Recommendation? Nazi bayonet (?!) refurbish questions

[scdub]

Hi All,

A friend of mine was given this bayonet by one of his elementary school teachers who he was close to and who didn’t have children.

He believes it a ceremonial Nazi design. I have no reason to think otherwise, but I’d be interested in anything else folks might know about it.

He asked if I could give it a cleaning/de-rusting, and I said I’d give it a look.

The knife isn’t sharp and wasn’t intended to be, and I’m not going to change that.

The blade appears to be chrome plated? Nickel plated maybe?

Any advice on cleaning this without adding scratches? Any problem using my buffer on chrome plating?



It has some rust/discoloration on the blade as well as the handle.

As you can see the handle is rusty so it must be steel, but it looks like aluminum - I think it’s cast. Very unusually, the metal part of the handle seems to be a single piece, and the tang of the blade is a rat-tail that feeds THROUGH the handle and is presumably pinned through as well.
Unfortunately it’s got a pretty good rattle which I have no idea how to fix. I’m leery about tapping/snapping those rivets. Maybe I could drizzle some super-glue down into the handle along the tang?

Any ideas on restoration would be appreciated. Cheers!

 

[Darkpast]

I am no expert, but every (especially ceremonial) blades I ever seen and held had swastika on them.

some info here https://www.germandaggers.com/Gallery/Makers.php

About us

www.alcoso.com

It looks a lot like

Army Dress Bayonet by ACS Alcoso Solingen

German WW2 period Army model dress/parade bayonet in EXC++ condition, the nickle silver plated blade is 264 mm, makers mark ACS Alcoso Solingen, nickle plated hilt is burnished, it is complete with original steel scabbard, the excellent leather belt frog.

www.dg.de

 

[Triple_D]

That is the mark of "Alexander Coppel & Co., Solingen", and may have a fair amount of value to it. A quick search brought up a good bit of information about that brand. I'd do some research before anything else.

I might clean it with some soap and water, or maybe wipe it off with some Naphtha, but that's it. But I'd do the research first.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The handle is steel, and it was nickel plated. Anything you do to this knife will devalue it.
Oil it and leave it alone.

 

[scdub]

I am no expert, but every (especially ceremonial) blades I ever seen and held had swastika on them.

some info here https://www.germandaggers.com/Gallery/Makers.php

About us

www.alcoso.com

It looks a lot like

Army Dress Bayonet by ACS Alcoso Solingen

German WW2 period Army model dress/parade bayonet in EXC++ condition, the nickle silver plated blade is 264 mm, makers mark ACS Alcoso Solingen, nickle plated hilt is burnished, it is complete with original steel scabbard, the excellent leather belt frog.

www.dg.de

Yeah - that looks like it thanks!

No there’s no swastika anywhere, but would a WW2 German bayonet automatically be Nazi too? (I’m not trying to offend any Germans or anything, just a question).

The handle is steel, and it was nickel plated. Anything you do to this knife will devalue it.
Oil it and leave it alone.

Hmm - that explains the strange look of the handle.

Yeah I wasn’t planning to do much since it’s not a user but maybe I should do even less…

I think you’re suggesting rust removal would be a bad idea too? Just get the dirt off and add some oil?
I imagine it would also be ok to add some pure mink oil to the sheath yeah??

 

[Darkpast]

From what I have seen....Germans (nazi) were stamping everything that went to war effort with swastika.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The handle rust is where the nickel plating is missing. I would spray it with WD 40, scrub it with a soft cloth (several times) and leave it alone.

 

[scdub]

The handle rust is where the nickel plating is missing. I would spray it with WD 40, scrub it with a soft cloth (several times) and leave it alone.

Thank you - I’ll confine my cleaning to that.
I’d be interested in your opinion on tung oil, as that’s what I was thinking of finishing it with. (Alternatively was considering Renn Wax).
I have recently (3-4 years) been using 100% tung oil mixed with 100% orange oil as solvent to dilute it and allow it to spread/soak into wood. Tung oil is a drying oil and in theory should exclude oxygen better/longer than regular oils which dissipate over time.
Just a few months ago I had the thought to put a coat on most of my carbon steel blades because I noticed that even with diligent oiling, I’d get rust spots on some items if stored for even a few months.
It’s working great so far and I’m sold on it for my own tools, but as this will leave a thin lacquer-like coating, should I avoid it for this knife/similar pieces? It’s easily removed with alcohol/solvent, and I’d only be applying it to the metal, not the synthetic parts of the handle.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I have no experience with tung oil. Sorry.