Rejuvenating old knives

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gentleman_edc

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I recently went trough a purchasing srpee of old folders (Boker, Schrade, Camillus, Imperial, ...) and have been cleaning them up for use.
I've done a decent job, but I'm wondering if I'm missing anything.

My general process is:
* wash with soap and water, get the grime off and out,
* use a q-tip with rubbing alcohol or toothpick to scrape out the liner and get it clean.
* dry thoroughly with a paper towel
* Hit it with a liberal amount of WD40 to dry out any moisture and penetrate the pivot and backspring.
* Exercise the blade to loosen the grime in the spring. Leave the blade at 1/4 or 3/4 stop and use a paper towel to clean the side of the spring.
* repeat the past two steps (wd40 and cleaninging the gunk) until gunk stops coming out.

Then comes sharpening (and this can be a challenge).
* identify where the problem spots on the blade are. usually the tip and the near the choil, though sometimes there are nicks and blunt spots in the middle of the blade.
* Address the problem spots. Until this effort, I had never used an extra course stone on a knife, but years of sharpening had left a lot of extra material the choil that I wanted to work down. Some of these knives had blades that looked like recurves. I tried to get rid of a lot of this material. Using a Course stone to get a burr all the way around. I never new blades could get so dull, so at first I tried to just start with medium (lansky medium stone) and there were often spots I couldn't get.
* Continue the sharpening up to fine.
* make sure the knife is well oiled.

At this point the blades are usable, but some of the Carbon Steel blades had thick patina (caked on sections) which I used a strop to remove the bulk of (probably not the best tool) hopefully to prevent any expansion of the spots. I'm not sure if this was necessary, but I wanted to stabilize the oxidation.

The staneless steel blades are a bit more challenging. The oxidation on them is much harder to address. These are the spots that look like Crazing or Snowflakes of rust growing in the blade. I've buffed and removed as much as possible, but was wondering if there is a way to really clean them (chemically or electricaly) or at least try to stabilize them.

Is there anything I'm missing or doing wrong?

Also, I have a couple of questions on handles. I've purchased knives with serviceable handles, but is there a way to replace scales on these older knives. I know it isn't cost effective, but it might be fun to play with. And a Boker specific question. What can you use to replace the lost Boker shields that seem to be a common occurance?

I thought there would be a pinned topic on this but I couldn't find an old topic with my limited searching.
 
I'd strongly suggest posting some clear, close-up photos of the knives and particular issues (oxidation/rust, etc) seen on them. Photo-hosting sites like imgur are helpful and free. You'll get a lot more useful feedback if the pictures give a clear look at what you're dealing with.

In particular, I'm wondering about the 'oxidation' you're seeing on blades you've mentioned are stainless. Whatever spots those might be, it might not be so much a concern, unless those stainless blades were severely neglected for a long period of time, prior to your purchasing them. But seeing photos would answer many questions, in all likelihood. And on the carbon steel blades, any black oxide ('patina') won't harm the steel anyway. So, extreme measures might not be necessary for those either. Again, some clear photos could generate the best feedback.
 
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Bill, thanks for the advise.
Here is a shot of a Camillus Cub Scout blade.
https://imgur.com/a/EPdozw5

And here's one from a no-name knife that is otherwise relatively good.
https://imgur.com/a/Sq1qzIV
I'm not looking to make these showpieces, but stabilize the decay.

The carbon steel blades actually have cleaned up well.
https://imgur.com/a/7ZtkJyw
I don't mind the patina, in fact I enjoy it.

These knives may not be show pieces, but I don't mind getting them dirty and they seem to take an edge well.
 
After looking at these photos, I figure I've done the best I can do. I am worried that the crazing on the stainless might expand underneath, but all I can do keep a layer of oil on it at this point.

I have been having a lot of fun cleaning these knives up.
 
The blades you think are stainless aren't. They are carbon steel.
You can scrub those spots lightly with 0000 steel wool to remove most of the active rust.
You can also scrub them with the edge of a copper penny, or a piece of brass.
Afterward, spray the spots with WD 40 and let it sit for a few days. Then, wipe off. If you get rust color on your cloth, soak the spots again-until no more rust comes off.
 
Agree w/Bill, no stainless blades there. All carbon steel. Stainless will never show that black oxide if it corrodes, but it can still rust to red/brown and pit. It won't 'patina' to grey/black like carbon steel does.

Very high mirror-polishing of simple carbon steel can sometimes make it look like a stainless blade, and the dark spots of corrosion will stand out in stark contrast to the surrounding mirror-polished finish. So the dark spots of oxidation on high-polished carbon steel blades have a somewhat different look and character than the more uniform grey/black patina seen on a satin-finished carbon steel blade. Camillus did mirror-polish their older carbon steel blades, according to descriptions given in old catalogs.
 
Thanks, I will continue to work on them over time. The first round of WD40 did a lot and it is probably enough, I may try the steelwool, scotchbrite pad and penny. None of the knives were expensive, and surprisingly there is very little or no blade play in any of them.

I may try to do a bit of "unpolishing" with some more aggressive steel wool (or forcing a patina). I guess the polished steel doesn't patina as easily.

I've started carrying these knives regularly. It's fun to give them new life.

Thanks again.
 
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