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How do you clean your vintage knives

Howdy from Texas y'all,
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 Flitz Polish on September 16, 2015 at 16:48

Thanks for the mention Doug, the knife looks fantastic!

Doug Webber said:

It looks like you didn't go far enough with a coarse grit. I start with 320 grit dry. Circles don't work.I wrap the sand paper around a block of wood, put heavy pressure on the blade and go back and forth until I have 95% of the divots out. Then sand it straight up and down...90 degrees to what you did first. the first time you sand, you leave groves in the steel. if you don't sand cross grain and just go to the next grit all you do is fold the top of those little ridges over. You have to do it on a hard surface so the blade is flat. after the 320 dry, I use 600, 1200 , and 2000 wet. You have to go both both directions with each grit. After the 2000 it should be almost mirror shine. Then I use green buffing compound but at a very low speed and with very little pressue. Push too hard or use too high a speed and the divots start popping out again. I wipe the blades down with a wool cloth and then use Flitz polish...low speed again, To clean the jigging I dip the knife in warm water and dish soap and use a nylon brush on the dremel. After getting it good and clean with soap and water I put enough Flitz on the bone to cover the jigging and get after it with the same nylon bristle wheel. That really cleans the jigging out. Then polish with a cloth wheel. For the bolsters I use black, then green and then blue buffing compound...unless there are some real gouges, then I use some Dremel's 511E and 512E finishing abrasive buffs...The are 180,280 and 320 grit. Their 403 and 404 nylon bristle brush work the best for cleaning the jigging. I use the 414 and 429 felt polishing wheels for buffing compound and then the 423E cloth polishing wheel for the final shine with Flitz. Those numbers are just for reference so you see what I'm talking about. I buy other cheaper ones off Ebay.

1st 320

2nd 320

1st wet 600

2nd wet 600

after 1200