Knife Cleaning

[dlr110]

Just want to show how I'm cleaning blades. These were some old knives I had in the bottom draw that were in poor shape and I wanted to show how I go about cleaning the blades. 1) I use a "Super Eraser" on the blades and bolsters. 2) I then put a light film of "Sentry Tuf-Glide" oil on the surface of the blade. 3) Depending on the condition of the blade I will start with 240 to 400 grit paper on my dremel tool. Heavy pressure at first and in one direction from tang to tip moving very slowly. Then only lightly touching the blade moving slowly tang to tip. 4) Now add more oil and go up to the next grit and repeat step 3) again. After 400 grit I will use a combination of 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000, and 10,000 girt paper depending on how the blade is looking. When I've achieved the finish I want with the paper I will finish by polishing the blade with FLITZ polish and buff clean.
Sometimes there are cases that I only use the Super Eraser and the FLITZ polish on the blade, because of the overall condition of the knife. Anyway here are 3 knives I just finished the main blades.
Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

[jmh58]

Well done David!!!
John

[bladecollectorr]

Just want to show how I'm cleaning blades...

Nice work! I use a similar process. Using a Dremel on them always scares me a bit. You have to be so careful that you keep the wheel spinning in the right direction or it could catch and throw the knife at you. Same deal on a standard buffing wheel. There is some risk involved.

Due to this I usually hand-sand the blades up to 10,000 grit. Often they are submerged in water (if that won't wreck the particular handle material) during the sanding so the paper doesn't clog and the black sanding residue doesn't stain anything. I use my Dremel with some Flitz for the final polish. Similar results. I expect using the Dremel throughout would be much faster.

[dlr110]

I love a challenge, what'da think?
This was a mistake I received from an ebay seller.
After I finish, I'll post more pic's.

[cudgee]

I love a challenge, what'da think?
This was a mistake I received from an ebay seller.
After I finish, I'll post more pic's.
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I have the utmost faith in your ability, looking forward to the end result.

[dlr110]

Okay, believe it or not this is the same knife 6 hours later. I wish I could take better pictures, because this knife looks much better in person than it does in my poor photos. There are no stains on the blades, that is shadows. Those blades have a mirror finish on them with only a couple of pits and scratches left in them.
Now this is a good knife ready for more years of use.

[cudgee]

Okay, believe it or not this is the same knife 6 hours later. I wish I could take better pictures, because this knife looks much better in person than it does in my poor photos. There are no stains on the blades, that is shadows. Those blades have a mirror finish on them with only a couple of pits and scratches left in them.
Now this is a good knife ready for more years of use.
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Mate you are a genius. " Outstanding ".

[Doc B]

I think she feels the love, of her new home!

[bighomer]

Good job.

[Reverand]

Looks good again!

[jmh58]

John

[dlr110]

The little souvenir knife was easy to clean, but the PAL was a challenge. It still has a log of
pitting and scratches on the main blade and the bolsters were in bad shape. So that is about
the extent of my knife cleaning abilities.
.
Before....

After....

Before.....

After....

[dlr110]

Here is a little CASE that I was able to clean up with some polishing cream.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that short of new scales there is no
way to correct the green tarnishing.

[edge213]

Here is a little CASE that I was able to clean up with some polishing cream.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that short of new scales there is no
way to correct the green tarnishing.
20200706_095926.jpg

You are correct. From my experience it will only get worse.

[dlr110]

Craftsman U.S.A. 9473 Mini-Stockman 2 2/4" Long Closed.
After I cleaned this little knife up it was almost as if it came alive.
Everything is in great shape. It's tight, no wobble and the snap is
crisp in every blade. I think this was one of my best finds in a while
Now if I can find out who the exact maker was and around what year.

[cudgee]

Craftsman U.S.A. 9473 Mini-Stockman 2 2/4" Long Closed.
After I cleaned this little knife up it was almost as if it came alive.
Everything is in great shape. It's tight, no wobble and the snap is
crisp in every blade. I think this was one of my best finds in a while
Now if I can find out who the exact maker was and around what year.

That is a GOOD job.

[TPK]

Wow David! Those are some impressive improvments! Thanks for sharing that. One more reason why I need one of those tools!
I really like that Case! Nice!

