WW2 vintage Kukri knife w/patina, rust. Clean it or not?

[Truck75]

This is the only Kukri knife Ive ever owned and want some advice, please. My collecting tastes have changed and I might move this one along. Looks like buffalo horn handle and wooden two-piece scabbard. Question is, do I sell it with the 77 year old surface rust on, or clean it up so its minty?. Confirmed backstory: it came from a WW2 vets estate and he got it while serving in the Philippines. Family had it with his effects all these years, finally parted with it, I got it, and here we are. Ive had it for a while and havent done anything to it. Any cleaning opinion would be much appreciated .

Ps. my gut says not to clean it, but just want to hear other opinions, please.

 

[crn3371]

When researching a WWII bayonet the conclusion I came to was to gently clean off the surface grime, but don’t “restore” it. Pretty much leave it as is.

 

[sickpuppy1]

Yeah I could see wiping it down to knock down the surface rust but not cleaning it heavily. Maybe wipe it down with light oily rag ?

 

[Sundsvall]

Use Flitz. it will remove the rust. if you leave it like that, the steel will eventually fail.

 

[BillZee]

Not an expert.......
Wipe off rust and give the knife a nice coat of oil to prevent more rust.
I think preserving is most important.
Never really figured out what restoring without affecting value was.....I guess it's more what a buyer wants.

 

[DunRanull]

Clean it lightly with some kind of rust remover (flitz or nevrdull, or similar), then with very light steel wool. Apply rust preventative oil or grease to help prevent further oxidation. Allowing the rust to continue will destroy it.
"I'm No Expert, But I Play One On The Internet!"

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Flitz is aluminum oxide abrasive, albeit very fine. It'll take the rust - but it'll also strip the patina and polish the steel.

If protecting the 77-year-old character is the goal, I'd avoid Flitz or any other polishing products altogether. As others have mentioned just wiping it down with an oily rag is probably best. Can also scrub with baking soda, which isn't hard enough to take the patina from the steel, but it can help scrub away some of the loosely-bound red rust (you'll see it turning red/brown as it scrubs the rust off).

Might also be able to use very fine steel wool (#0000) and scrub with some oil. The steel wool won't abrade the steel and won't take much, if any, of the patina. Test the method on a small area, to get a sense of how it might work.

 

[Twindog]

I'm no expert. This is just my opinion. Don't bet the farm on it.

It doesn't look like a khurki to me. More like a bolo.
Bolo_knife

It looks like a nice, craftsman-made knife, but I doubt it has any great value. I would carefully restore it -- blade, scabbard, handle, all of it. And then keep it for display.

 

[not2sharp]

Wipe it down with mineral oil. It usually knocks the active rust off and protects the rest of the blade.

...and, yes, that's a bolo not a khukuri.

n2s

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Filipinos didn't make khukris.
Use 0000 steel wool, or brass wool, and gently scrub the blade longitudinally.
Then soak the blade in WD 40. Wait a few days and wipe it off. Repeat as necessary.

 

[Luke Dupont]

Do what you can to remove the rust but not the petina.
The rust will potentially ruin it.

Personally, I always restore tools to at least working condition, so I'd sharpen it as well if you are confident in your ability to do so well free-handed, and without removing too much material...

But then, I always purchase antique tools in order to actually use them, because many of them are of damn good quality, rather than to just collect rusted metal paper weights! If you want to sell to other collectors, I don't know... you'll have to follow other's advice here. I would definitely imagine that doing anything weird to it is not advisable, so don't sharpen it unless you really know what you're doing and that collectors will not devalue it for... being an edged tool with an edge! And keep an appropriate grind if you will -- probably a simple convex grind with oilstones. A scandi or hollow grind on that Kukri would just be weird I think.