Extreme Maintenance; Fighting Knife edition.

[ShenKichin]

Hey guys, I'm a little new to the forum, but I've been reading through for a while. I finally decided to stop being a lurker today and sign up and start contributing. Earlier the other day, I encountered this problem and decided to come to you guys for help;
My dad's a Marine, and when I was a kid, he give me this knife (pictures at the bottom). It was my first sheath knife and basically, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, even if it was a little old even back then. And I've kept it since then. Through the years it's accumulated a little rust, but what really messed up it's condition is earlier this year in January, the upstairs part of my house caught on fire and was basically reduced to ash. Luckily, no one was hurt and the firefighters managed to stop it from spreading to the rest of the house and my insurance ended up covering it. As you could've already guessed by now, unfortunately, my dad's old knife was up there with my things and the heat got to it as well. Now, it's covered in soot and rust as you can see. I understand that the leather sheath for it is pretty much un recoverable because it's leather. And that the wraps on the handle is the same. But what I want you guys' help with is this; Is there any way I can restore the blade to it's former glory and get all this soot and ash and rust off of it or should I just give up and put it in the closet as it is?

Thanks for all you guys' help and taking the time to read this,

Shen

 

[yoda4561]

If it was hot enough to burn the leather like that, it's probably ruined the blade's temper as well. I'd recommend brushing off any really loose rust with a stiff nylon brush, giving it a good coat of oil, and put it away as a memento. Don't try to "restore" it any more than that, just leave the black stuff on the leather they way it is.

Edit: I did notice on second look that there's some bright spots on the blade where the phosphate has worn through, that's a good sign and there's a chance that the blade isn't completely ruined. I still recommend not putting it back into any sort of hard use, treat the burns as another part of its family history.

 

[HeavyHanded]

That honestly doesn't look so bad. I'd wait for some other responses, but if it were me I'd wash it off with soap and water and oil it up, start looking for a sheath. Until recently when I decided a large knife like that wasn't needed for backpacking, I used to hike with a WW2 vintage MK2 (of unknown pedigree, a friend gave it to me with no history) that didn't look in much better shape. Given that the handle leather looks to have been only lightly damaged and the steel barely oxidized, I'd imagine it might have suffered very little or zero harm to the steel itself. I'd have thought the sheath would have to be combusted to ashes if the temper were ruined. The stitching on the sheath didn't even burn up. I think you may have lucked out.

For reference I found a knife on EBAY thats pretty much a dead ringer for mine except my blade is in better shape. The leather on yours looks to be in better shape or very near with a cleaning.

 

[stitchawl]

I'd opt for re-conditioning. You've got nothing to lose, and possibly a lot to gain.
The sheath is a goner, but you can either try your hand at some easy leather crafting or buy a K-bar sheath cheaply enough.
Try giving the blade an over-night soak in some light machine oil, then start rubbing it down with fairly fine steel wool. Even a Brillo pad will tell you if there is something left to be saved. Rub it for a couple of hours, without a lot of pressure, and use plenty of oil. If you don't see any worthwhile results after an hour or two, hang it up. If you do... keep on rubbing. You very well may have a good working knife. Deal with the leather handle later. There are plenty of folks right here who have refurbished leather washer handles who can give you good advice about them. Then it will be time to start thinking about getting the edge back on it. But first things first. See what is under all the black stuff and rust.

Stitchawl

 

[ShenKichin]

Thanks for all your replies guys! This is probably the most helpful place on the internet when it comes to knives. What I've decided to do is take Stictchawl's advice by soaking it in some machine oil for nine hours or so. After that, I'll decide from there whether or not it's worth doing anything to the knife.