Cleaning up a old Blade

[Stephen Geo]

Hello everyone,
My first post on the forum, I have an old penknife I found in a antiques/collectables shop, it's " made in Sheffield England" on one side, on other side it has " BRIT PAT NO 416767" the handle is nice fruit wood,I think 5" long, the blade is 4" long, it has quite a bit of black on it, it's like rust, but it's black, could say " patina" , is it best to leave this on??
Or is there a way to clean it,? Please, any suggestions anyone, Thanks for reading.
I'd say it's about 30-40 yrs old, for a £5er, bargain I think.

 

[Dergyll]

If it's old, I'd remove it with fine wet sandpaper dipped in soap water. Then, clean it up with Flitz.

I've seen people use vinegar or something to soak it in, I just use dish detergent.

Good luck!

 

[Bigfattyt]

Post a pic?

Not sure I would use sandpaper. Very fine steel wool might be my first step, after cleaning it.

 

[kreisler]

the black... could be original. garden tool blades (shears, mower, scythe, etc) often come with black layer.
anyway, welcome to the forum!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If it's BLACK, whether patina or an artificial coating, there's no chance it's actually harming the knife, like red rust can do.

I'd hold off on using anything abrasive (like sandpaper) to remove a black patina or coating. May just end up with a very scratched up blade for little reason or justification for doing so. Old knives lose a lot of their visible history & character (and collector value), after scrubbing off harmless patina that's taken years to form. In many cases, such 'cleaning' of an old blade can make it look cheap as a result.

I'd suggest posting pictures of the knife & blade, so more relevant feedback can be given.

 

[Old Biker]

I use wet dry Sandpaper with water and dish soap. I try to get all the rust, but not all the patina.These are some example pictures.

Before.

After

Pictures of your knife would help.

O.B.

 

[Stephen Geo]

Hello everyone,
My first post on the forum, I have an old penknife I found in a antiques/collectables shop, it's " made in Sheffield England" on one side, on other side it has " BRIT PAT NO 416767" the handle is nice fruit wood,I think 5" long, the blade is 4" long, it has quite a bit of black on it, it's like rust, but it's black, could say " patina" , is it best to leave this on??
Or is there a way to clean it,? Please, any suggestions anyone, Thanks for reading.
I'd say it's about 30-40 yrs old, for a £5er, bargain I think.

 

[Stephen Geo]

Here is a picture,

 

[Stephen Geo]

Sorry, can't seem to insert pictures from my photos on Google

Here is a picture,