Case Care

T

TedderX

Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
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I'm specifically referring to Case pocketknives that are surgical (stainless) steel.

After carrying even a stainless steel knife in your pocket for some time, pocket lint, dirt, etc gets into the handle itself. This causes a build up of crud, the brass to turn green, and minor rust to set in.

How do you fix this and/or prevent it?

I've tried cleaning with gun cleaner, toothpicks, q-tips, silicone clothes, etc. then applying gun oil.

Yet, I've seen many chrome vanadium Case knives (on the inside of the handle) look better than mine even after a couple years of use. What gives? What am I doing wrong?
 
May be too much oil. If your knife is dry, it will usually not rust and won't attract a lot of lint and gunk, either. Just a drop on the pivot is enough.
 
Don't quite understand this?? :confused: CASE knives all have stainless springs (well for quite some time at least) this and stainless blades will not generate rust. Brass certainly does go green and react with light bone or Stag causing verdigris or brass-bleed. Much of that is due to over oiling but it might just be the chemical composition of your sweat that causes discolouration. Try carrying one of their cv knives for a bit and see if you get the same result.

Maybe your pockets are in need of a clear out:eek::D:D When I was using an overall or trousers for garden work, a lot of earth & dust used to get in the pockets, this causes HAVOC with the spring action....
 
To be specific, I get it around the part of the blade that has the tang stamps as well as on the inside bottom of the handle (I guess this would be the back of the spring).

How would you guys go about cleaning it? Then I will start putting less oil. For instance, I have a mini trapper that I can't even get a q-tip into because of the brass diveders. Best I can do it fold a cleaning patch (for guns) in half and rub it. But this isn't he same scrubbing motion that actually can remove stuff.

I want to start taking better care of these pieces so that they'll last longer.
 
Canned air, the type used to clean electronics, is useful for blowing crud out. You can cut the tip off a toothpick and use the blunt end to scrape around inside the handle. Usually just the right size and won't damage anything. Maybe give it a shot of WD-40 and let sit for a few minutes then go to work.


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TedderX said:
I'm specifically referring to Case pocketknives that are surgical (stainless) steel.

After carrying even a stainless steel knife in your pocket for some time, pocket lint, dirt, etc gets into the handle itself. This causes a build up of crud, the brass to turn green, and minor rust to set in.

How do you fix this and/or prevent it?

I've tried cleaning with gun cleaner, toothpicks, q-tips, silicone clothes, etc. then applying gun oil.

Yet, I've seen many chrome vanadium Case knives (on the inside of the handle) look better than mine even after a couple years of use. What gives? What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Might avoid or rethink using the gun cleaner. Many of those are designed to dissolve copper deposits left by copper-jacketed ammo in gun barrels. If so, it'll react with the brass liners in your knife (brass is a copper alloy), which might be contributing to the verdigris problems ('greening') with them.

I'd also suggest keeping the knife as clean & dry as possible. With a stainless knife (both blades and springs), it shouldn't need any additional rust protection. Any oils applied, as mentioned, are just a little more likely to get sticky and collect a lot of dirt & debris. Just a tiny bit to lubricate the pivot (maybe a single drop), and that's all it should need.

If there are salts or other corrosives among the 'dirt' collecting in the handle, that'll still rust stainless steel. Again, make sure the knife (and the pockets) are clean.


David
 
David Top point about the gun-cleaner, it must be reacting with the brass in a corrosive way.
 
TedderX said:
I'm specifically referring to Case pocketknives that are surgical (stainless) steel.

After carrying even a stainless steel knife in your pocket for some time, pocket lint, dirt, etc gets into the handle itself. This causes a build up of crud, the brass to turn green, and minor rust to set in.

How do you fix this and/or prevent it?

I've tried cleaning with gun cleaner, toothpicks, q-tips, silicone clothes, etc. then applying gun oil.

Yet, I've seen many chrome vanadium Case knives (on the inside of the handle) look better than mine even after a couple years of use. What gives? What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Regarding the bolded text, I've never had that problem but I do worry about it. For prevention, what works for me is blowing out the channels where the blades rest on a regular basis. I still have good lungs and they can work almost as well as an air compressor. I do this once a day when I take the knife out of my pocket for the last time each day. I almost always see a little bit of lint come flying out of there after just one day's carry.

Will's suggestion of cleaning out your pockets is a good one. Turn them inside out and run a lint roller over the interior. I do this for prevention too but not as often as I should.
 
