What is acceptable cleaning of vintage knives?

[ludwig26]

Ive only been collecting a few short months and have learned a lot from this forum, for that I thank you.
I have took members advice and now use semi chrome and renaissance wax with a drop of 3in 1 on the joints of all my knives. Is this acceptable cleaning practice? I see a lot of knives for sale that says never cleaned. I went to my first knife show and most dealers I talked to sold semi chrome and renwax. Am i missing something? Am I hurting the value of my knives?

[djknife13]

I suspect that by not cleaning, they mean not sanded or buffed. You are not going to hurt a vintage knife by carefully removing dried on oil deposits or grime. A number 2 pencil works good for that. Leaving that on and opening a knife will wear it out faster. Just leave as much of the original finish on the knife as possible. I've seen tables at knife shows full of over shined sparkling knives that wreak of buffing compound damage. ___Dave

[Mumbleypeg]

The key to cleaning a knife is (my opinion) not removing any material that is original to the knife, whether it's metal or handle material. As Dave pointed out already, a lead pencil is great for removing light rust and tarnish without removing metal.

Anything abrasive enough to remove metal should be used with great care. Slow and patient is the way to go. Use elbow grease, not anything motorized like a dremel! Once you've overdone it, it's too late, the damage is done. Pick up a couple of inexpensive rusty or tarnished old junkers to practice on before you tackle a real keeper.

There's several threads here on AAPK forums regarding knife cleaning and maintenance. You can find them by using the search function.

Ken

[ludwig26]

I use very little of the semi chrome if needed at all. Mostly just a case cloth and then renwax. On knives i had wiped down with mineral oil I use just a dab of rubbing alcohol to cut the oil off of blades only and then wipe dry with a soft cloth before waxing. Im storing them in sack ups.
Ive cleaned up a couple of old knives with patina and noticed the semi chrome really didn't affect the patina of the knife at all. Most of my knives are in near mint condition and I just want to keep them nice.

[TripleF]

Acceptable is defined by the owner!!

[cato]

how do you like me now....

[gsmith7158]

Bravo Cato!
First rate job. That baby has got the WOW FACTOR now.

[ken98k]

how do you like me now....

[TripleF]

Knice cato!!!

I got one.....

[cato]

Nice 3 F ,

I am with mumbleypeg, on slow and steady, most of the cleaning is knowing when to stop

and which knives to clean , i was able to get a couple of custom fixed blades, i have been working
on for awhile cleaning up, they were mainly neglected with light sharping , but my only ones

this one is the L. E. (RED) BROWN HAPPY WITH THE WAY IT IS TURNING OUT

[XxTestedxX]

Cleaning by a pro can add to the value of an old knife, the truth is.. People like shiney things.

If you don't believe that, follow 54Rodgers on eBay; sell a lot of "openly cleaned" knives.. An they go $$

[gsmith7158]

Knice cato!!!

I got one.....

Scott excellent job. You are the master and I the student.

[wlf]

Cleaning by a pro can add to the value of an old knife, the truth is.. People like shiney things.

If you don't believe that, follow 54Rodgers on eBay; sell a lot of "openly cleaned" knives.. An they go $$

You are mostly right, but I ask him to not clean the knives he finds for me.I don't like rust,but I do like grind lines and original finish.

[TripleF]

Knice cato!!!

I got one.....

Scott excellent job. You are the master and I the student.

Honored you think so bud!!

