Patina or polished

mbjannusch

mbjannusch

Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
3,115
Many have heard antique and knife collectors refer to patina or the oxidation of metal. I collected early American coins for a long time. Coin collectors will tell you that if a coin is wized (cleaned) the value of the piece can be reduced by as much as 75%. Most coin collectors won't even look at a coin, even if it is a perfact example, if its' been cleaned. My question is how many of the knife collectors feel the same way about knives. I think there is nothing nicer than the sparkel of a bright shiny 110/112. The patin on brass collects quickly. Therefore cleaning your 110s is no big deal to me, what do you think???
 
I agree with you...I like my knives to shine like new. I love a shiny new looking 1960's or 1970's 110!!

Edit; It really doesn't matter to me whether it raises or lowers the value. My knives are for my pleasure.
 
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I collect the old hand made knives from pre 1961 and I usually wont touch them unless I feel it couldnt hurt. If I get one that is badly rusted, I'll take it through the shop because I dont feel it could hurt it any and it just might help.
But I also know how easy it is to make them bright and shiny, that lucite will shine up especially well, so I go back and forth on this. If I can see a lot of the original grind marks made by Hoyt or Al, thats about the only time I definitely wont polish the knife.
 
depends on the knife...I like my Bucks SHINY :)
I have some 1940-1950 non Bucks with carbon steel....not so much.
 
I basically collect modern Bucks. So no reason to buy a knife that isn't already nice, but I do have a few with some blade scratching I'm wondering if a Spa treatment would improve. I polish my brass. I want the sparkle. I consider a shiny or uniformly ground blade to be a "work of metalurgical art"......now here goes more mud on the ceiling but....I have no idea why people want their blades all scratched up with a persons signature. Even an author signs the book inside and not on the cover. The family name stamped on the tang is good enough for me....
 
DeSotoSky said:
I do have a few with some blade scratching I'm wondering if a Spa treatment would improve.
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That's a good question for Joe.

Does the spa treatment normally get those annoying little scratches out of the blade?
 
I can clean, buff, polish, and sharpen my knives just as good as a Buck spa job, and most times better, so I do them all myself. I like buying beaters and reserrecting them...I can make them like new. It gets me out of the house...
 
I prefer clean and sharp my knives. I think that any knife must be sharp and ready to use in any time. I don't have old knives becouse I start collect knives 3 years ago. When I buy any old knife, I'm sure its cleaned and sharpened.
 
mbjannusch said:
I can clean, buff, polish, and sharpen my knives just as good as a Buck spa job, and most times better, so I do them all myself. I like buying beaters and reserrecting them...I can make them like new. It gets me out of the house...
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I really like taking a beat up knife and seeing how far I can go to get it looking good again and shaving sharp. I've worked on about a dozen or so and am getting better. It is a lot of work and I am learning, but it's fun.

The one thing that helped me most getting scratches out of the blades was when I tried a flap sander on one of my grinders. The blade looks almost new when I'm done.

I wouldn't work on any of my really old knives though. I have a few 110's in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd version and if I ever wanted anything done to one of those, I would send them in to Buck and let the pros do it.
 
mbjannusch said:
I can clean, buff, polish, and sharpen my knives just as good as a Buck spa job, and most times better, so I do them all myself. I like buying beaters and reserrecting them...I can make them like new. It gets me out of the house...
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:thumbup:
+1... this has become my major focus in collecting. It is so rewarding and by spending the time in the shop working on
them I find I get a little more attached to those knives.
 
I also like them nice and clean. I buy them for me, I don't buy them for re-sale value. Therefore, I keep them the way I want them.
jb4570
 
When a knife is given the spa treatment it is good to remember that if there are deep scratches, and you want them removed, we are removing metal and therefor blade life. A normal spa treatment will remove most of the scratches but we dont normally chase the deeper ones unless asked to.
A little tarnish on the bolsters or scratches on the blade of a user dont effect its use but...for some reason I gotta shine up my users before using them. My "go to" knife for field dressing is a Zipper in bg-42 with nickle silver guard and pommel. Even if I dont use it one year, I still bring it in and shine up the bolsters before each hunting season.
 
I have a question. Did you ever go to a car show and see a dirty 1953 Corvette ? Shine on brother. Or better yet, send it to that Leroy what's his name. Shine on. Have a great weekend.
 
Well I can see the point of not cleaning things such as coins or things with minute details. These people will tell you that removing the pitina, whether you want to or not you are removing the top layer/s of the coin or what ever you are working on. I don't see the that being an issue here. I have taken a 100 series fixed blade that I got for pennies, because it looked like it was run over with a truck, and after I finished I thought Wow, if this knife could talk it would thank me for a new lease on life. Its not sitting in the botton for a toolbox competing for elbow room with a ball pin hammer, and a hack saw. Its glowing on the shelf with the others of its kind. Thats the part of colleting I enjoy the most. Finding them, fixing them and then desplaying them...
 
Did you ever go to a car show and see a dirty 1953 Corvette ? Shine on brother.
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Big Plus One to Shazam.

I like old knives looking new.

I don't think preserving the "old" look and old patina increases resale value on knives anyway.

The "Purists" who insist on such things are few and far between and really don't have an impact because there are so many buyers who would rather have a new-looking knife.
 
The SPA treatment is too far away for my knives that they could get
a beautification. So I have no choice but to love my kifes as they are.

Best,
Haebbie
 
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