Rust removal and restoration?????

I went to the post and looked at the knife. Naval Jelly or OSPHO will probably lift the rust. It may take repeated treatings. Wear rubber gloves or it will turn your hands black. Now the problem is it looks very pitted with rust and that is going to take alot of sanding to get rid of it and I don't know if you will ever get it all!
Being as it is an older knife I am not sure that I would try to get it all, I might just sand to a point were I could live with it and retreat with the OSPHO. This will give a darker black aged look to the metal!

Here is another alternative. Boy you better be glad I didn't give up on finding this one, I knew I had it bookmarked and was ready to give up on it when I found it.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

Your biggest problem unless you want to take the handle off and rehandle with the original is going to be protecting the handle from any rust removal process. You might coat it in wax and then heat it to strip the wax after you get the rust removed from the knife. You will then have to sand out the handle and refinsh it. Best of luck to you, restoration is a long hard process when done right!
 
Here is how it should be done:
Soak the blade in WD 40 for a couple of days. Scrub it off with a rag. Then use 0000 steel wool VERY lightly to scrub the rust. Repeat the procedure until the rust is gone.
DON'T use any chemical strippers or rust removers. And PLEASE don't sand it!
As far as knives go, Eks arent exactly fine cutlery, but they are historic.
 
mace....i have had a few very rusty very old knives that were soaked in a mixture of molasses and water that came out great....it appeared to leave all the patina just took off all the rust.....one was coated with OVER a hundred years of gunk and rust....u would have never guessed it.....i used one part molasses to i think four parts of water.....hope that helps some....ohh and on one the handle was submerged and one the handle wasn't.....didn't seem to affect the handle but i would probbaly do it in a tall container and have the handle out of the water.....for my really old handles all i ever do is soak them in a jar of mineral oil for a while...dpending on how dry they r.....i have seen split handles seal back up and u couldn't even tell it had happened.....hope that might help.....ryan
 
It would be a shame to use sandpaper on that blade. Bill DeShivs advice is exactly how I would do it, especially the VERY lightly scrubbing with steel wool and PLEASE don't sand it. You can also substitute the WD40 with mineral oil, but the WD40 will work faster.
 
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