Worth buying old, rusted(but good quality) knives?

M

MangoFreak

Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
19
So I'm a cook who's interested in buying an old vintage Sabatier knife, and I found one for sale for a decent enough price.

However, the blade has quite a few instances of rust. Would it be worth it to buy and attempt to restore or is it likely that its too damaged/prone to breakage on use? I'm not a pro when it comes to fixing these things beyond a sabitori or some BKF so that's about the extent of what I can do for it.

Picture of knife in question
http://i.imgur.com/3nYvkSV.jpg
 
Hell yeah, my favorite kitchen knife is a 60 year old Old Hickory type knife.
 
It looks functional. I salvaged a few old knives and machetes I found at my great-grandfather's house. There probably will be some permanent stains on the blade, but it should function just fine.

Here's your picture so that people can see it on the thread:

3nYvkSV.jpg
 
Go for it. It should clean up nicely! I do stuff like that all the time. Rusty old knives have soul.
 
Hi MF,

I too recently bought a vintage Sabatier 10" Chef Knife in just a "tad" better condition. The knife you pictured looks as if it would clean up beautifully! You are going to hate me for posting this link. I plan (HOPE) to have my "Sabatier" given (at least) some of this treatment. I don't know how much it would cost to go "all out" like the one pictured in this link.

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/5971-Vintage-Sabatier-Refurb?highlight=SixCats!



Regards,
HARDBALL
 
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That one isn't that bad compared to what I was expecting. You could probably clean most of it up quite easily with some Dawn and a metal scrub pad.
 
Pass on steel wool or any other metal based scrubber. I use Sctoch Brite cleaning pads. Hardware stores sell them that are rougher than household cleaning pads. get a rough one and a finer one to finish with. Put an edge and you should be able to get a few years of service.
 
Cool idea actually. I clued into this concept a little while ago in the axe\tomahawk forum. Guys were picking up old axe heads off the net, flea markets, pawn shops, whatever, and refurbishing them. It makes a lot of sense in that you get a superior quality tool for toss away prices. But I believe that the main idea is to acquire a fine old tool (with research or back ground knowledge) and bring it back into useful service, which is a pleasurable aspect of the hobby.... I found an old axe head recently and I'm cleaning it up to useful service again. It came from the forested north and is likely 80-90 years old and was likely used in the winter lumber camps. When I go back up again in a few weeks I will take the metal detector and scan for more axe heads. I tossed a lot of them back in the day, darn it.
 
Whoaaa, thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll go for it.

So some BKF and scotch brite pads would be enough to restore it to decent condition yeah? Should I worry about rust inside the handle at all? Like I said I'm a little bit worried about the blade snapping when I'm trying to cut something because of it.
 
MangoFreak said:
Whoaaa, thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll go for it.

So some BKF and scotch brite pads would be enough to restore it to decent condition yeah? Should I worry about rust inside the handle at all? Like I said I'm a little bit worried about the blade snapping when I'm trying to cut something because of it.
Click to expand...

You could always check for rust under the handle, but if it is riveted on that means new rivets or some kind of new hardware to put it back on if you remove it. I wouldn't worry about it personally. And don't worry - it's not gonna just snap from use. I'd just clean it up a little and use it. Use and a little oil will keep it from rusting further.
 
The sabatiers I've seen have relatively thick blades, so plenty of spare steel to work with. That knife doesn't look too bad.
Steel wool & scotch brite will clean the rust off. If you want to smooth the surface, lay the blade on a stiff backing, like a small wood plank, & use wet & dry paper, or even a sharpening stone, flat on the blade surface. Will come up nicely.
 
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