I use hot tap water to clean. Hot soapy water would be better and let it soak a short bit. Nothing too hot. I pretty much open the knife and stick it under the tap. Work the blade to get some of the gunk out. Then maybe a brush or tooth pick with some paper towel to work into the joint. They probably make a little brush that would work well, but I haven't gotten there yet.....

Compressed air is good.
 
I have a stainless Case slimline trapper that I use as a portable apple slicer. When done, I usually rinse it under hot running water, then blow the excess water out (just with my breath), then run a folded up paper towel back and forth in the blade-well a few times. No rust issues so far.

Old toothbrush works well in the sink along with warm soapy water if you really want to scrub it out.

For getting up in the blade well and cleaning, I tend to use a wooden coffee stirrer (because they are free) and tear off a small piece of paper towel, squirt a little WD-40 on the towel, and use that as an impromptu scrubber. I then use a dry paper towel in the same manner to remove any residue. You can whittle the coffee stirrer into whatever shape you need for the crevices.

If you have a lot of verdigris on the brass, then a very small amount of metal polish on the paper towel (Flitz, Simichrome, etc) will clean that right up. Follow up with clean paper towels to buff off any remaining amount of metal polish.


* Another thing that works well with Case SS and Victorinox knives is to forget to take them out of your pocket and they go through the laundry cycle. :)
 
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Good point on the gun cleaner.
I go weeks without oiling the joints of a stainless knife, even if I carry the same one daily for that entire period. A single drop works well for me.

As far as lint, I turn my pockets inside out before putting my pants in the wash. That cuts down on the lint quite a bit.
 
jc57 said:
I have a stainless Case slimline trapper that I use as a portable apple slicer. When done, I usually rinse it under hot running water, then blow the excess water out (just with my breath), then run a folded up paper towel back and forth in the blade-well a few times. No rust issues so far.

Old toothbrush works well in the sink along with warm soapy water if you really want to scrub it out.

For getting up in the blade well and cleaning, I tend to use a wooden coffee stirrer (because they are free) and tear off a small piece of paper towel, squirt a little WD-40 on the towel, and use that as an impromptu scrubber. I then use a dry paper towel in the same manner to remove any residue. You can whittle the coffee stirrer into whatever shape you need for the crevices.

If you have a lot of verdigris on the brass, then a very small amount of metal polish on the paper towel (Flitz, Simichrome, etc) will clean that right up. Follow up with clean paper towels to buff off any remaining amount of metal polish.


* Another thing that works well with Case SS and Victorinox knives is to forget to take them out of your pocket and they go through the laundry cycle. :)
Click to expand...

All great tips. I do pretty much the same. A drop of oil in the joint once a month. If the blade channel appears to be getting dirty looking or the hinge feels gritty then it's hot soapy water and a toothbrush. Rinse well then spray it down with WD40. I use toothpick and a tiny patch of paper towel to sweep out the blade channel.
 
Dental picks, the kind dentists use , work excellently for getting into small nooks and crannies. I've even removed small spots of red rust, too get at the darker patination underneath, before oiling. Not so much an issue with SS, but real handy for getting gunk out of joints as well as the , umm, wells. ;)
Thanks, Neal
PS-you can find them at most hardware stores, but if you're friendly with your dentist, they might give you some old or broken ones. That's where mine came from.
 
I use a carnuba car wax on my blades and handles. Stuff and gunk don't stick as much. Drop of CLP on pivots, a guy is good to go.
 
Thanks fellas for all the replies; I can tell I'm going to like this forum.

I appreciate the line of thought on several of these replies. I will look into getting dental tools somehow; does anyone know if they make a "scrubber" type dental tool? I know they make picks of various kinds.

The gun solvent idea seems to follow logic but I have to ask. What is consider to be "good" quality cleaning rods for guns are... you guessed it... brass. So how can gun solvent that touches a brass cleaning rod adversely effect brass lines of a pocketknife?

Another question, I also use a silicone cloth (designed for guns) as a final wipe down after cleaning. Does anyone think this would be adversely effective to a Case pocketknife?



I have learned that I apparently clean my pocketknives waaaay less than any of you guys do. Although I sharpen it regularly when it gets dull, I only truly clean them maybe once every six months or so (i.e.- with solvent, oil, toothpicks, etc). The only other cleaning I do is after I'm done, i'll wipe it on my pants in the event steak juice, apple juice, mayo, dust, etc are still left on it. (all my pocketknives are purposely bought stainless steel for the record).
 
