Can I save it?

[HawgHuntin]

I'm hoping some of you more experienced guys can give me some advice.

Awhile back I was doing a brake job for my in-laws and this knife found a way out of my pocket via a hole that I didn't know was there. I was pretty bummed when I realized it was missing because I bought this one for myself and another just like it for my dad as a gift.
By the time I had found it again it had been out in the rain and weather for about 3 weeks.
What would you folks recommend to try and bring some life back to this knife?



Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[cchu518]

Dump it in some mineral oil for a few days. You should be able to use fine sand paper to get rid of most of the rust. I've done that on some older Buck pen knives and it worked miracles!

 

[TLARbb]

I would wash it out with fairly warm, soapy water, the rinse in clean water. Then I'd blow the water out with compressed air or canned air. Then I'd soak it in mineral oil and after a few hours of that I'd get some copper gauze (choreboy) and scrub the red rust off of the blades and using some craft sticks, I'd clean out everything I could from the blade wells. I'd work the blades back and forth (with plenty of oil in the joints) and when I got done with that I'd wash it out again. Blow it out again and re-lubricate it. If it still needed some work, I'd repeat the process. The blades will be pitted, but some wet/dry sand paper can get some of that out if you want to make them look a bit better, but after getting the rust off, you might just be surprised how much knife you have left. It certainly is not a throw away.

Ed J

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Scrub the steel, dry, with 0000 steel wool. Then, soak it in WD 40 for a day or so, Wipe it dry, Keep soaking and wiping. The steel will be discolored, but the rust will be removed.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

+1 to the WD-40 soak. I did the same to a SAK (Victorinox), after it'd been forgotten and exposed outdoors to central Texas humidity for a couple/three years or more. It was stuck shut with rust when I finally found it again (and that's a stainless knife). I drenched it in WD-40, then wrapped it in WD-40-soaked paper towels and sealed all in an airtight container for about 3-4 days (keeps the WD-40 from evaporating, so it'll keep working). After taking it out again, it was at least loosened up enough to open the blades and begin more WD-40 scrubbing & flushing (exercising the pivots while doing so), until all traces of red rust were gone. Pitting remained, but that's just cosmetic...


David

 

[sykes3170]

+1 to the WD-40 soak. I did the same to a SAK (Victorinox), after it'd been forgotten and exposed outdoors to central Texas humidity for a couple/three years or more. It was stuck shut with rust when I finally found it again (and that's a stainless knife). I drenched it in WD-40, then wrapped it in WD-40-soaked paper towels and sealed all in an airtight container for about 3-4 days (keeps the WD-40 from evaporating, so it'll keep working). After taking it out again, it was at least loosened up enough to open the blades and begin more WD-40 scrubbing & flushing (exercising the pivots while doing so), until all traces of red rust were gone. Pitting remained, but that's just cosmetic...


David

The longer I live the more I like wd40. I always find myself coming back to it for all kinds of different stuff.

 

[Zemapeli]

I wish I could help you with that. I use a brass gun brush to remove the red surface rust first. Then I'll apply some Loctite naval jelly, let cure for ten minutes, and rub with steel wool. (Repeat five-ten times) Then flush with water(To Flush), rem-oil (Cleaner), and into K1 Kerosene (Petrollium Penetrant) These are some pictures of the blade and ratchet mechanism I did this too. It is a old German made African Okapi knife. I re-handled it with three aluminum breaker bars and 3/16 brass pivot screws. This is what the steel looks like after it is done. Keep in mind there will be pitting. Email me if you want pictures and instructions. I can tell you everything you need to know to restore. :thumbup:

After to before.

 

[Zemapeli]

There will probably be light pitting in the blade (Dimples in the steel, from where the rust has eaten at the steel) But the pits will be oxide free and just scars.

 

[HawgHuntin]

Thanks very much for the responses guys!

I pretty much expected there to be pitting so that's no surprise there. I'm going to tackle this guy either today (after a half day of work) or tomorrow when I have the day off. I'll be sure to post pics when I'm done.