[Jeffinn]

Craftsman U.S.A. 9473 Mini-Stockman 2 2/4" Long Closed.
After I cleaned this little knife up it was almost as if it came alive.
Everything is in great shape. It's tight, no wobble and the snap is
crisp in every blade. I think this was one of my best finds in a while
Now if I can find out who the exact maker was and around what year.

That’s some outstanding work!
Bringing blades back to life is a skill I haven’t quite mastered yet. And it’s one of those techniques that really brings an old knife back to life.
Impressive work!
Jeff

[dlr110]

Craftsman U.S.A. 9473 Mini-Stockman 2 2/4" Long Closed.
After I cleaned this little knife up it was almost as if it came alive.
Everything is in great shape. It's tight, no wobble and the snap is
crisp in every blade. I think this was one of my best finds in a while
Now if I can find out who the exact maker was and around what year.

That’s some outstanding work!
Bringing blades back to life is a skill I haven’t quite mastered yet. And it’s one of those techniques that really brings an old knife back to life.
Impressive work!
Jeff

Thanks Jeff, Tom & cudgee, I have some more I'm working on and will post some pic's.

[dlr110]

Here's 3 rusty messes I got and cleaned up.

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

[cudgee]

Here's 3 rusty messes I got and cleaned up.
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You could start a little cottage industry.

[knife7knut]

Here is one that most would probably have passed by as too far gone. I like challenges so I got it(the guy gave it to me)and decided to try my hand at rejuvenating it. The blades although quite corroded by the handles out-gassing were actually better than they looked.
The first order of business was getting rid of the handles.When I removed them I noticed that the out-gassing had corroded the brass liners to the point that they started to crack at the center rivet.This is a common problem with celluloid degradation.
Once they were removed I scrubbed the liners with some spray battery cleaner for automobiles(I think it is mostly baking soda)and a stiff nylon brush.Dried them and polished with a gray scuff pad.There are two grades of scuff pads:gray(fine)and red(coarse).I use both in my work and keep the used ones around for cleaning knives.
I made a pattern for the handles by cutting an index card(5x7)to fit between the bolsters and pressed it over the handle rivets which were still in place.I taped these to a couple pieces of scrap wood from an old cigar box and drilled the holes for the pins.I then cut them to fit between the bolsters and temporarily installed them one at a time.I trimmed the sides to fit using a sharp knife and finished them with a file and 100 grit sandpaper. I then rounded the tops down to the height of the bolsters and then glued them into place with epoxy. Final finish was with 220 grit paper and a bit of Mother's Mag Wheel Polish. I left them that way for awhile until I decided to try jigging them to look like bone. For this I used a small ball mill bit and a Foredom die grinder.I found that doing them one row at a time was fairly easy and the spacing could be varied a bit.After this I rubbed them lightly with Mother's again just to remove any rough edges.

[cudgee]

Simply "Brilliant". I am in awe, great job and well done.

[dlr110]

Yes, double what cudgee said.

[cudgee]

Also I cleaned the handles on all of them with an old
favorite of my mom's, Murphy Oil Soap and it work like a charm and left
no film or residue.
.
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Murphy's works wonders. Also, for wood handles, if you get some that have dents or impressions, sometimes you can take a moist cloth, wrap over them, then take a steam iron and hold it about 1/2 to 1 inch from the wood surface and steam it. Sometimes it will pull the dent out as well as pull out some of the oils that may have soaked in the wood from use over the years. This is an old trick that a lot of old Curio & Relic Firearm collectors use on some of the older walnut and beach stocks.

This is also a good method to use when you've cleaned walnut and want to re-impregnate it with boiled linseed oil. Take a clean cloth, rub in some boiled linseed oil on the wood, then take a cloth with boiled linseed oil, place on the wood, then heat it with a old hair dryer. Let it cool and repeat. Then finish rubbing down with a lint free cloth.

Just tried your method on some Oak scales that some sweat and hand oils had started to penetrate into the wood, not really bad but enough to start darkening the wood. I just wanted to get them back to as close to there original state as i could. Worked a treat with the damp cloth and steam, and i can see how this method might get small indentations drawn out. When the wood had completely dried out, it felt like it had a fur across it, like tiny hair was standing up. Going to smooth it back with some 000 steel wool, then apply some neutral colored polish and give it a good buff, should come up a treat. But thanks for the info, i must admit i was a bit dubious at first, but it does work, and is handy to know for the future. Those old methods that people have been using before modern technology are sometimes the best way to do things. Thanks again, and you have a good week mate.