Does the brass gun-cleaning rod have the same sort of difficult-to-reach nooks and crannies that a small pocketknife has? If it's fully accessible and cleanable, no issues. But any of the stuff that gets left or trapped in place might turn into a problem. If the gun cleaner gets trapped between the covers and liners, or in the pivot, for example, it'll keep attacking the copper in the brass as long as it's there. I brought it up, because it's been known to create corrosion issues for others (example in linked thread below), used in the same way, on brass-lined/brass-handled knives. It may or may not be an issue in your specific case, but it's something to consider and very easy to eliminate as a possible source of trouble.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1038226-Ballistol-not-so-good-for-brass-liners

The best cleaning approach for such a pocketknife is usually the simplest and least risky as well; that's just a dish soap & water bath (exercise the pivots while doing so), a hot rinse (evaporates much more completely) and dry completely, and a little bit of simple oil, such as mineral oil (inert, nothing corrosive or reactive in it). Making sure it stays relatively clean helps too. Allowing too much stuff to accumulate in the handle will increase the likelihood of something corrosive being trapped in there. Dirt, grime and lint will trap & hold water and any other corrosive liquids that might be there (fruit juices, etc).


David

TedderX said:
Thanks fellas for all the replies; I can tell I'm going to like this forum.

I appreciate the line of thought on several of these replies. I will look into getting dental tools somehow; does anyone know if they make a "scrubber" type dental tool? I know they make picks of various kinds.

The gun solvent idea seems to follow logic but I have to ask. What is consider to be "good" quality cleaning rods for guns are... you guessed it... brass. So how can gun solvent that touches a brass cleaning rod adversely effect brass lines of a pocketknife?

Another question, I also use a silicone cloth (designed for guns) as a final wipe down after cleaning. Does anyone think this would be adversely effective to a Case pocketknife?



I have learned that I apparently clean my pocketknives waaaay less than any of you guys do. Although I sharpen it regularly when it gets dull, I only truly clean them maybe once every six months or so (i.e.- with solvent, oil, toothpicks, etc). The only other cleaning I do is after I'm done, i'll wipe it on my pants in the event steak juice, apple juice, mayo, dust, etc are still left on it. (all my pocketknives are purposely bought stainless steel for the record).
Click to expand...
 
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TedderX said:
does anyone know if they make a "scrubber" type dental tool?
Click to expand...

A toothbrush?:confused:


:D:p

Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, I have used toothpaste to remove light verdigris from brass before. I'm not sure how well it would work on the inside of the knife though. I mostly clean with just hot water and sometimes dish soap. Every once in a while I use a dental pick to really get all the lint out of the nooks and crannies. They also sell plastic gun cleaning picks that won't scratch metal.

I have never tried it myself, but there are some people here who have mentioned using ultrasonic cleaners to deep clean knives.

I also agree with the others that less is more when it comes to oil. Excess oil just attracts lint and dirt. I use one drop of mineral oil on the pivot and work the blade a few times, wiping off any excess that comes back out.
 
Hot water, mineral oil..... Other than tools, all you need and food safe.

Gun cleaner, wd-40, gun wipes, gun oil.... Not good for you.
 
TedderX said:
does anyone know if they make a "scrubber" type dental tool? I know they make picks of various kinds.

The gun solvent idea seems to follow logic but I have to ask. What is consider to be "good" quality cleaning rods for guns are... you guessed it... brass. So how can gun solvent that touches a brass cleaning rod adversely effect brass lines of a pocketknife?

Another question, I also use a silicone cloth (designed for guns) as a final wipe down after cleaning. Does anyone think this would be adversely effective to a Case pocketknife?
Click to expand...

They do make little scrubbers for cleaning between your teeth, called Dentek Easy Brush. Small round brushes that can be bent to shape and they come in three diameters. Never thought about using them on my knives, but might work well. I usually use compressed air, then a pipe cleaner to clean out the channel.

The gun cleaning rods are brass because it is softer than the barrel, so it won't scratch or mar the bore or the muzzle. But if you dip a bore brush that has brass bristles into Hoppes and don't rinse it off, it will have turned completely green by the next time you use it.

I also use a silicon impregnated chamois as a final wipe down on my knives sometimes...seems to work great with no ill effects. But if you use your pocket knives for food prep, I would probably stick with mineral oil for the wipe down.
 
For cleaning in the blade well areas of pocket knives, I have been having good results using old credit cards or gift cards cut in half (or thirds). I then fold a piece of paper towel, or shop towel over the cut card piece, and just drag it from front to back a few times.

Also use this method to remove any excess oil after my sometimes sloppy application of lube, or even to spread a light film of oil in there if the knife has steel liners, or if I'm gonna take the knife out of rotation for a while.
 
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