And the winner of the Hanshee is.......

Originally posted by JDP .....I personally would go at the blade a bit to soften the scratches left by steel wool........ The same goes for the grip. .........If you ever decide to have a scabbard made for it I can give you some hints.
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Great minds..............:D

I'm guessing by the time I finish with the blade I will have
handled the handle enough with oily hands that the
patina will mostly be rubbed away.

Hadn't thought about a scabbard.

But it's a great idea.

Appreciate any specific pix you could point out links to?

BTW, got the Gurkha booklet today.
Hope to have time it read it soon.
 
Originally posted by JDP
I am very glad that this great old kukri is in good hands and will be well treated. I also hope you get a chance to show Yvsa or anyone who never has held a hanshee.
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I'm waiting with bated anxiety to be able to hold this knife!!!!:D

Originally posted by ddean
I'm guessing by the time I finish with the blade I will have
handled the handle enough with oily hands that the
patina will mostly be rubbed away.
Click to expand...

I would try some Murphy's Oil Soap first of all and if that didn't work then one of these new citrus based cleaners.
The best thing, in my mind, would be to leave the patina while removing the years of grime. If abrasives are used on the handle it will remove the patina.
Old wood develops a patina under the old finish so the trick is to clean it without damageing the patina.
It can be done and the results are worth almost anything in the way of waiting and being patient.:)
Walosi will probably be better at describing the proper treatment than I.;)
 
Dean - The "middle ground", in my lexicon, is to clean away any grime without disturbing signs of age. Too many try to make something new out of something that should be valued for WHEN it came from, as well as where.

The Murphys Soap, dipped from the bottle neck and spread with a finger, should soften hardened skin oils and dirt compacted on the wood. Spread it lighty, let it stand for 10-15 minutes, and rub it off gently with a soft cloth (ye olde T shirt again). It may take several trys, but slowly slowly catchee monkey. The Murphys is an all-vegetable concoction, and repeated applicaions won't harm the wood. If you are too heavy/vigorous, you could effect the coloring that has aged into the wood.I don't consider a task like this to be a refinishing job...more of a rehabilitation thing. Once clean, I would put on a couple of coats of Ballistol, which is a good preservative as well as a sealer (recommended for antique furniture, and compatible with any residual Murphys). It will also light up the grain/figure, but not as dramatically as a full oil refinish, which would ruin the character of the old darlin'.

If you intend to even the blade finish, try Flitz or SimiChrome with 0000 steel wool. If there are deeper scratches that you feel absolutely have to come out, use something like 800 grit wet or dry, all strokes in a single direction, evenly, and then the Flitz or Simi and 0000. This, done very lightly, should leave an antique grey tone. Personally, I'd use the polish and steel wool, and consider any scratches not removed to be service stripes. All us old ones gots hashmarks, even if they're only on our shorts.
 
Thanks Bro.:)
Dean, I have some Ballistol of which my brother spoke. I would be glad to give you a little of it.:D
 
Yvsa: Thanks. I'll be in touch.

Walosi: Thanks. Appreciate the details.

Isn't Ballistol a lubricating oil?

BTW, I grew up spending many weekends of many summers
over at Barren Reservior. Brings back good memories.
 
I knew you'd get good advice with these guys. I think they all appreciate a fine old kukri when they see it.

The patina will not come off just from handling no matter how much oil is on your hands. It has to be chemically removed so be very careful.

AArdvark: sale of over 27 "extras" coming up including some non-kukri items that may be of interest to Indo-Persian collectors. Watch for my posting or Beo's in the next few days. There are some good deals waiting for you guys. No pix on this forum, but pictures and descriptions will be thru a link or direct inquiries to me.
 
Ive talked with a few dealers, and here are some recommendations on what to do with "new" aquisitions.

Firstly, its good to see what youre working with, before you determine what steps should be taken next.

Starting with the blade, you can remove dirt, oil, and grime on the blade with a good cleaning with acetone. Also really helps if there is any cosmoline on the blade.

Next, light cleaning of wood parts with warm soapy water. Murphy's will work, but be careful cause the stuff can strip certain finishes. I know a few dealers use just plain old dish soap. However, there is special anti-fungal soap, that is super gentle, and used by museums. But from what my dealer friends tell me, its real similar to dish soap, and the results arent really that much better, unless there is a fungus/mold problem. The key is gentle cleaning, dont soak the wood, especially since excess moisture can lead to mold/fungus/rot. If youre really worried, a warm soapy wash-cloth, and light tamping will allow you to go slow. Though, you can just go ahead and wash away, normally if you are confident.

Now, after these initial cleaning, its time to ascertain what further work needs to be done. Live rust on the blade would be a first priority. That can be taken care of with gentle rubbing with #0000 steel wool. The reason for using #0000 steel wool, is that hopefully the fine wool will break apart before scratching the patina, but is strong enough to take off live rust. If the rust is stubborn, soaking in a penetrating oil like WD-40 will help loosen it (ballistol will work, probably real good, but for just loosening the rust its kinda over-kill), for another session of wooling. For stiffer rust you can use a penny, again the softer vs harder material logic. Some people have been known to use antler. If youve done this alot, you can actaully use something harder, like a dental pick, but I do not recommend it unless youre used to doing this stuff. Just remember to take things slowly, and when in doubt, dont do anything.

