Cleaning up a slipjoint

Halfneck

Halfneck

Joined
Jun 30, 2005
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Went through some pawn shops near work during my lunch. Found a old Schrade 340T in good shape that just needs to be cleaned up a bit & sharpened. Mostly some accumulated crud in the knife & on some of the blades. Blades are not rubbing the liners & the backsprings feel good. For $15 I will probably get it.

So how would you recommend getting rid of the crud in the knife & cleaning up the blades?
 
I us to clean up a bunch of flea market finds. my best friends were single edge razor blades and 0000 steel wool. if you real light with the razor blades you can usually scrape rust with out gouging. the steel wool will clean blades. used semichrome metal polish. found my harley metal polish works great also.
 
I just soak them in mineral oil and use shop air to blow them off. Scrape off any red rust with another blade, sharpen it and put it in my pocket.Don't put any celluloid handles in the mineral oil, but the delrin on a Shrade will hold up, and its good for bone, horn ,wood, and stag.I'll go in with a toothpick or matchstic and a napkin to clean the innards.I want all the spots and tarnished brass I can get.)))) steel wool work good on the blade. It won't remove the patina.I would keep it away from the brass though.
 
Must be a 340T week. I just picked one up that had crud and light surface rust on it as well. I put a little Break Free CLP on the blades and in the joints then used an old (stiff) toothbrush to clean out must of the gook. After that I took a softer version of a scothbright pad (less abrasive) and gently went over the blades and backspring. The softer pad removes surface rust and leaves the majority of the patina behind. If for some reason you want to remove the patina, use a more abrasive version of scotchbright pad. Here is an after cleaning photo of mine.

Schrade340T2.jpg
 
On a really old knife that has built up crud, I will put some Hoppes #9 in the joints and on the blades and let it set overnight and then use a stiff brush to clean out as much gunk as possible. I don't like to submerge the handles of any knife in oil, cleaners, etc. so I use compressed air from my air compressor to blow out any remaining gunk and oil. I don't mess with blades too much except to get the looser surface rust, etc. off and then I finish up by oiling the joints with Rem Oil.
 
Is mineral oil generally considered too thick to be a good joint lubricant for slippies? Have my first quality slipjoint en route to my house and want to be prepared :D

I generally only like to oil EDC blades with something food safe like Mineral Oil.
 
goodeyesniper said:
Is mineral oil generally considered too thick to be a good joint lubricant for slippies? Have my first quality slipjoint en route to my house and want to be prepared :D

I generally only like to oil EDC blades with something food safe like Mineral Oil.
Click to expand...

At the quantity used to oil the joints and lightly film the blades, it's not likely that most oils (i.e., light 3M Machine Oil, Rem Oil) are going to kill ya especially if ya wipe the blade before cutting food. I use Rem Oil on my knives.

I do have mineral oil but don't use it on my knives. Too thick for my taste. Makes a heck of a laxative though.
 
I use Buck knife oil. It has graphite in it. The little bottle has to be at least 15 years old. I don't even know if they still make it.
 
Just got a Case Hobo knife and it is gonna need to need some work on the insides. Looks like along the inside of the knife it has rusted and due to how small the slit it, I will have to find a creative way to scrape it out. Right now I am just entertaining the idea of folding a sheet of sandpaper and running it through. Any other ideas would be appreciated as well:)
 
Thanks for the info for future reference.:(

Went to get the knife today & noticed a slight ripple to the edge of the sheepsfoot blade. Looking more closely at it from above I could see it was bent. Appears a past owner tried to pry with it. Maybe it could be fixed, but I decided to pass on it.
 
Navihawk,
Send me a photo of the can and I will see what I can do.

Everyone has their own ways. I soap and hot water and toothbrush, then hairdryer all nooks and crannys till they are pretty hot to touch. Then into the mineral oil soak for a day or two. Then wipe down and toothpick in the corners and hair dryer again, just to get the MO flowing from cracks. Maybe some steel wool or 2000 paper if needed. Light oil all over wipe down. Then set on paper towel to drain any excess. I use Rem oil, Tuff Glide and newer white Buck oil. To oil joint I use the Tuff glide a lot because it has a needle applicator. Sounds like a lot of process but I would rather do that than watch prime time TV or mow the lawn. Each to there own......300Bucks
 
300Bucks said:
Navihawk,
Send me a photo of the can and I will see what I can do.

Everyone has their own ways. I soap and hot water and toothbrush, then hairdryer all nooks and crannys till they are pretty hot to touch. Then into the mineral oil soak for a day or two. Then wipe down and toothpick in the corners and hair dryer again, just to get the MO flowing from cracks. Maybe some steel wool or 2000 paper if needed. Light oil all over wipe down. Then set on paper towel to drain any excess. I use Rem oil, Tuff Glide and newer white Buck oil. To oil joint I use the Tuff glide a lot because it has a needle applicator. Sounds like a lot of process but I would rather do that than watch prime time TV or mow the lawn. Each to there own......300Bucks
Click to expand...

Thanks 300. heres a few photos I took while putting an edge on the MM.
The 513 came along for the ride.
P1010050-1.jpg


P1010051.jpg
 
Ok,
Its not as old as some, i.e. plastic bottle vs. metal can, but I will be on the prowl and see if some will turn up.....
300
 
Bill in Maintence recommends WD40 for clean up.

I have used Brasso with cotton to clean off rust
I cleaned up an old rusted British Clasp knife
Soaked it Mineral Oil, then dried it off, then used Brasso
Cleaned nicely


I oil the joints of my slippys with Mineral Oil, as it is food safe
I dampen a toothbrush with mineral oil, that way it gets into the joints and I get just enough for the joints
 
WD would probably work well Neeman.I'm not crazy forthe smell of it. I would say mineral oil or a light machine oil would work just fine.Thanks 300 for being on the lookout:thumbup:
 
Put it in the pocket of a pair of jeans and wash and dry them!:eek: Didnt do it intentionally but it worked. Oiled it up and it worked fine.:confused:--KV
 
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