Restoring antique blades

[Pomo0331]

Hello everyone, I have a dagger with a good amount of tarnish built up that I'd like to restore. The dagger is a Bebut Kindjal from 1912, I'm not sure on the proper name for it, and my main concern is doing any damage to the blade. Can anyone suggest polishes, creams, or anything really that will do the job?

 

[not2sharp]

Hello everyone, I have a dagger with a good amount of tarnish built up that I'd like to restore. The dagger is a Bebut Kindjal from 1912, I'm not sure on the proper name for it, and my main concern is doing any damage to the blade. Can anyone suggest polishes, creams, or anything really that will do the job?

Before you do anything, please post a photo of the dagger. Generally, I would not recommend doing anything more aggressive than wiping the blade down with mineral oil to remove loose dirt and active rust. The patina that builds up over time will actually help to protect the blade, and it is a feature which is difficult to reproduce and thus lends credence to an older blade. If the condition is very weak, then perhaps a metal polish like Mothers can help to improve some condition issues. But, if you are using anything more aggressive than that, you are removing more metal and preserving less of the original artifact.

n2s

 

[Pomo0331]

Before you do anything, please post a photo of the dagger. Generally, I would not recommend doing anything more aggressive than wiping the blade down with mineral oil to remove loose dirt and active rust. The patina that builds up over time will actually help to protect the blade, and it is a feature which is difficult to reproduce and thus lends credence to an older blade. If the condition is very weak, then perhaps a metal polish like Mothers can help to improve some condition issues. But, if you are using anything more aggressive than that, you are removing more metal and preserving less of the original artifact.

n2s

Is there a way to take an image off my phone? The image link asks me for a URL

 

[jackknife]

Before you do anything, please post a photo of the dagger. Generally, I would not recommend doing anything more aggressive than wiping the blade down with mineral oil to remove loose dirt and active rust. The patina that builds up over time will actually help to protect the blade, and it is a feature which is difficult to reproduce and thus lends credence to an older blade. If the condition is very weak, then perhaps a metal polish like Mothers can help to improve some condition issues. But, if you are using anything more aggressive than that, you are removing more metal and preserving less of the original artifact.

n2s

What he said +10:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Pomo0331]

I hope that worked. Most of the tarnish is in the blood groove and at the base of the blade.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Use 0000 steel wool on the blade only. Gently scrub, and use dry. Then oil the blade.
I seriously doubt the knife is from 1912-as the electric engraving pencil used to mark it was not developed until the 1940s.

 

[Pomo0331]

Use 0000 steel wool on the blade only. Gently scrub, and use dry. Then oil the blade.
I seriously doubt the knife is from 1912-as the electric engraving pencil used to mark it was not developed until the 1940s.

Thanks for the info, I don't know anything about it other than the date on the blade, but I know that's easy to fake. I did manage to match the serial numbers to a Russian WW1 unit but I can't verify the authenticity at all.