Unsure of what can be done

K

King Crowley Bladeworks

Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
24
Unfortunately I am still an unpaid member until I can afford to fix that, so I can't provide a picture, but I was asked to recut an edge and do whatever cleaning and restoration is possible to a pre-1990 Jimmy Lile #7 stag handle that was caught in a flood a couple of years ago. It has some noticeable black discoloration and light pitting from corrosion on the steel, and brass corrosion as well. But not too severe, perhaps 5mm square on the brass. There are 2 light spots of surface rust bloom about 1/2 inch square total, but it does not extend into the metal to a visible depth.
The owner is concerned with retaining as much of the potential value as possible, and bearing that in mind I have been trying to establish what level of work besides sharpening can be performed.
Thanks
 
You can upload your photos to a hosting site like imgur. They give you a link to paste into the thread and then we can all see the image. I post mine that way despite having a gold membership.
 
I’m no expert, but I would not do much either. That knife has a lot of character. I would guess buyers would want it original as possible, even with the patina.

If the owner insists, the brass will polish up easy, and the blade as well.
 
Any sanding that you do on the blade will damage the machine engraving on the blade, and trying to sand all the engraving away would take forever.
It's best to do nothing to the blade.
 
Just lightly clean it up with 3M papers, clean off well with de3natured alcohol, oil it heavily ... and quit there.

DON'T try to restore it. It is worth far more as a pitted blade than it will be if you sand it down. Also, even though they look shallow, you may never hit the bottom of those pits.
 
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