I'm the new guy! Puma question.

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Miscon1618

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Mar 12, 2026
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I have a 1970 Puma Skinner that has some minor scratching in the finish... Mostly surface, I can't find anything that would catch a fingernail. I've been researching whether or not to touch the finish to remove some of the marring. I'm getting mixed info. I've had some people tell me this is a polished stainless so buff away.... I asked Puma and they said wipe it with mineral oil and enjoy the character. They said that the blade is a high-carbon steel with a hard industrial Chrome plating and I could really screw it up trying to restore.

Can anyone tell me for sure if it is a chrome plate finish??

Thanks
Doug
 
Agree with Arathol. Once you get started with aggressive sanding/grit polishing on those plated blades, it tends to just get worse by removing plating. If it was a homogenous steel, I’d say go for it, but not in this case. Especially if Puma already confirmed.
 
Arathol said:
Yeah, a lot of those had high carbon steel blades with heavy chrome plating. You might be able to clean it up a bit with some chrome polish if the scratches are minimal. Don't buff it with a power wheel in any case.
Click to expand...

Agreeing with this, I'd also try Nevr-Dull polish at most, it's generally considered one of the least abrasive polishes. Don't try anything thing else. Trying to refinish chromed blades never goes well 99.9% of the time.
 
Yes, the older 'GENUINE - PUMASTER - STEEL' blades were high carbon and chrome plated. So, nothing very abrasive should be used on them, save for actually sharpening the edge itself. I have only one of those, a 6396 Bowie from 1981.
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I think more recent Puma knives are in some form of stainless and not plated. But I don't know when they transitioned away from the older plated, high carbon blades.
 
My Puma Sea Hunter that I got in 1975 while working at Abercrombie & Fitch is stainless, but it's a "dive knife".

Grabbed this image from Google, as I didn't have time to look for my own pic at the moment.

1643824787-9339.jpeg
 
Miscon1618 said:
I have a 1970 Puma Skinner that has some minor scratching in the finish... Mostly surface, I can't find anything that would catch a fingernail. I've been researching whether or not to touch the finish to remove some of the marring. I'm getting mixed info. I've had some people tell me this is a polished stainless so buff away.... I asked Puma and they said wipe it with mineral oil and enjoy the character. They said that the blade is a high-carbon steel with a hard industrial Chrome plating and I could really screw it up trying to restore.

Can anyone tell me for sure if it is a chrome plate finish??

Thanks
Doug
Click to expand...
I've had some success with Nagura stone, but maybe try Semichrome first....I've got a '70s one, and I don't know if I would polish it with anything...
 
I was the one who told you it was plated. I can assure you it is.
Those blades are best left alone.
 
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