How to clean an AC 1890 bhojpure

[chrisbrogden]

I just received one of the bhojpures from Atlanta Cutlery, and it's a beaut! There was a bunch of gunk on the blade that I've heard is called cosmoline. What exactly is this, and what does it do? I wiped pretty much all of it off with a soft cloth and put some WD-40 on. Was this a bad idea?

I'm using this as a display piece, so I want it to retain as much of the orignal look as possible. What's the best way to do this? There's a fair bit of rust streaking that I was thinking of leaving on, and some black colouring on the blade that I'm not sure I can remove.

Any thoughts on what stuff is safe to leave on the blade and what needs to go?

Incidentally, how the *bleep* do you pronounce "bhojpure"??? I'm not even sure I spelled it right.

Thanks,

chris

 

[DannyinJapan]

Cosmoline is a thick grease used by government arsenals to store and protect rifles, etc... It is smeared all over stuff and then the stuff can be buried or wrapped and will be kept in 100% condition for decades.
You can remove it all without fear.

 

[ddean]

SEARCH on 'highlighted' terms below for more info.

My current 'cleaning' materials
(subject to change as I learn more)
is 'citrus solvent' to remove oil & grease
('GooGone' Pro is a readily available source at hardware supply)
then 'SoftScrub' to remove any loose debis on the blade.
Any other 'calcium carbonate' cleaner will work as well;
plain versions prefered to bleach or enhanced versions.
'Murphey's' 'oil soap' is another useful cleaning material.

'Rennaissance Wax' & various 'carnuba' waxes are recommended for
long-term storage/display to 'prevent rusting'.

You will also want to 'treat' the 'wood' of the handles.