennsylvania, but these occurances are rare I'm sure. I am generally not real big on cleaning knives unless deteriating conditions warrant it. I like to see an older knife left with the decades of beautiful patina on it. Cleaning it to me takes the flavor right off. But alas more and more older knives are being cleaned so it is inevitable that most will be found in that condition. Even though that is my thoughts on the matter there are times when an old specimen is being attacked by active rust that can't be stopped. In this case I would rather clean it than watch it fade into oblivian. These are JMO and I'm sure you will hear many more.
Gary

[Karnack 2000]

I have seen many older, especially carbon blade knives dressed up and polished before someone trades them off. The most common method that I have encountered is the old buffing wheel and jewelers rouge. I also know people that use the likes of Mother's Polish or Brasso.

They also make an abbrasive knife eraser that will clean off tarnish, although my experience has been that it leaves tiny scratches in the metal, which are very visible.

I am not condoning these methods of cleaning, and polishing, I am merely stating what I have seen done to older, tarnished knives with carbon blades. More often than not it leaves the blades and or bolsters looking out of place compared with the rest of the knife. Often times the pitting on the blades is still visible, although the rest of the blade is shiny. It is my opinion that this is done to give the knife a 'faux' mint look to increase its appeal. I recently auctioned off a bayonet on ebay that had the original blueing on the blade, and the same bayonet with a highly polished shiny blade brought more than mine, even though it was obvious the blade had been buffed to give it more appeal.

I also have a civil war sword, and was told by an antique dealer not to clean or polish the blade, because the patina can be used to authenticate and or date the blade.

Having said that, shiny sells. That is why so many knives now are made of stainless steel. If I have a carbon blade in the case to sell and the blade gets discolored over time, I can't hardly sell the thing.