Case Stockman and Colonial Barlow

M

MBG

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May 21, 2020
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167
I am visiting my parents and my dad was showing me a couple of traditional knives he found.

The Stockman has jigged synthetic scales. The date code has seven dots and the font is the same for all letters. I believe this means it was made in 1973? The blades are rusty and pitted but I think everything will function ok if the rust gets cleaned up.

The Barlow is an advertising knife, blade is marked Colonial Prov. USA. It has white scales with "Sika" on one side and "Builders Products Inc." on the other side. The blades have surface rust, but would probably clean up without very much effort.

I'm wondering if these are worth cleaning up or not. The case might clean up ok but it will always have the pitting, and to really make it decent again would probably reqiure dissasembly. The Barlow could probably be a decent user with minimal effort, but I am skeptical that the quality of the materials are worth bothering with. I tried to find information about the steel type but couldn't find any information.
 
I think that if you clean the colonial up and sharpen it, You will be surprised at how good of a user knife it makes. I would clean both knives up, oil them sharpen them and use them.

O.B.
 
Just clean up the red rust so it doesn't facilitate even more rust (it traps moisture against the steel). Don't worry about the pitting after that - it's part of the real-life history and character of the knife, like the patina.

Some scrubbing with WD-40 or mineral oil, and a stiff brush like a wire brush or some very fine steel wool can loosen up the red rust. Keep scrubbing and rinsing with more WD-40/oil until it's not discolored red/brown as it runs & wipes off. Then give a bath in warm water with some liquid dish detergent (Dawn, etc.) and fully rinse in water again. Then dry it all out and oil the joints (and the blades, if you want to).

As previously mentioned, sometimes old 'inexpensive' folders will still sharpen up nicely, sometimes beautifully. An 'old knife' with a new, keenly-sharpened edge can be a great user.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I put a working edge on the Colonial, it sharpened up pretty easily, we will see how well it holds it. I think the Colonia will be easy enough to get it to a "patina'd" look instead of just looking neglected. The Case will need a little more TLC, but I think it will be worthwhile to put some time into cleaning it up. I will post some pictures in a bit.
 
5K Qs said:
FWIW, I'm not seeing any photos at your link.
(But maybe I have to be signed in to an Amazon account or something??)

- GT
Click to expand...
I think this is how I have posted photos in the past, but I guess it doesn't work that way anymore.
 
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