Methods for cleaning heavily rusted traditional knives?

N

Novaculite

Joined
Jul 28, 2013
Messages
83
Beautiful knife, like so many others on this thread, and I can well imagine the work that went into cleaning it up. My elbow starts saying "ouch!" when I even think of it.

Is there a thread here somewhere that deals with the process of cleaning up rusted knives? Some of the photos I see here show steel like Mike's Case, where the surface is still stained from age and former rust (like most of my old knives and straight razors), and others are buffed and shined to the point where no staining has remained and the surface of the steel looks like a mirror, as if it had just left the shop where it was made. If I were to opt for the mirror effect, how should I go about doing it? Can anyone tell me where to find information like that here on the forum? I've looked in the and haven't yet found anything to answer that question.
Thanks,
Sam
 
image_zps3415e027.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]I found this one while camping in Sonora CA. Soaked it in vinegar for two days and I was able to open it.
 
Hey, I was wondering where I lost that knife....

Seriously, soaking it in vinegar and not in oil, that's new to me. And how are you going to continue on from here? Can you give me and us an idea of what your cleaning process will look like before sending us more photos?

Thanks
Sam
 
Soaking long-term in vinegar might loosen rust-stuck blades (temporarily), but it'll also create a lot of new rust (and pitting). I'd only do it as a last resort, if other methods fail to get stuck blades loosened up. On that note, a heavily-rusted knife can usually be loosened up by soaking in WD-40 (mild solvent & light mineral oil) for a couple/3/4 days, in a sealed container (keeps the WD-40 from evaporating). The solvent & oil will penetrate and soften the existing red rust, but won't make any new rust or pits in the steel. After that, the knife can be scrubbed with a stiff brush or steel wool, while still wet with the WD-40, to get rid of the loosened-up rust. Also while wet with WD-40, blades should be exercised (opened & closed repeatedly) to dislodge rust and dirt/grit from the pivots as much as possible. Don't be shy about continuing to douse the knife with fresh WD-40 until it runs fairly clean from the knife, with little or no remaining brown/red discoloration.

Beyond that, if wanting to make it mirror-shiny again, an awful lot of sanding would have to be done to remove all the pitting. On a really old, worn & rusted traditional folding knife, I'd think it's not worth taking that much precious metal away from the blades, as they usually start out pretty thin anyway. 'Pitted, patinated and CLEAN' isn't such a bad thing, so long as the rust is taken care of. :)


David
 
Hi David, nice to hear from you again. Good advice, which I will follow. I must admit that when I see those photos here of ancient knives that have been turned into new, polished like glass, I feel a little inferior with all the old knives and straight razors I own that are rust-free and in fine working condition, but still full of stains and pockmarks. Advice like yours and photos like those of Mike Berkovitch help me get back into perspective. Getting a mirror finish must involve the removal of quite a bit of steel, which means that the second and third generations from now will only have the photos to go by.
Sam
 
I've used vinegar to clean old rusted tools (hammers, axes and saws) and knives. If heavily rusted I leave them soaking in a plastic bag overnight, then the next day wipe off most of the rust. In some cases all the rust is removed just by wiping with a rag. Immediately after I apply oil to stop new rust from appearing, haven't had any problems with rust from vinegar as a result. If the vinegar doesn't remove all the rust then I scrub with steel wool and oil...
 
Ken (ksskss), please let me know the steps you went through to get that fantastic result. Please, and please again.

Thanks

Sam
 
This pretty much sums it up. If anyone has an objection to the video, just take it down.

[video=youtube_share;_3-nuwwPtpg]http://youtu.be/_3-nuwwPtpg[/video]

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Ken
 
Here's another one that needed thinning and had a messed up patina. Note the background of the picture (taken by the knife owner) had variable levels of lighting etc.

10626877_810991845617881_896317802407637659_n.jpg


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Ken
 
Thanks, Ken, for the video. Lacking power equipment like that, and having to rely on elbow grease, I'm afraid I'll have to continue living with stained carbon steel. Metal polish in a tube takes me only so far, and up to now I've hesitated to sand blades down, especially old straght razors. Mine are all clean and well polished and sharp as any razor can be, but the older ones also have stains and even pitting on them where rust once was. Stains do not keep them from performing extremely well, it just makes them look amateur, which they definitely are not. Buffing up a kitchen knife, and thus thinning out the blade minutely, can improve the knife's performance simply by making it thinner and thus offering less resistance when slicing carrots (the lowered resistance from the high polish lasts only a short while, until patina begins building up again from kitchen use). But my razors are thin enough already, and I want to leave some for the next generation.

Sam
 
I really like naval jelly, it does a good job on rust, and gives a heavy patina.
 
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