Cleaning up an old knife

[Blade_Crazy]

I am looking to purchase a new knife from one of two smaller store around where I work. While browsing today i found one of the knives I was looking at had a pretty slow snap (actually there wasn't much snap at all) . I have heard (read) you guys talk about giving your knives a bath, but am unsure of what this entails and don't want to ruin a new knife because i doused it in water with out proper knowledge.

If I have this in the wrong area please forgive me and move this thread, however I like the advise and tips from you guys in the traditional area.

So if this can stay; my question is How does one give their traditional knife a bath with out harming it?

Thanks,
-Andrew

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

My routine:

1. If the knife is REALLY dirty and/or rusty and/or gummy from old, sticky oil, I'll usually spray it down pretty liberally with WD-40. Let it flow into and through every nook & cranny, inside & out. Exercise the joints while it's wet, and flush it some more. If there's much rust on the blades or springs, they can be scrubbed with some #0000 steel wool to dislodge it. Flush again with WD-40 to remove that stuff afterwards. Wipe everything down with paper towels.

2. Then, fill a sink or similar vessel with hot water (as hot as your hands can tolerate; for me that's ~120F) and dish detergent, like Ivory Liquid, Dawn, etc. Immerse the entire knife in the hot, soapy water and exercise the joints again (be careful; the wet, soapy blades will be slippery). Use paper towels or rags to scrub every part you can reach; fold paper towels into 'pads' to fit into the blade well, so you can scrub the inside of the liners & backsprings. Keep exercising the joints until you can feel them moving freely, including closing fully by themselves.

3. Rinse the entire knife under hot running water, again/still exercising the joints. Be thorough with the rinse; make sure all the soap is washed out.

4. Dry the knife. The hot water bath & rinse helps for this, as the internals of the knife will be nice & warm, which really speeds evaporation of the moisture in the knife. Use clean, dry rags or paper towels to wipe down all you can reach.

5. After drying, I like to pour some isopropyl alcohol (91% solution) into the joints & liners. That'll help displace any residual moisture left inside. You could do the same by spraying a little (not too much) WD-40 into the same areas, then wipe it down. After everything is wiped down, use your lube of choice for the joints (the WD-40 will leave some mineral oil behind, so that'll do by itself).

 

[powernoodle]

I can't improve on what Mr. Obsessed said.

 

[confucius37]

^ yes I use the same method. The only thing I can add is that I use pipe cleaners to get at the back of the spring and inside the smaller spaces.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

^ yes I use the same method. The only thing I can add is that I use pipe cleaners to get at the back of the spring and inside the smaller spaces.

I keep seeing this tip in threads here, and I keep forgetting to pick up some pipe cleaners. Sounds like it would work well. :thumbup:

 

[Blade_Crazy]

thank you very much, I only have one question, is this is a fine method no matter what handle material is on the knife?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

thank you very much, I only have one question, is this is a fine method no matter what handle material is on the knife?

I've done this for bone, stag, stabilized wood & synthetics, like Delrin. No issues. Main thing to be aware of is, the flush/wash/rinse/dry will be relatively brief. Not much danger, so long as the knife isn't allowed to sit wet, or be immersed for a lengthy time (like hours or days).

The only thing I'd be cautious with, is old, dry unstabilized wood. Not sure how it would handle the water. Fortunately, not too many knives fall into this category. I think even unstabilized wood, so long as it's in pretty good condition, should be OK. And using some wood conditioning oil prior to the wash, might reduce the chance of the water soaking in too deeply, and maybe doing some damage.

 

[quattromori]

David's post covers it all..I will just add a tip to it.
After you wash the knife, one good way to dry it is compressed air. I have access to an air compressor at work, but you should find one of those "compressed air cans" for sale. It will help you reach the inside part of the liners and dry them just fine (especially if it's a one spring knife, you wouldn't have much space to enter paper or any other drying tissue).

 

[Blade_Crazy]

Thank You very much obsessed, I will be trying this tonight.

To quattromori, thanks for the tip. I work in IT so i always have compressed air on hand.

 

[Will Power]

David, O.W.E. Don't forget those pipe-cleaners, they really get inside the guts of a knife and give it a good clear-out, kind of knife laxative......Particularly good for any knife that's been on gardening duty and has grit or sand (real horror) inside them.

Regards, Will

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

David, O.W.E. Don't forget those pipe-cleaners, they really get inside the guts of a knife and give it a good clear-out, kind of knife laxative......Particularly good for any knife that's been on gardening duty and has grit or sand (real horror) inside them.

Regards, Will

Between that and the 'laxative' mineral oil I sometimes use (on my knives, that is), that should be the cure of all cures. And the thought (the horror!!) of 'sand inside' just gives me chills. For my knives' sake, too .

I better put those on my shopping list. Thanks.

