All About Pocket Knives

I am trying out a new (to me) product for cleaning old knives that may have some rust as well as other grunge on them. It is bronze wool and it is very similar to the more familiar steel wool, but is much less likely to scratch steel blades as bronze is a softer metal. I got this from Amazon, and is the fine grade. I used it on a 22 rifle I recently bought at a pawnshop that had a couple of spots of rust on the action and barrel. It removed those spots without affecting the bluing. I used a light wiping action rather than a high pressure approach. I have not yet had a chance to use it on blades with an etch, so if someone tries that I would like a report.

Thanks for the tip, OC.

Thanks for sharing!
I was curious how the "Fine" grade compared to 0000 steel wool but this cleared things up, wet application seems to be a shining feature for the bronze too.

After bore brushes bronze wool has been my most used cleaning tool for stainless steel revolvers for 50 years. If your local Ace Hardware does not have it on the shelf in their paint section they can order it out of their supply chain. Marine stores near large moorage docks have it because strands of steel wool left behind in varnish can create rust streaks. Brownell's Gunsmithing Supply also has it.

I hate home polished stainless steel revolvers. To my eye Mother's Mag and similar metal polishes leave them with zero original finish. Bronze wool easily cleans the black off the front of cylinders and other fouling without changing the fine lines left by the factory's polishing. I mostly use fine bronze wool but medium and coarse have their uses. However, do not not lead the innocent to believe bronze wool does not thin then eventually remove bluing. As with steel wool you can get away with using it with a light touch sparingly.

There are other metal wools including aluminum wool which I suppose would work on bronze like bronze wool works on steel.

Before and after shots using bronze wool for about 5 minutes.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2026 11:26 pm Before and after shots using bronze wool for about 5 minutes.

Thanks for posting the photos.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2026 11:26 pm Before and after shots using bronze wool for about 5 minutes.

That looks good. Taking off the bad stuff, but leaving the good stuff!

Thanks, gents, I agree.