Thinking about cleaning up and modifying an old Trailmaster

[cs007]

During the last few months I have acquired a used 1st gen Carbon V Trailmaster. It needs a little TLC though. It has some staining and scratches on the blade, the handle is pretty worn, the edge needs some work, but is still a solid knife. It is not my only Trailmaster, so I am thinking about modifying it by cleaning up and polishing the blade and guard, and rehandling it with Micarta or some type of fancy wood or some stag, and making it essentially a display for my office or possibly a gift to my son.

There is some staining or corrosion around the Cold Steel stamps on both sides of the blade near the guard. Does anybody have any advice for removing these kinds of stains while keeping the stamps clean and intact?

 

[King of the Cheese]

Try Flitz paste first. See if that works. If the corrosion isn’t too extensive that might just do it.

 

[jlauffer]

As Roy says, something like Flitz or Metal Glo may work, but you may want to put some tape over the stamps to protect them.

 

[Your Name Goes Here]

There is some staining or corrosion around the Cold Steel stamps on both sides of the blade near the guard. Does anybody have any advice for removing these kinds of stains while keeping the stamps clean and intact?

I believe any metal polish will fade the text - if the text is etched on the blade - and eventually completely remove the text if polished enough.

So if you are wanting to keep the text (if the text is etched on the blade) - wait till you get a couple of replies from more knowledgeable people than myself.

If the text is actually stamped into the blade - then metal polish is what you should use.

 

[cs007]

The text is definitely etched into the blade, not stamped. The text on the left side of the knife is in fine shape and has no corrosion on it. However on the right side hilt where it says "Carbon V, Made in USA" some slight corrosion has crept up into the text on the lower line. That one will require a lot more detailed work in order to keep from destroying the text. All in all though, I believe I can save the text without erasing it. Although I decided that it wasn't totally required for the etchings to be strong and noticeable, I would obviously prefer to keep them that way if at all possible.

 

[jlauffer]

Yeah the only TMs that have actual stamped markings were the old black-coated Carbon V models.

 

[Your Name Goes Here]

The text is definitely etched into the blade, not stamped. The text on the left side of the knife is in fine shape and has no corrosion on it. However on the right side hilt where it says "Carbon V, Made in USA" some slight corrosion has crept up into the text on the lower line. That one will require a lot more detailed work in order to keep from destroying the text. All in all though, I believe I can save the text without erasing it. Although I decided that it wasn't totally required for the etchings to be strong and noticeable, I would obviously prefer to keep them that way if at all possible.

Have you tried just wiping with a soft cloth. I have had various 'corrosion' on blades and pommels just wipe off with a little elbow grease. Make sure to Constantly use a clean part of the cloth.

 

[cs007]

Have you tried just wiping with a soft cloth. I have had various 'corrosion' on blades and pommels just wipe off with a little elbow grease. Make sure to Constantly use a clean part of the cloth.

I did that really quick one night both with some degreaser and a dry cloth, and some of it did come off of the blade. A minute amount of the staining did come off of the hilt markings, but much of it did not. The good news is that after wiping it down with some elbow grease, the markings on the left side of the blade look just fine now with the exception of one very small pinhead spot above the "C" in Cold Steel, which will be able to be polished out as its in between the rows of text. The right side is worse. It has staining coming from the guard into the bottom "Made in USA" text line. This will take some delicate polishing to make it look really good. I've decided to wait until I have the handle and guard off before I try to tackle it.