Boker knife that my father gave me.

V

Vegita182

Joined
Jul 4, 2019
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My dad just gave me an old Boker solingen 192 and it's in rough shape. I'm not very knowledgeable about knives and I've read that some of the fixed blade bokers were made with 440 steel and it didn't hold an edge. I'm wondering if it's worth cleaning this one and resharpening? If so how would I go about it? I would love to have a fixed blade to carry hiking with me.
https://imgur.com/a/RFuPbnr
 
I dont know to much about that knife but it's a gift from your father so I would clean it up and use it.
 
It doesnt look to bad to me. I would probably try some mineral oil and a toothbrush and see what that does. Going any further you may want to use the search on the forum or wait on some better advice by someone with a little more knowledge then I would have on this.
 
It's not really in terrible shape. Give it a blast of WD40, rub it down with a cloth, that should take care of a lot of the surface crud on the blade and hilt. The sheath looks dehydrated, rub some leather conditioner in or some Neat's oil. If you want the blade shinier, then a rub down with steel wool (the finer grades for woodworking, not the kitchen stuff) will take more patina off. Or use some polishing compound and a rag. There are a huge number of threads here devoted to sharpening, do some reading.
 
Vegita182 said:
My dad just gave me an old Boker solingen 192 and it's in rough shape. I'm not very knowledgeable about knives and I've read that some of the fixed blade bokers were made with 440 steel and it didn't hold an edge. I'm wondering if it's worth cleaning this one and resharpening? If so how would I go about it? I would love to have a fixed blade to carry hiking with me.
https://imgur.com/a/RFuPbnr
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Judging by the corrosion, that blade is carbon steel. Boker typically uses 1075.
It'll clean up nice and be a keeper. Definitely worthwhile to work on it.
 
Yep that would clean up well with OOOO steel wool on the blade after a rub down with wd 40 of the like,ballistol cleaner might be better as its a cleaner and lube.That leather banding will look sweet.
 
Mineral oil or carefully with Flitz or Nevr-Dull (my choice). Sometimes these older fixed blades have a plating that will horrible if aggressively cleaned, so proceed with caution.
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think I'm going to leave the patina on the hilt and Tang. Does anyone know if Smoky mountain knife works does a good job sharpening knives? It's only 13 miles from my house.
 
Dont really know anything about them, but went to the web site......Glad I dont live near them. Thats a friggin candy store!
 
sickpuppy1 said:
Dont really know anything about them, but went to the web site......Glad I dont live near them. Thats a friggin candy store!
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Haha no doubt I've been in a few times looking around. I would imagine a person with a big wallet could do some damage.
 
Here's some info on it.

xsu4bQ4.jpg
 
setldown said:
Here's some info on it.

xsu4bQ4.jpg
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Awesome thank you. I just finished cleaning it with some pb blaster and fine steel wool. The brown spots are gone but there are some black spots here and there and it's a dull grey which doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't destroy the blade over time. I take it 1085 is decent steel for a knife?
 
Vegita182 said:
Awesome thank you. I just finished cleaning it with some pb blaster and fine steel wool. The brown spots are gone but there are some black spots here and there and it's a dull grey which doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't destroy the blade over time. I take it 1085 is decent steel for a knife?
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1085 is good steel, it just takes a little care. The dull gray is patina, the natural effect of the atmosphere on steel, and is nothing to worry about. The black spots are places where the steel has been oxidized and are inert, they won't travel. The thing to avoid with high carbon steel like 1085 is red spots, because they are actively eating away your steel. They only occur in the presence of water, so dry your knife after use if it gets wet. You can protect it more by either forcing a patina on it (plenty of info around here on that) or a light coating of your favorite oil or organic compound. Non-food prep knives you can use whatever....ballistol, froglube, wax, WD40, etc. If you might cut something with it that you want to eat, then you need food safe. For me that's just a light hit of food-grade mineral oil, there are other options out there.
 
Th
BitingSarcasm said:
1085 is good steel, it just takes a little care. The dull gray is patina, the natural effect of the atmosphere on steel, and is nothing to worry about. The black spots are places where the steel has been oxidized and are inert, they won't travel. The thing to avoid with high carbon steel like 1085 is red spots, because they are actively eating away your steel. They only occur in the presence of water, so dry your knife after use if it gets wet. You can protect it more by either forcing a patina on it (plenty of info around here on that) or a light coating of your favorite oil or organic compound. Non-food prep knives you can use whatever....ballistol, froglube, wax, WD40, etc. If you might cut something with it that you want to eat, then you need food safe. For me that's just a light hit of food-grade mineral oil, there are other options out there.
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Thank you so much. I like the way the patina looks going to leave it that way and just keep the blade sharp. I think it will be a good knife to carry out in the woods.
 
But as he said, I would rub it down with a light coat of oil to protect it.depending on what part of the country too. Humidity can be a pain here in Kansas, believe it or not. Humidity is 92% today.
 
sickpuppy1 said:
But as he said, I would rub it down with a light coat of oil to protect it.depending on what part of the country too. Humidity can be a pain here in Kansas, believe it or not. Humidity is 92% today.
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49% in my part of Tennessee today. Would you recommend a good stone that won't break the bank?
 
I dont know how many knives you have or any experience, but assuming,as me when I got into these I ended up with a Smith's tri-hone setup. It was like 32 buck for a coarse, med and fine stone on a stand with oil. taught me the basics of how to get going at this stuff. Granted I have a better system now,lol
And by the way, the store 13 miles away has it in stock. Or ask one of their guys to recommend within the price you want to spend.
I DON'T recommend the pull through sharpeners except in dire need, and even then I'd rather strop it on a cardboard box!
 
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