Well, I've tried all types of approaches to get the grit out of my Imperial Barlow. From spraying with WD-40 to washing under running water to drenching the joint in various lubes and working it back and forth. I'm out of ideas. It still has very noticable grit in the joint area. Does anybody have any other ideas? Oh, and I've tried blowing out the grit (wet and dry) to no avail as well. I'm really quite sad about this, as I'd hate to see a great knife worn out simply because I can't clean it adequately!
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Getting the grit out...
- Thread starter Buck268
- Start date
Bill DeShivs
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2000
- Messages
- 12,645
Grit breaks down and imbeds itself in the liners. Keep flushing and working it.
Bill
Bill
Ditto, Bill. I bought an old Case Sodbuster from an even older fellow I had hired to rake some leaves for an hour. Turned out it had seen a little more use than I at first thought. Grit? Yeah boy! Grit, sand, whatever it is was and still is embedded in the brass liners, but I've gotten most of it out by repeatedly washing it out in the kitchen sink with hot water, dish detergent, and the brush we use to wash dishes. Then I lube it with Militec-1, carry and use it some more, then wash it again when I get tired of the gritty feeling. It's coming along though, and I've gotten maybe 75% of the grit out. The fellow I got it from was selling greens out of the back of his pickup truck when I found him, and he was cutting up bunches of greens (unwashed and straight out of the garden) with this knife before they were packaged in gallon plastic bags for sale. He had more greens than sales right then, so he was glad to rake leaves in my front yard nearby for an hour. It turned out to be harder work than I thought it would be, so I paid him more than I had told him I would, gave him two sandwiches and a cold beer, let him have two gallons of gasoline from my can for his truck, and bought his knife from him. He went away happy with more money than he was making selling greens when I met him. Sorry, I'm rambling again. 
- Joined
- May 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,432
Get a can of carbuerator cleaner to use for flushing out any loose dirt or grit from a knife. Carb cleaner is under a lot of pressure and had solvents to take out any gummed lube. You will need to lube the knife after flushing with the carb cleaner as it remove any lube.