How do you clean up your crusty rusty ol slipjoints?

akadave2

akadave2

Joined
Jun 21, 2008
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I saw an earlier thread where a guy was soaking them in Mineral oil? Is that right? I have an old Anvil pocket knife that my grandfather gave me and It needs some TLC
 
The same as the newer ones credit type/memebership card toothpick(for tight to get to areas) and Militec 1(joints) on my slipjoints a light coat as with the other of mineral oil on the blades when through...
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Im more concerned with the rust in the pivots...the springs seem weak on this knife due to rust in the pivots. Im thinking of soaking it in something.
 
If the knife is badly rusted, soaking it might help.

bernard_levine said:
...

2-3 drops [mineral oil] on a soft rag, wipe down the metal parts.

A drop or two won't hurt most handle materials, BUT slobbering it on will discolor bone or ivory, weaken leather. :eek:

2-3 drops on a soft rag. THAT IS ALL. Don't glug-glug it :barf: all over everything.

*

Mineral oil won't HURT the wood of a cutting board, but oiling a board :thumbdn: defeats the antibacterial properties of dry wood. :(

So for pretty, use oil. For health, use NOTHING but soap and water. :eek:

http://www.knife-expert.com/cut-bo93.txt

If you're the kind of kid who doesn't wear a bike helmet because it would mess up your hairdo :rolleyes: then go ahead and oil that cutting board.

*

Modern Japanese "sword oil" is merely scented mineral oil.

"Kentucky Mint" means buffed out, with a closed surface.
A Japanese sword polish is done with stones only, to OPEN the grain.
They might LOOK :eek: the same( to a California hillbilly), but they're not. They are opposites.

*

For a badly rusted knife or tool, soaking in mineral oil won't hurt, and might possibly help.

Otherwise: 2-3 drops on a soft cloth.

BRL...
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akadave2 said:
Im more concerned with the rust in the pivots...the springs seem weak on this knife due to rust in the pivots. Im thinking of soaking it in something.
Click to expand...

If this were my knife, I'd be flushing it out with WD-40. Don't be shy with the spray, and exercise the pivots while they're wet. If the rust is real heavy, I've even soaked the knife in it, then wrapped it in WD-40 soaked paper towels and sealed it up in a zip-loc bag for a day or two (or even three). That'll soften up the heavy, crusty rust. Then, unwrap it and again use the WD-40 to flush out as much of the crud as possible, again while working the pivots. Hopefully the WD-40 will begin to run clear as it drains. Then, after all that, give the knife a bath in HOT water with dish soap (Ivory, Dawn, etc.). Keep exercising the pivots while washing. Rinse in HOT water, again working the pivots, and dry everything out. The hot water wash & rinse will heat up the internals, which helps speed evaporation of water in the joints and other hard-to-reach spots afterwards. When you're sure everything's dried completely, a light 'spritz' of WD-40 in the joints will ensure any remaining moisture is displaced there. Lube the joints with your preferred oil, as needed.
 
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Ultrasonic - still working on what's the best cleaner. It's amazing what will come out of a "clean" knife. Some of the cleaning solutions specifically target rust, but most of those do wierd things with brass. You get a electroplated copper look over polished steel. Still, I've been very happy overall with the results. 2-3 cycles in the pot and then a soak in mineral oil and it's a big difference.
 
I have used the mineral oil soak on bone scaled rust buckets with success. One stayed under a month with only good effects.
300
 
Thats is precisely my method and I have salvaged MANY knives that way. Buy a jug of WD-40 and soak.


Obsessed with Edges said:
If this were my knife, I'd be flushing it out with WD-40. Don't be shy with the spray, and exercise the pivots while they're wet. If the rust is real heavy, I've even soaked the knife in it, then wrapped it in WD-40 soaked paper towels and sealed it up in a zip-loc bag for a day or two (or even three). That'll soften up the heavy, crusty rust. Then, unwrap it and again use the WD-40 to flush out as much of the crud as possible, again while working the pivots. Hopefully the WD-40 will begin to run clear as it drains. Then, after all that, give the knife a bath in HOT water with dish soap (Ivory, Dawn, etc.). Keep exercising the pivots while washing. Rinse in HOT water, again working the pivots, and dry everything out. The hot water wash & rinse will heat up the internals, which helps speed evaporation of water in the joints and other hard-to-reach spots afterwards. When you're sure everything's dried completely, a light 'spritz' of WD-40 in the joints will ensure any remaining moisture is displaced there. Lube the joints with your preferred oil, as needed.
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I just got a few old nice knives on local flea markets. Some of them had rust inside the liners. That was most difficult part to clean it up. I use some steelwool for that. Then a little soaking in hand-warm soapwater to remove the most rust. Later on a little mineral oil treatment and most things are well. The rust on the blade was no big deal... for the blades I prefer Ballistol in any way.

