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Comment by Rick Hooper on January 31, 2013 at 23:23

Tarnish and light rust, that's patina, then oil and wipe off the excess. Heavy rust with pitting, use scotchbrite, buff with rouge and polish, then hope for the best. Usually bad news. But on a really scarce one , you have little choice. Gun blue the imperfections, and lightly buff, repeat then oil. Better yet just don't buy rusty ones!

Comment by Lee Smith on January 30, 2013 at 18:24

Lot of good points to think about. lol

Comment by Brad T. on January 30, 2013 at 9:24

I always do a like cleaning of everything I buy, just to see anything the seller missed. If after the preliminary cleaning I see a reason to go further I do. On occasion it has happened that I got more than what I paid for and those are the moments a collector relishes.
If the the blades are tight and snap hard: Clean it! You might have something worth keeping.
If they aren't: Wipe it down & oil the joints.

Comment by Ron Cooper on January 30, 2013 at 3:55

Lee, I'll chime in with my 2 cents worth and probably leave you just as confused as you already are -- if not more so?

IMO it's a judgment call, and a tough one at that. I think it would have to be on a knife to knife basis. If it is a rare vintage knife that could possibly have a high monetary value, I would try to handle it a little as possible. I would not clean it and especially not sharpened it! The only time I would sharpen a knife that was intended for re-sale would be if the buyer stipulated or expressly asked me to do so. On a relatively common knife with a low anticipated monetary value I would probably clean it up a little to enhance its appearance and hopefully get a better price for it. Again, I would not sharpen it unless I was asked to do so.

Since I don't yet sell any knives, but do buy older ones all the time, I will confess to cleaning my new purchases almost immediately upon receiving them. And if I plan on using one I will sharpen it, too. But even then it's on a knife to knife basis. The only time that I expect to get a really clean knife is when I buy a new one.

Now that the waters have been muddied a little bit more with my response I feel like my work here is done. So I will simply bid you good night and good luck. Out.

Comment by Lee Smith on January 29, 2013 at 20:46

Thanks both of you. I need all the help I can get.

Comment by Stanley May on January 29, 2013 at 20:41

Keep in mind that I am not an expert and these are my thoughts.  I have been trying to sell knives for a couple of years.  At a very small corner of an antique mall and on ebay.  I think in most cases, a knife is worth generally cleaning up, oiling, cleaning out the liners, and making sure the knife functions correctly.  On some knives I also polish the blades and bolsters to a mirror like quality.  I have polishing equipment, and I enjoy polishing.  However on an old knife quite often you do NOT want to do any polishing.  It can destroy the patina, and most collectors want that patina.  It can substantially reduce the value of the knife to do so.  The problem I often have is making that decision.  Do I polish it or not.  I often resort to looking at examples on ebay or internet.  One time I got an old Case trapper, and someone who did not know what they were doing tried to sharpen it or polish it or something with a Dremel Tool.  The blades looked like a train wreck.  So I spent the time to polish them and I am sure it was the right thing to do.  Without polishing it the knife looked terrible even though it had patina.  I still have the knife in my old knife collection, but I am pretty sure the knife would sell for more polished than to have left it alone.  Another thing that clouds the picture is everyone's opinion is different.  Finally I sharpen the knives unless it is a real collectors piece or the customer does not want it.

At any rate I think almost any knife would benefit from a good cleaning and oiling.  Also I think leaving a light coat of something like Rem oil on the blades (protects it from corrosion) is a good idea, especially on non-stainless steel blades.

Like I said, I am no expert, but this is how I generally prepare a knife for sale.

 

Comment by Jan Carter on January 29, 2013 at 18:25

Personally...I always wonder why the knife had to cleaned before it was offered for sale.  Just my personal thoughts