Clean without removing etching on blade?

[TripleF]

I have this Imperial Boy Scout Knife and the printing/etching is still on the main blade, but is covered with patina.....

How do I remove the patina/staining without affecting the etching?


TIA!

[0078]

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =4&t=38413


I posted same question a while ago, I used blue painters tape and steel wool to clean mine, it worked out fairly well. Good luck

[TripleF]

thanks dude....I fear though, that I don't really have an etch but a stamp as it looks fairly light.

[btrwtr]

I have used Scotch tape before. It allows you to still see the etch and makes placing the tape easier. Looking at you knife I am afraid you have a difficult task ahead. Good luck with it!

Wayne

[0078]

Scott if you have a dremel, try using the scotch brite wheel to get as close as you can to etch. If you have never used these wheels before? They work great, I always try to buy the highest grit I can find.

[muskrat man]

best bet would be to leave it alone if the etch is important to you JMO

[coffeecup]

I do some handsaw-sharpening; that often means cleaning up the saw before I can sharpen it. Many old saws were finely etched, often with quite beautiful pictures and logos. When I can, I try to save these. I often start the cleanup by wetting the blade with WD-40, then scraping it with a razor-blade scraper to remove the raised rust. Then I move to wet-or-dry paper wrapped around a stone, and move up from there. The backed abrasive takes off the surface, while leaving the etch since the etch is ever-so-slightly below the surface.

That won't work where you want to retain as much of the original finish as possible, because the wet-or-dry is making a new surface. The principal should be the same though: don't use something like steel wool or loose abrasive that will get into the etch and polish it as well, and use a lubricant like WD-40 or a light oil.

[muskrat man]

I do some handsaw-sharpening; that often means cleaning up the saw before I can sharpen it. Many old saws were finely etched, often with quite beautiful pictures and logos. When I can, I try to save these. I often start the cleanup by wetting the blade with WD-40, then scraping it with a razor-blade scraper to remove the raised rust. Then I move to wet-or-dry paper wrapped around a stone, and move up from there. The backed abrasive takes off the surface, while leaving the etch since the etch is ever-so-slightly below the surface.

That won't work where you want to retain as much of the original finish as possible, because the wet-or-dry is making a new surface. The principal should be the same though: don't use something like steel wool or loose abrasive that will get into the etch and polish it as well, and use a lubricant like WD-40 or a light oil.

If i'm not mistaken, most of the saws I have seen are acid etched, surface etches like this imperial likely wont fare as well as an acid etch when sanded on