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How do you clean your vintage knives
I'm new to knife collecting and over the week been buying knives at estate sales and Craigslist,All the knives I've acquired have been either rusty or covered in black gunk on the blade. So my question to the community is how do you clean collectable knives that have rust and gunk on the blade?( materials you use, cleaners, etc.) Thank you for the info.
Below are some pictures on my knives that need to be cleaned so you can get a idea of what I mean.
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Permalink Reply by Syd Carr on
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Ha, I wish! Problem is even when I do clean up, it doesn't look like it.
I was joking with a thrift store employee just today about a bolo tie they had for sale, (a western string tie), told them I liked the tie but it was of no use to me anymore because it would be totally hidden behind my beard. Seriously, I could wear a tux every day but all anyone ever seems to notice is the beard. When I was in Georgia the comments were always about Duck Dynasty, out here it's always a ZZ Top reference. Funny thing is I've met Billy Gibbons, (of ZZ Top), a few times, and I was looking like Billy long before Billy looked like Billy. He's a knife lover too, but he can afford any knife he wants, I can't.
Jan Carter said:I like it like it is, old & stained, yet still sporting all it's parts....just like it's new owner.
LOL, well I guess my question is do you clean up as well as this scout did?
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Ok, here is before and after photos and a different de-rusting technique. This is a WWII-era Kutmaster TL-29 Electricians Knife I recently acquired at a local antique store for $12, (The TL-29 is worn off, but the impressions of it remain visible on the handle under magnification). The first photo is before, (but after a buffing with a soft wire dremel brush to remove the crusty stuff), there is still a lot of visible rust, especially inside the pitting. This time I tried an alternate method and suspended the blades in white vinegar for four hours, then "sanded" them with aluminum foil. After that I thoroughly rinsed them in water, then had another go with the soft bristle dremel brush. I finished with a cloth buffing wheel, which came away blackened, (the aluminum foil did too). Now the blades are darker, but the coloration is more even across the blades. The blades are now silky smooth to the feel, with no signs of visible corrosion anywhere. I'm pretty happy with the results. Photos #2, 3, 4 & 5 are "after".
Here is before soaking in vinegar and "sanding" with aluminum foil:
And here are the "after" photos:
You can barely make out part of the "TL-29" on the handle in the photo below, it looks like it was purposely defaced to me, but it WAS there at one time:
Dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna get me another jar of white vinegar, looks like it worked pretty good to me.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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Vinegar is a great way to add patina to a carbon blade. Kudos to you for combining that with the aluminum foil sanding, it seems to have cleared up any pitting issues very well. So after the cleaning are you using a wax or an oil to preserve?
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Hi Jan.
I'm using a beeswax which is formulated for use on hardwood guitar fretboards, it has the consistency of very stiff pudding, kinda like auto paste wax. It penetrates hardwoods, but also coats the metal, so it treats both blade and handles on this knife. The photos were taken before I used the wax. I use the same stuff on my leather sheaths, it penetrates leather really well, so it will soften stiff leathers and keep them supple & soft, (though it darkens leather a bit). I got tired of getting oily fingers when handling carbon bladed knives, so I started using that wax, only problem is it is expensive. It costs about $25 per small tin, but it does wonders and lasts a long time. I only use a drop of oil sparingly on the joint of the blade(s).
The only drawback to this cleaning method is that it darkens, or adds "patina" like you mentioned, so I would only use vinegar on an uber rusty, heavily pitted blade, but it certainly removed the rust and smoothed out the pitting. If you compare before and after photos closely you can see the small words "To Release Push Blade Lock To Left" imprinted in small letters on the screwdriver blade in the first photo. After the vinegar that lettering is pretty much gone, so it's a trade off. Personally I think it improved this knife by giving a dark(er), but even coloration to the blades, but it might not be desirable to do so on others.
I'm diggin' it, other than those itty bitty letters being gone the knife looks a lot better IMHO.
Jan Carter said:Vinegar is a great way to add patina to a carbon blade. Kudos to you for combining that with the aluminum foil sanding, it seems to have cleared up any pitting issues very well. So after the cleaning are you using a wax or an oil to preserve?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Squier on
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The vinigar is an acid so it etches the metal a bit and greys it. Im with you Syd on waxing, it works as well for me as oil and looks better. If you dont use the knife for cutting it will last a long time as a protectant. Ive used butchers wax, paste wax and Renesance Wax and thay all dothe trick.
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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on -
Syd--Nice restore on your WW2 Utica Kutmaster-- BTW, the TL stood for Tool Linesman-Great buy for $12, as these can go for $45-60.- As long as remnants of the TL-29 remain, I would not worry too much.-Those TL-29 markings were mostly lightly put on, just enough to get past an inspectpr- True of all brands being supplied to the military. More often than not, the TL-29 wore off the handle with normal usage. Great find on an old beauty !!
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Thanks for giving me a heads up in our earlier conversation about the knife John. Being in a tourist area with a major summer weekend & the crowds that follow upon us, I didn't want the knife to get scooped up before I could get back to it, so I made a special trip into town and grabbed it before the weekend rush. Really glad I did, the knife came out looking and working great.I have a hunch about the markings. That side of the handle looked like someone actually took their fingernail and purposely chipped the numbers off, (the other side is smooth and unscratched). I've seen a few GI-issued items defaced that way when ex-soldiers/sailors didn't want to get caught with government issued property in their possession. Many things they were issued while they were in, even guns sometimes, were just kept by their users, even though they were technically required to return them when they were discharged. I had an uncle who just kinda kept his .45 Auto sidearm after the war. He would show it to us sometimes, but he was always afraid he would get caught with it so he wouldn't let us use it. He eventually filed the serial numbers off, (which of course made it even more illegal). He ultimately turned it in anonymously to be cut up and destroyed. I've also seen hand tools defaced in similar ways for the same reasons, a lot of guys just pocketed the tools that they used while serving, and most of those were stamped or marked as US Property somewhere. At least the markings are somewhat evident under magnification on this one.
One thing cool about this knife is it's beefy utility. When extended and locked, it is a fully functional and adequate screwdriver, the handle even reminds me of antique screwdrivers I have, so it is a rugged knife to be sure. It was worth blowing my swap meet budget for the week on it.
John McCain said:
Syd--Nice restore on your WW2 Utica Kutmaster-- BTW, the TL stood for Tool Linesman-Great buy for $12, as these can go for $45-60.- As long as remnants of the TL-29 remain, I would not worry too much.-Those TL-29 markings were mostly lightly put on, just enough to get past an inspectpr- True of all brands being supplied to the military. More often than not, the TL-29 wore off the handle with normal usage. Great find on an old beauty !!
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Here is a "before" photo of a newly acquired Camillus TL-29 type electricians knife I found at the swap today. I have mechanically cleaned it and removed all the active rust I could get to, (Never Dull then softly Dremel brushed it, blades are now smooth to the touch), so all that's left is carbon staining. I'm not sure if I will use vinegar, or if I'll soak it in Coca Cola, lime juice, or some other acidic substance, but I'll post "after" photos in a coupla days to show you how it came out.
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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on
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That's a nice electricians knife, Syd. Keep us posted.
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Jan, did you ever try the Evaporust on anything yet? Imcurious what it does to the non rusty metal. Does it etch it some or leave it the way it is. I guess I need to get some.
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Michael,
I apologize I meant to tell you we did not try it. The item we were going to try it on was rather large and Donnie just used a wire wheel on it before painting it
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