[LongBlade]

No doubt a lot of opinions on this and in the end it is what you want to accomplish... personally I detest buffed knife blades IF the knife was indeed a real oldie for collection -.. No doubt gently taking off rust especially red rust which is active deterioration (black staining I leave and is not active if I understand all correctly) - For active rust and as I learned here the pencil eraser or the lead side of pencil if eraser doesn't work... sometimes on heavier rust spots I let some oil sit on it for up to a day and than use the lead pencil (not the eraser with oil) and in fact have used Xtrafine steel wool (0000) with some oil when rust is abit of an issue on bolsters or blades - believe me the 0000 xtrafine steel wool with a bit of oil leaves patina and does not scratch the metal ... key word here - Gentle cleaning and I tried these on practice knives before anything worth keeping... The only time I used semi was on bolsters that were pretty heavily spotted with rust - don't try to buy many that way but this one couldnt be passed up... But in the end and for me and whenever possible I just clean out the liners with small wooden sticks (coffee stirrers for example) and a cloth with oil (sometimes after I use TufGlide cloth in the liners - bottom line is to get out all the lint and accumulation gunk - and some of those knives have lint from pants worn in the 1800s , next get gunk out of pivots with mineral oil, Quick Release on very old blades which need a good kick start to snap.., mostly mineral oil for lubing and rubbing down handles (BUT NOT CELLULOID - personally and advised by many here don't do anything to the celluloid if you have them and keep separate from other knives)... I don't want to remove any of the old beauty just have them lubed and clean - love patina and old aged bone etc etc ... just my 2 cents... (also if you do a search on the forum you will find many related topics regarding these type of questions but someone here is always helpful when in doubt ... I just try but not as experienced as many on here....

[terryl308]

First off, I try not to buy anything that is too far gone. But if I do run into a knife that needs a little tender care, I, like Longblade, use 0000 steel wool and some oil, then oil the pivot points, put a little mineral oil on the covers and put it up in a Sac Up. I've never tried the lead pencil thing, guess I should, sounds like it works cause a lot of members here use it. A hard buffing wheel is probably the worst thing you can use, I have seen a lot of guns and knife blades ruined by over buffing. I can spot them a mile away! I like original grind lines and a little patina doesn't hurt anything. Just get rid of the red rust. Just my 2 cents worth, keep collecting

Terry

[ludwig26]

Thank you guys for your input. Those are some amazing results your getting. I used the search engine and read everything I could on the topic.I cleaned up an old Camillus 99, it came out ok and I have an old Stockman on the way. The pencil lead trick on little rust spots works very nice.
Thanks again, Kerry

[bighomer]

Everything I know about knife cleaning I've learned on here, elbow grease and time are the most important thing seems to me. I bought a rust eraser from fellow member Orvet it works good on red rust, I use it with the lead pencil trick .works for me.

[rea1eye]

Just got an hour ago in the mail a great used Case knife,1970. I already spent 45 min.
doing the initial steps:

Wiping down with 70 % isopropyl alcolol the entire knife including the insides.
Using warm water and a Water Pik, cleaning the insides ( not too much dirt but alot of rust)
Spraying the entire knife ( except the scales) with WD-40. Will leave until morning and
then work from there. Clean gently and cautiously.

Very excited about the future outcome. I wish I had a dozen more coming but for the last
4 ebay auctions I only won 1.


Bob

[ludwig26]

Ill check back in I can't wait to see the results.
Kerry

[JohnR]

I try to clean a vintage knife without taking away its hard earned patina and history. I soak the knife overnight in mineral oil, use 0000 steel wool, lots of q-tips. For rust I have found a product, Big 45 Metal Cleaner works well with out damaging metal, I use it with plenty of mineral oil and it cuts the rust right off.
http://www.big45.com
I finish up with some green buffing compound on a strap of leather and hand buff, never a buffing wheel.

I recently found an unused but rusted Case Tested Barlow, here are the before and after pictures. The rust is gone, still has the staining from the rust but I would rather have that than the shiny over buffed look.

[stockman]

John Nice job on the Barlow. Nice knife.

Harold

[rea1eye]

Here is the Case Knife 1970 Medium Jack that I cleaned up.

It turned out pretty good. Got the snap back to it. The blades

were pretty heavy with rust. The pen blade is really small--- the

previous owner must have used it extensively (I guess it will be

really useful if you need a very small blade) Bolsters cleaned up well.

27 gm 3.25 inches long

First picture is before cleaning.

Bob