As for polishing out scratches, without seeing how deep the scratches are, and where they are, it is not something I would recommend. Firstly, you will remove patina, and secondly, it can cause a blotchy finish (eg. polish spots vs non). Removal of live rust can go a long way of evening, out the finish, but often Ive noticed that what appear's to be scratches to the patina, were in fact grind marks from when the blade was last sharpened. Realistically, there aint a real way to re-polish a blade, and leave patina intact. In the end you can only compromise with how much patina you remove, and how much you even out the finish. But realistically, scratches have a way of being much deeper than they appear, and without going through a full polish, trying to polish them out can be more damage than good. But then its you khukri.

Now for the wood, Ive found #0000 steel wool is real good at further removing dirt/muck that couldnt be removed in previous washing, without damaging finish/patina. Just be careful, and take thing as they come. If the finish isnt too bad, a good furniture polish is good for up-keep. However, Ive re-finished quite a few neglected items, with a special oil blend, but I only recommend that if there are serious cracks/dry-rot.

Hope that helps some.
 
Dean - Now that we've flooded you with all this advice, let me put it into perspective - All of my experience comes from gun-related steel and wood. Look up Feds' site. The wood and steel he is used to is hand-forged Pacific Rim stuff, years and years old, and usually exposed to salt water a great deal of the time it has been around. He ain't no amateur. The only reservation I have is using anything with water content on old wood, which is why I'm so hot on Murphys and Ballistol. Both are all vegetable oil. The Ballistol is sort of a German WD-40, but I've found it better on wood than on steels, and it is too expensive to use on both.
 
A brief testimony:

I am a true believer in the effectiveness of ballistol,especially for gun storage to prevent rust.Old wood and leather will soak it up like a man dying of thirst. It is primarily a mineral oil base with certainn other ingredients added.A google search of "ballistol" will give you all the data you probably wish to know. I found an honest reliable source that will let me order by credit card from a toll free number :HERE

I spray a coating of ballistol inside my kuk scabbards
 
Those prices are one WHALE of a lot better than what I had seen previously - apparently now that it is made in USA, the freight and taxes are lower. I saw the can Yvsa sent me priced at $25 and change on a site not long ago.
 
Many thanks.

Apparently the blade was cleaned of rust at some point
with heavy steel wool or, as I look closer,
probably a light sandpaper.
The cleaning scratches go in all directions.
Only a couple of spots of Very light active rust on the edge.
A very fine rubbing compound applied by hand
may even the texture considerably.
Little by little, and not too much.
 
The site that clearblue recommends for Ballistol is worth a visit. Really cool.
 
Great stuff guys! It has been my personal experience to do as little as possible, but sometimes you have to get drastic. If I get a real basket case and it's worth saving I go into full restoration mode and then soften that with a "new" patina. A tougher and longer process, but has been worth it. I also let anyone looking at that particular kukri know exactly what has been done to it. Much of what I learned is from the restoration experts at the V&A and The National Army Museum. They're techniques work.

Leather is always the hardest to save. You can only stop deterioration. One of my 18thc knives came with all the leather coming off the wood frame which was still developing new sawdust so there were active insects in there chomping away. Had to call the Orkin man and then reglue the leather to the frame. An exacting and intense job.

I have found that taking surface grime (vs patina) from a grip is some of these orange oil based products used in small amounts. As you all know is to test a small area first.

I have also found that many of these old pieces don't need a lot of TLC. Keep the dust off 'em, pull the blades, wipe them down and handle them to keep the wood 'active'.
 
Firstly, on washing the wood, I do not recommend overly soaking. Just a quick wipe down with warm soapy water, and perhaps a quick rinse if its in good condition, otherwise a couple wipes with a warm moist rag. Even the most damaged wood, can usually take it, though there is always that 1 in 100 that cant, but then pretty much anything you do on that one will be possibly detrimental.

Secondly, the WD-40 is just to loosen caked on rust, it is not meant to protect the blade. Kinda like using it to loosen that stuck rusty bolt. Which is why I figured, with Ballistol's prices, it was over-kill for just loosening rust. Im sure it would work, but since after rust removal, you will still clean, and then re-oil the blade I figured you could save the good oil for the re-oil.

On polishing, to remove any scratch one must polish down at least to the same grit as the scratch. So if someone used 220 grit sandpaper, to remove the scratches, youll have to even the finish out from there. Make sense? Now that I read it, it kinda seems wierd, but anyways thats how its been explained to me, and how it seems to work. Anyways, that being said deep scratches, even if they arent many, have the way of requiring a complete re-polish to get rid of. One way to help soften out, the glaring brightness of freshly polished steel (ughh...aside from HI, I generally do not like bright new looking blades) is to do a light etch. It should grey the blade down a bit. Not the same as 100 year old patina, but at least for me, better than mirror shine. Also has a way of burning out lighter scratches, and evening out the finish a bit (by light I mean 600 grit or higher). However, it does remove the patina that is already there, so I only would recommend it, if you removed alot of patina in the first place. Different etchant effect different steels, well differently. So you may want to play around. Diluted Ferric Chloride, seems to give the most consistent results, but sometimes Citric works better. Though one problem Ive had with citric (lemon juice), is that sometimes it whitens the blade. Must be something in the steel composition, because other times it does the trick of darkening it better than ferric chloride. I usually try lemon juice first, and if Im not happy Ill try ferric chloride.

And John, has the best advice. If its already in good condition, you really only need to just dust it, oil ocaisionally, and fondle profusely to care for em. My advice mainly deals with those real nasty pieces, that have been neglected for generations. Theyre great deals if youre willing to do the work, and is part of the reason why you spend so much buying from a dealer (not just because they were able to find the piece, but also because in many cases the dealers are buying those crazy looking rusty pieces, and spending hours and hours getting it to get that pristine well-cared for look). Everything is done in degree of necessity.
 
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