Cleaning old knives

LKJW

LKJW

Joined
Nov 21, 2010
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I just got a lot of old knives (mystery lot). Some are crap. A few old timers. An Ulster boy scout knife. Old SAK. A few bucks. Some good stuff, some garbage. It was all dirt cheap, so I'm not complaining.

I usually clean knives with either mineral oil soak or wd40. I was just wondering if anyone has any good cleaning tips. The Ulster is gonna be a bitch. Rust and there is some kind of Styrofoam looking stuff stuck inside. Some of the knives have wood handles, too. I don't think those should be soaked?

So, I'm looking for the BEST way to clean a lot of knives. Soap and hot water first? Is there anything I can soak all the knives in (ie, safe for wood, metal, bone, etc).

Any advice appreciated. Definitely gonna be giving some more knives away on here cause I'm looking at a bag of like 30 traditionals. :eek: Pretty sure my wife is going to start throwing them away and guaranteed she'll pick the wrong ones. Sounds bad, but she picked the one she liked most out of the bunch. POS. :)
 
Hi LKJW,
Here is how I start...hold your breath, by now you should know how I rave on :rolleyes:
.... I dont use WD40 at any time on knives other than at the first stages of cleaning...I liberally spray WD40 in the liners, joints etc..and work the heck out the blades...I usually cover the blades with a rag and just work that joint...you should feel and maybe hear slight grinding of all the crap in there...I then use a bamboo thin rod ( scewers for cooking etc-but make sure its wood)...and work that up and down inside the liner...again with a thin rag...repeat this a couple of times....

Then with very hot water and lots of soap-an old tooth brush-anything that will work its way in to any gap assertively - (dont use those wire brushes that look like a toothbrush-even the soft brass ones-stay away from those -they will do nothing but damage )...scrub the hell out of it...rinse...and do this again..

Next stage is ( hopefully you have a compressor in your garage-small will do )...blow out ALL water that you can with compressed air...then again use WD40 liberally to expell the water...blow this out.

Now your blades should have an incredible amount more snap :)...when I do this I have had great success in cleaning...now use Mineral oil on the blades, and joints...again...WORK the blades...make sure it gets in everywhere, wipe off excess.

2nd Stage:
Cleaning of actual blades..DONT use sandpaper-even if people say "if its a user ..." the only time you should use sandpaper is if using very fine sandpaper in your sharpening process ( as some do ) or, ..if you are re-constructing a badly damaged blade...

I use grade 0000 steel wool this was suggested to me quite some time ago..the beautifull thing about this grade of steel wool is that it doesnt take the patina of your old blades...( nothing worse than a shiny "new" look :barf: ) use your elbow grease...work those blades carefully while they are flat on a board with the steel wool and mineral oil...again wipe away dirt, re-oil..and that will bring your knife up to as good as you can get with butchering it.

Use this process with wood scales as well, as the knife is always in hand, and soakage is controlled.

Hope this helps my friend.
 
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Thank you...that's pretty close to my routine. I worry about the wd40, but I guess I don't need to. Thanks for taking the time to reply. And thanks mods for moving this to the appropriate forum.
 
Great post, I have my first OLD knife coming in with black jigged bone (no idea if its a gem or a dud, was a very blind purchase)...was just going to bath in mineral oil but this thread has been quite informative.

Thanks guys.
 
Corrosion-X is the very best for dis-solving rust and getting the best out of the worst. :thumbup: It's not cheap but a little spray goes a long way.

I found an old SAK (one with the works) the thing was frozen shut from crud and years of sitting in an old hunting bag. I sprayed it liberally and wrapped it in a rag (in the basement - Corrosion-X stinks) and let it sit for a few days.

Unwrapped and dryed each of the tools - which were now free to open & close. Next, washed it in a solution of dishwashing liquid and hot water and dried each part meticulously, using q-tips, pipe cleaners, paper towels.

Dried to the bone with a hair dryer and re-lubed with Rem-Oil spray and wiped down. That old SAK is now like brand new again and sitting on my desk here in front of me. Very handy tool and in service again! :D
 
Any oil can unseized things though...I found a burnt out tool shed in the middle of no where with tools like massive fencing pliars and some smithy tools all seized. Put them in diesel oil (non-synthetic) and unseized a good 30 tools of which I have to this day.

But I think the character of an OLD knife is you keep it original, not remove patina...old pistols for example, cleaning them can make them worthless to a collector.
 
WD 40 is safe and effective. I use it in my shop for cleaning old knives. You can use detergent , hot water, and a brush. But, if you do-spray liberally afterwards with WD 40 to displace all the moisture. 0000 steel wool is good on the steel parts.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
WD 40 is safe and effective. I use it in my shop for cleaning old knives. You can use detergent , hot water, and a brush. But, if you do-spray liberally afterwards with WD 40 to displace all the moisture. 0000 steel wool is good on the steel parts.
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Huge fan of WD-40 for cleaning tools and the like. Whether is loosening gummy joints of knives and pliers or degreasing and wiping down carbon tool steels to keep it nice, it works great. Just remember, WD stands for "water displacement" and that the majority of the ingredients are solvent.
 
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