All About Pocket Knives

I have recently aquired a 1978 Case Stag Red Letter set Stockman. The knife has been abused. Someone has taken some sort of really strong stuff (bleach?) and has completely removed the outer sealing from the beautiful stag handles! I'm sure I could send the thing to Case and get it repaired but I decided to ask around and see if there might be something I could do myself to bring back the shine to the stag. Other than the dull stag handles and a tiny hair-liner at a pin, this knife is darned near mint! Help!

On the inexpensive side...
1. A soaking in food grade mineral oil (about 4 hours usually does it). Wipe off excess with a soft cotton cloth...then blow out the knife with air...wipe off once more.
2. A coat of neutral shoe polish...then buff with a soft cloth or dry chamois.

There are other ways...but this one is inexpensive and worth a try.

Good luck,

Bill

Thanks, Bill, for your quick reply! Showing my ignorance now...When you say "food grade" mineral oil, are you referring to "vegetable oil"? If so, I'm going to give your suggestion a try, as it certainly can't hurt the knife!

No vegetable oil!!! It can go rancid, especially if the scales soak it up pretty well. It will work but who wants to chance it?

Mineral oil, the type you can swallow as a laxitive, or as used on cutting boards in food prep...is available at any pharmacy. You can use baby oil (same thing), BUT it smells perfumed... ... Although Japanese sword oil is just mineral oil with Camellia fragrance....your call.

Just my experience.

Bill

EDITED:
2 ll's in Camellia. I'm sure no Botanist...

Mineral oil it is (might even take a swallow or two...help with muh regularity)! I'll get some post haste and give it the old college try! Thanks again for your assistance!!! I'll let you know how it all turns out.

OK... This could get dangerous, but you could get some dark color back if you carefully torch the scales with flame.

I've seen some people do this with light colored bone scales and it looks pretty good. Case does this with genuine stag scales and lately some bone scales themselves.

Only problem is that you might end up with "burnt stag" or worse if you don't know what your doing.

Also, it would probably decrease the value of the knife from a collector's standpoint.

Bryan

Thanks for the advice...think I'll pass. I am not steady-handed enough; besides, the stag handles are in great shape, other than the hairline crack at the pin. I have soaked the knife in mineral oil for 4.5 hours, blew it dry with my compressor, and applied about four coats of neutral shoe polish on it. So far, the shine alludes me, but I figure it'll take several more coats of polish to bring on a really nice sheen. I wonder what the factory uses to create the nice shine on its knives? Thanks again for your help! Wish me luck, 'cause this really is a nice little Stockman.

Many knifemakers use a superglue type finish on natural materials.

If the simple fix yields no satisfactory results, you might try emailing Case before you send it in, but that may be the best course.

Bill

I usually just buff stag with Pink Scratchless rouge on my buffer. I use a medium speed and a loose muslin buff (Please familiarize yourself with the safety rules for buffing before attempting) This leaves a very nice shine. I then would soak it down with good ole WD-40 and clean off all the reside. Then I reccomend a good quality wax like Rennaissance wax or I have used Johnson's wood floor wax. I have used this method along with the flame treatment on very weathered elk horn with good results. This antler was hanging on a barn for years and faded completely white.

JMHO

Jeff

hairstonjg,

As you can see, Jeff knows his stuff and does great work. So if you have a buffer, there are some good hints.
My method is for mechanically lacking/challenged folks, like me.

Nice work there Jeff.

Bill