Many good ways of cleaning them up were shown on this thread :)
 
50:50 kerosene and diesel is one of the best penetrating agents out there.
I often use a fibreglass pen to clean off bad rust like spiders. Does a similar job to a toothbrush but the fibres are finer and get into crevices easier. Watch out for the dust though, it's itching powder.
I use micromesh for spots, grit matched to the surface finish.
 
i have a little tip for getting inside the liners (when the blades are open); usually theres lots of gunk in there that will mess with your knife.
Youre going to need kerosene and diesel like parbajtor said (or other cleaner), and a q-tip. The trick is to crush the cotton, which in turn collapses the tube on itself, providing you a perfectly sized disposable "cloth" to get inside the liners. If you dont crush the tip, it wont fit between the liners.
 
GreyMethod said:
Will WD-40 remove rust in cutting surfaces or should I use something else?
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By 'cutting surfaces', are you referring to the blades? At any rate, WD-40 helps to dissolve rust, which makes it much easier to scrub/wipe/wash away. If removing rust from knife blades, some very fine steel wool (#0000) works well, for scrubbing with the WD-40.
 
Also, use a pipe-cleaner on the innards, it's a fine thing for cleaning out especially when folded in a loop.
 
When I was a kid the next door neighbor had a large slip joint collection and also did some repair on old pocket knives. He put old rusty knives in a mason jar full of coal oil for a few days. It seemed to work well for him. I don't really know exactly what coal oil is or where to get it though. Kerosene is probably pretty close. The 50:50 mix kerosene and diesel as Parbajtor mentions above is also probably very similar.
 
parbajtor said:
50:50 kerosene and diesel is one of the best penetrating agents out there.
I often use a fibreglass pen to clean off bad rust like spiders. Does a similar job to a toothbrush but the fibres are finer and get into crevices easier. Watch out for the dust though, it's itching powder.
I use micromesh for spots, grit matched to the surface finish.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the watchmaker's style fiberglass scratch brush/pen? Hmmm, I use one to refinish lightly scratched watch cases and bracelets in 316L stainless all the time, never thought of using one on my blades for pepper spots/spidering...

I know what I'm doing after work today!
 
I have never considered soaking a knife in WD-40, coal oil, etc. Wouldn't those things have a bad effect on bone, wood, etc?

Glenn
 
If you're gonna use an old knife, it'll be necessary to make it serviceable. But.... This is not directed at anyone in particular, I just think it's important to say. There is no such thing as "restoring" the blades on an old knife. The blades either have the original factory finish or they don't. Waaayyy too often I see knives bought, cleaned and resold. Seller's often describe the blades as "mint"... apparently forgetting what they've done (forgetting even before the buffing wheel has stopped spinning ;) ). The seller's hand rubbed or belt sanded or buffed blades are not in any way similar to the original factory finishes. It's especially sickening when the knives previously had full blades and much of the original finish intact. :barf: In general the best advice is...

bernard_levine said:
DO NOT clean old knives. If you want clean knives, buy new knives.

BRL...
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***don't buff my bolsters***
 
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glennbad said:
I have never considered soaking a knife in WD-40, coal oil, etc. Wouldn't those things have a bad effect on bone, wood, etc?

Glenn
Click to expand...

So long as the knife isn't immersed in it for an extended period of time (hours or more), WD-40 won't likely harm bone or most healthy wood handles. The solvent in it is mild, and evaporates rapidly, leaving just light mineral oil behind. In the case of wood, if the wood is very old or very dry or deteriorated, I'd be more careful not to let too much soak in. Some woods have their own natural oils, which might be stripped away by the solvent in WD-40, if applied excessively or too often. That might lead to over-drying of the wood, which may cause splits or cracks later on. Just keep it very light and relatively infrequent. It makes common sense, that a knife handled in wood or bone, or other natural materials, should and will stand up to occasional light 'oiling', whether with WD-40 or other oils. So long as they're wiped down soon afterwards, I wouldn't ordinarily worry about it.

I'd personally think twice about using other products like motor oils and transmission fluids, which contain other ingredients never intended for use on anything but steel. Some petroleum-based products are chemically much harsher than others. WD-40's formulation is very mild by comparison.
 
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