Cleaning up and using old knives.

Eisman,
thanks for this thread. I had never seen ultrasound tanks used for cleaning old knives...even though (for a knife enthusiast) I assume it's a pretty natural thing to try. Your results are very very good.
Andi,
I was about to ask you why all those knives had a corkscrew...from what I know, it's been a while since cork was last used for beer bottles :D

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
Andi,
I was about to ask you why all those knives had a corkscrew...from what I know, it's been a while since cork was last used for beer bottles :D

Fausto
:cool:
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And even those with corks (Leffe for example) don't need a corkscrew! :D Still, opening a beer bottle without a cap-lifter is easy, improvising a corkscrew is harder :)

The last time I had to improvise, a very long time ago, was with a classic Italian switchblade, but that’s always messy, and those things will tend to get you thrown out of restaurants here these days! :D
 
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Humppa said:
I´ve done a lot of cleaning yesterday... it was a foggy and cold humid day. I went down to the workshop and took some of my fleamarket finds with me, next to some knives I got from friend. I removed rust with steel wool and used a lot of mineral oil on them... I was inspired by Eisman´s great work - so I took the time for cleaning. Sharping is work for another day ;)

IMG_2336.jpg
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Why, that green handled one is magnificent, I may need to start looking for one on fleabay I like it so much!

Nice job cleaning these puppies up,
Connor
 
Guys, thank you for your replies :)

About the corkscrew - I don´t know very much. But still nowadays on traditional german knives by Hartkopf etc etc there are still corkscrews. I don´t have a real use for them - as a beerdrinker. Fausto, this is new to me, thank you for this information. I always ment even in the past beerbottles had that snap-lock.

Connor - that green handled one is a Richartz, it has a neat wale tangstamp. I got it from a friend; his wife´s grandpa used them very much.

The stag handled knife (second from bottom) is a very old Ludwig Groten, Solingen. It´s a beautiful old knife here´s a link I to a thread I made in the Bernard Levine subforum http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1003252-Ludwig-Groten-Solingen-information-needed!
 
Humppa said:
Fausto, this is new to me, thank you for this information. I always ment even in the past beerbottles had that snap-lock.
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That's just German efficiency Andi! ;) There are still people opening bottles with their teeth here! :eek: :D

Very interesting to hear more about your knives :)
 
I have to say, I was surprised to see so many corkscrews on German knives. Maybe those patterns come from old times (when cork was still used for beer bottles as well), or maybe it's for the very reason meantioned by Jack: it's easier to improvise a caplifter than a corkscrew :D
Now, in less "social" environments (can't recommend it in other circumstances) a good solution is to damage the cork tap (if you aren't able to get it out as it's meant to be) and use a cotton gauze to filter the wine. If you do it immediately, even the small pieces of cork that might fall into the bottle will do no harm and not alter the taste.
Andi,
what's the acrylic handled knife? It would be a perfect match for a wool sheet my grandma used to have around in winter... :rolleyes:

Fausto
:cool:
 
Fausto - you mean the one with the fance caro-shape? That´s a Roberts, Sheffield, England I got on a local fleamarket.

Here´s a pic of it, when I got it and it was rusty ;)

IMG_2114.jpg


I have no available pics of the knives while cleaned, right now.
 
Humppa said:
Fausto - you mean the one with the fance caro-shape? That´s a Roberts, Sheffield, England I got on a local fleamarket.

Here´s a pic of it, when I got it and it was rusty ;)

IMG_2114.jpg


I have no available pics of the knives while cleaned, right now.
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It's a RICHARDS Andi!! :D
 
Sorry double-tap, really bad internet connection today :(
 
Uups... :o Sorry... I couldn´t read it on the stamp and the knife is still resting in the workshop at an oil treatment... one thing is, I become an old man or my eyes are much more destroyed after that accident than I thought :confused:

But thanks for correction, Jack.
 
Humppa said:
Connor - that green handled one is a Richartz, it has a neat wale tangstamp. I got it from a friend; his wife´s grandpa used them very much.
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Thank you for the information Andi, as I can now search for them on the bay!
 
You guys are going to put me back to work.

I cleaned up a nice hand axe (hatchet) I'm going to send to my brother for splitting kindling this afternoon, and now I've got some new knives to work on and a new solution that's supposed to work on rust to "experiment" with.

Andi, I like the corkscrews. My favorite SAK is the Waiter for just that reason. I got in the habit of picking one up every time I took a trip to Europe. Since I tend to hit the Markts or the Metzgeri for supplies and eat in the parks if the weather's good a corkscrew comes in handy. I don't mind wine at room temp, but I like my beer cooler.
 
I like the second and third on the left from the top. Not sure why. I thinks its the shape of the blade on the second and the pattern on the scales on the third.
 
Connor: I´m glad I could help you a little :) Richartz had a lot of output in the past so they should be still available and for a small price, I think

eisman & Wade: I know what you mean. This kind of knives have no real tangstamps showing the maker. So they might have been cheap when they got bought. I think nowadays something like this would be called "Beater Knife" though I don´t understand that term. I know what you mean about getting fresh made sausages and eating them with some fresh dark-bread and a cool beer... The butcheries (Metzgerei) in Germany still use to make their own products ;)
 
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