Opinions Wanted

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Aug 31, 2000
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I have an hallmarked American Silver Fruit knife made (I believe) by Albert Coles (of New York) sometime mid to late 19th century.

I'm looking for opinions/advice on whether or not I should use something like Flitz to clean this knife (both blade & handle). It's just tarnished as silver gets.

I know that silver is the one antique thing that's OK to clean/shine but does the same apply to knives.

Please feel free and offer up any suggestions.

Thanks....

--The Raptor--
 
Hmmm...good question and one im not really qualified to answer...but im gonna anyways :)

As I understand it, they should be left in the condition they are in unless its something like rust or whatever that will have actual destructive effects on it.

Also, Flitz is what I use on my knives and it does seem to be very mild but still is a tad abrasive, so if the silver is polished it could dull it a bit.

I have an old pocket knife from the late 1800s that is in mint condition but is a little tarnished on the blades and bolsters. I did use flitz on it and I dont think it did anything to alter the original finish, but still I took the chance simply because I wanted to clean it up a bit and I have absolutely no intentions of selling it, so if I dropped its value a bit, I dont care.

Hopefully one of the people here who knows about these things will pop in as I too am curious as to whether you should clean them up or not.
 
Raptor, I agree with Richard. Flitz is mild enough that unless you really put some elbow grease into it you won't take any metal away. The term "cleaning" an old knife is a bit misleading. It really refers to the use of a grinder to remove pitting and stains from a blade that was improperly stored. Even a light "cleaning" will usually remove the original finish of an old knife and will reduce it's collector value. Heavy "cleaning" can alter the shape and profile of a blade, remove the stamps and any etchings, and in general ruin an artifact of the past.
The best thing is to just preserve what you have with oil or wax. In the case of your silver fruit knive, your just removing oxidation, not material.
 
Thanks for the opinions.

I'm really wanting to take Flitz to this knife real bad because I know how nice it will shine. However, I'm still concerned that I'm removing the "aged look" from the handle (specifically).
Even though the handle is tarnished, it has a real neat shading behind the ornamental work that makes it look it's age.

Decisions.....decisions.....:)

I guess what I'll do, for now, is to clean any loose stuff from inside, lube the pivot, and clean/preserve the whole knife with Ren Wax.

Thanks again for your suggestions...

--The Raptor--
 
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