 

[HawgHuntin]

I wish I could help you with that. I use a brass gun brush to remove the red surface rust first. Then I'll apply some Loctite naval jelly, let cure for ten minutes, and rub with steel wool. (Repeat five-ten times) Then flush with water(To Flush), rem-oil (Cleaner), and into K1 Kerosene (Petrollium Penetrant) These are some pictures of the blade and ratchet mechanism I did this too. It is a old German made African Okapi knife. I re-handled it with three aluminum breaker bars and 3/16 brass pivot screws. This is what the steel looks like after it is done. Keep in mind there will be pitting. Email me if you want pictures and instructions. I can tell you everything you need to know to restore. :thumbup:

After to before.

Wow, You did a great job restoring that knife!

 

[Zemapeli]

Wow, You did a great job restoring that knife!

Thanks, it took some work. I can tell you how tp and what products to use if you would like to DIY it. Products would cost you about 10-20 dollars and you will have them for when you need them. Brass gun cleaning brush (medium thickness)- 1.99$ K1 Kerosene -about 5$, Loctite Naval Jelly -$7, Rem-Oil Spray can $3-4, metal finishing pad $3-5, and 1000 grit wet/dry paper $4-5. That is what I used. I can step by step, the offer is available. I can guarantee you that you can remove all that red junk, but there is a possibility that the knife blade itself has pitting underneath the rust.. About 90% of that rust can come off and you can put a polish on it (from what I see in pictures) How stiff is the knife to open? If it has really only been three weeks, It may not have any real pitting. My okapi looked worse off than It really was. The tricky part is cleaning the liners out and making sure you keep the lines clean. Looks like you have brass liners judging from the scale peens, so probably not a problem.
If you want me too, I can fix it up for you. I'd like to wait until I get my paycheck for return shipping first though, as money is a little tight for me at the moment. Either way, all the best.
Let me know.

 

[HawgHuntin]

Thanks, it took some work. I can tell you how tp and what products to use if you would like to DIY it. Products would cost you about 10-20 dollars and you will have them for when you need them. Brass gun cleaning brush (medium thickness)- 1.99$ K1 Kerosene -about 5$, Loctite Naval Jelly -$7, Rem-Oil Spray can $3-4, metal finishing pad $3-5, and 1000 grit wet/dry paper $4-5. That is what I used. I can step by step, the offer is available. I can guarantee you that you can remove all that red junk, but there is a possibility that the knife blade itself has pitting underneath the rust.. About 90% of that rust can come off and you can put a polish on it (from what I see in pictures) How stiff is the knife to open? If it has really only been three weeks, It may not have any real pitting. My okapi looked worse off than It really was. The tricky part is cleaning the liners out and making sure you keep the lines clean. Looks like you have brass liners judging from the scale peens, so probably not a problem.
If you want me too, I can fix it up for you. I'd like to wait until I get my paycheck for return shipping first though, as money is a little tight for me at the moment. Either way, all the best.
Let me know.

Although I do really appreciate the offer, I'd like to give it a go myself first. I really appreciate all the advice. My wife has been sick for about a week and decided to share it so I didn't get a chance to tackle it while I had a day off. I'm going to try and get to it this weekend though.

 

[HawgHuntin]

Didn't really get to feeling better today but still wanted to take a Crack at the case.

My can of WD40 cam up missing so I had to settle for a can of Blaster (PB Blaster, a rust penetrant).It works really well. There was enough of an edge left that it bit me and drew blood because I wasn't paying attention.

Anyway this is before.


And after. Still not finished though.


I plan to take a Dremel to it tomorrow and see how much more gunk I can knock off. When I started the blades had to be pushed all the way to get it closed. They now snap closed.

It's soaking in PB wrapped in a paper towel right now. Thanks again for all the advice guys!

 

[Bighaze51]

Nice work there. Now it looks like an old loved knife. I'm glad you saved it from certain demise!

 

[vic2367]

looking good . keep us posted .

 

[Zemapeli]

Looking much better

 

[navihawk]

Scrub the steel, dry, with 0000 steel wool. Then, soak it in WD 40 for a day or so, Wipe it dry, Keep soaking and wiping. The steel will be discolored, but the rust will be removed.

This. 0000 steel wool is softer than the blade steel. Steel wool with oil will give the blades a good patina. If it was mine I wouldn't take a dremel to it. It's looking good so far.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Leave the Dremel alone. It won't make it look better, it will make it look worse.