Anything else I can do for this old pocket knife?

L

Lis7

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Mar 16, 2016
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Okay, don't laugh (too much). My old girl scout knife was stored at a cabin on a lake, and as a result it had quite a bit of rust on it. I first used mineral oil, q-tips, a toothpick and a cloth to loosen things up and remove some of the rust. I also tried a nylon pad. This all helped a bit, but not quite as much as I was hoping as it still as dark gray raised spots and some rust. What used to be a bright shiny silver color on the various implements is now patchy dull gray. The photos at the two Flickr links below show what it looks like now.

My question is, can it be refurbished any further, or is this as good as it gets? What else could I try?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39508067@N08/25842808065/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39508067@N08/25216225733/in/dateposted-public/

Thank you.
Lis
 
That doesn't look too bad. Hard to be sure from the photos, but I would suggest that if the knife is functional (all tools open & close smoothly and with a good "snap") you may not want to take too much more of that "rust" off. It looks to me more like a natural patina that really gives that beautiful old knife some character.

That being said, one way to clean it up some more is with a soaking in white vinegar, which is a natural rust remover. But be aware, this may also create a new gray patina on all the exposed metal surfaces -- which may or may not be desirable. If you try this, I would suggest only soaking each "blade" in vinegar individually, not the entire knife. You could do this by using a narrow tube of some sort filled with vinegar to the appropriate depth to cover each tool.

Another route would be to use some very fine ("0000") steel wool which will take off some of the remaining surface roughness without without necessarily removing the patina.
 
WD-40 + wire brush (w/brass bristles is ideal) should take most of the red rust off the exposed areas. Flushing the whole knife with WD-40 while exercising the joints will work a lot of the red rust out of the pivots; keep flushing with WD-40 until it's not running red/brown out of the knife. Then wash the whole thing in hot water with dish detergent (Dawn, Ivory Liquid, etc), also exercising the pivots while doing so. Rinse in HOT water (tolerable to the hands) and dry everything out; the hot water will warm up the knife enough to evaporate off most of the residual moisture. Then flush out the joints again with a little bit of WD-40 (to displace any moisture that might've remained) and lube the knife with an oil of your choosing.

I'd avoid using vinegar to remove the rust, unless you make sure to completely clean the vinegar out afterwards; it'll continue to create more rust and pit the steel if any is left behind (it's an acid). The rust doesn't look severe enough to warrant it's use anyway, by the pics shown.

Don't worry about the grey/black oxidation ('patina' by another name), as it won't harm anything at all.


David
 
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I would go with a wire brush, as Obsessed with Edges suggests brass or bronze bristles would be gentlest, but in my experience mild steel (not stainless) bristles are softer than most blade steels and the chance of leaving scratches is fairly low. But you'd want to protect the bolsters with tape or something so they don't get scratched. Put the blade flat on a sturdy disposable surface, put some oil on the blade and scrub away with the brush. I don't care for the taste of WD-40, so if you plan to use the knife for food prep in the future, I would suggest sticking with mineral oil. You can reduce it's viscosity if needed by warming it a little

You could restore the mirror polish, but you would need to use abrasives (sand paper or stones) on the surface of the blades, it's going to be a lot of work, and some of the pits are deep enough that to get them out fully would mean removing too much metal.

You could use a polish like Flitz or Simichrome after you brush the knife, it won't remove the patina, but will lighten it in areas.
 
I use the more abrasive side of a blue scrub pad and Comet or Bar's Keepers Friend to clean up knives. It seems to work well.
 
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