 

[LKJW]

Yup. When I lazy I soak in wd40, wash, dry, soak in mineral oil, wipe and dry. (Soaks can be a few hours or days) Works for bone, delrin, basically anything except celluloid or the like.

 

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

Not a fan of WD-40, so what I do is a couple of hours (can be a couple of minutes) in a bag with mineral oil. Start working the joints- usually a good amount better by this point- while cleaning the tang with toothpicks/twisted paper towel/q-tips. Adding a couple of drops to the tang to continue flushing it out if needed. I then try to clean the blade channel in the same manner, using the toothpicks to clean out stamps, handle scales etc. I often do not wash completely after, but let the knife sit and drain for a couple of days. If what exudes is pretty clear still, then I feel my job was pretty complete. I just don't like putting the old knives directly in water, the oil seems to do well for me.

Just how I do it, many methods and hopefully many successful results.

 

[LKJW]

Why no wd40?

Not a fan of WD-40, so what I do is a couple of hours (can be a couple of minutes) in a bag with mineral oil. Start working the joints- usually a good amount better by this point- while cleaning the tang with toothpicks/twisted paper towel/q-tips. Adding a couple of drops to the tang to continue flushing it out if needed. I then try to clean the blade channel in the same manner, using the toothpicks to clean out stamps, handle scales etc. I often do not wash completely after, but let the knife sit and drain for a couple of days. If what exudes is pretty clear still, then I feel my job was pretty complete. I just don't like putting the old knives directly in water, the oil seems to do well for me.

Just how I do it, many methods and hopefully many successful results.

 

[knarfeng]

I actually am going to move this to Maintenance...

After advising not to use WD-40. Once the solvent evaporates the remaining oil is not as good for lubrication. It will lubricate better than nothing, but there are much better products for that.

 

[Skimo]

I disagree... what exactly about wd-40 after evaporation does not work well as a lubricant?

Giving off hand advice is one thing, giving off hand advice as a moderator, for some people, will carry more weight.

I can say with absolute certainty that mineral oil is just fine for a lubricant, so is wd-40, so is 5w-30 and every other motor oil I've used, graphite,3-in-1 and every other thing that makes things that are supposed to move, move.

 

[meako]

toothpicks are a boon when combined with the rag or papertowel.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

There probably are other lubricants available which are 'better performers' than WD-40, under certain conditions or uses. Whether it's necessary to use them in a simple pocketknife is another thing. I've used nothing but WD-40 in mine, for 20+ years. I've occasionally tried other products. like 3-in-1, lithium grease, 'White Lightning' (wax-based), etc., but never saw the justification to keep using them. Keeping the knife clean is what makes most of the difference, and most any lube will work then, especially when applied sparingly. The 'sparingly' aspect is actually why I like WD-40 for this, as it's already pretty light stuff, by design. You really have to make an effort to overdo it, with WD-40. A little 'spritz' will do, and the solvent in the mix will flush out the excess, to be wiped away with a paper towel. After the solvent evaporates, the little bit of oil left is just enough to help seal up pores in the steel (rust protection) and lightly lube the joints.

 

[confucius37]

Personally I don't use WD40 as a lubricant. I use it as a rust dissolver and cleaner. WD40 stands for Water Displacement – 40th Attempt, as such it was never intended to be used as a sole lubricant, instead its an anti-corrosive/anti-rust formulation.

For knives WD40 is possibly more acceptable since they don't need much lubrication but rust protection, but for anything that actually requires lubrication I use something else. I wash off any WD40 I have used on my knives with alcohol and apply food grade mineral oil because most of my knives will see food in their lifetime. Not to say that the small amount of WD40 will cause harm, but I just prefer it.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

WD-40 is a lubricant, in addition to it's rust dissolving/protection properties, by design. By the product's MSDS, it contains up to 25% 'petroleum base oil', by volume.

Here's the 'Product Use' statement from within the MSDS (bold emphasis added):

Product Use: Lubricant, Penetrant, Drives Out Moisture, Removes and Protects Surfaces From Corrosion

Here's the link to the product MSDS itself:
http://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/msds-wd494716385.pdf

From WD-40's own FAQ's page, bold added for emphasis ( http://www.wd40.com/faqs/#a97 ):

What does WD-40 do?

WD-40 fulfills five basic functions:
1. CLEANS: WD-40 gets under dirt, grime and grease to clean. It also dissolves adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape and excess bonding material.
2. DISPLACES MOISTURE: Because WD-40 displaces moisture, it quickly dries out electrical systems to eliminate moisture-induced short circuits.
3. PENETRATES: WD-40 loosens rust-to-metal bonds and frees stuck, frozen or rusted metal parts.
4. LUBRICATES: WD-40's lubricating ingredients are widely dispersed and tenaciously held to all moving parts.
5. PROTECTS: WD-40 protects metal surfaces with corrosion-resistant ingredients to shield against moisture and other corrosive elements.