Restoring an old carving knife

[Dunderi]

We found a carving knife in the mud. Been there a long while.

A scrub with sweets and then gun grease has cleaned it up a bit, any suggestions on seriously removing the crap to get it usable?

Its a beauty, even if she's past her prime.

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[Dunderi]

We gave the old cleaver a clean too.

Even sweets & scrubbing with a green scourer doesnt get all the gunk off, considering superfine sandpaper?

I mean its nice to have em cleaned up a bit, but what's the gold standard solvent?



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[Camel]

We found a carving knife in the mud. Been there a long while.

A scrub with sweets and then gun grease has cleaned it up a bit, any suggestions on seriously removing the crap to get it usable?

Its a beauty, even if she's past her prime.

sent on tapatalk

Nice old knife, any makers marks that you can find, usually up near the handle on one side of the blade. You still have a lot of rust to remove, can't think of any other way except using various grits from rough to smooth, to get rid of the rust, it really depends on how you want the finished product to look, gleaming and shining smooth will probably take off that much metal that is will be too thin to use, however just removing the rust and leaving the pits then a good polish with 1000 gritt wet and dry using WD40 or detergent as a lubricant will give you a good useful knife, even if it looks a bit rough. That old knife will probably be made from high carbon steel and take a good edge. A bench grinder with a wire wheel will get rid of a lot of the rust as well.
I have salvaged a lot of old butchers/carving knives over the years and brought them back to life.

[Camel]

We gave the old cleaver a clean too.

Even sweets & scrubbing with a green scourer doesnt get all the gunk off, considering superfine sandpaper?

I mean its nice to have em cleaned up a bit, but what's the gold standard solvent?



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Forget using Sweets and other rifle solvents, they are not made to get rid of rust, but remove carbon and copper from inside barrels. Wouldn't use sandpaper except for wet and dry 1000 grit or smaller for a final polish.

Again depends on what kind of finish you want, I quite like the natural patina from aging, scrub with fine steel wool using water or oil to remove loose rust, if you want it to be back to bare metal, you could soak it for 15 minutes in hydrochloric acid, but not the handle, this will clean all the crap out of the pores of the metal and bring it back to a dull light grey look, wash carefully in water a couple of times, then give it a good going over with cooking type oil.
I sharpened mine using a bastard cut file with only light pressure, you dont need them to be razor sharp.

I would be using it as you have it now with just a quick wipe on the edge with a file, it looks nice like it is.

Got a photo of the cleaver full length laying on its side please.

[Dunderi]

I have a wire wheel (copper brush) for my cordless drill that i use old tractor parts. I didn't want to damage the knife, would it be ok?

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[Camel]

Maybe, but it might be a bit too soft and brushes in a electric drill or cordless drill are hard to control, if you can hold the knife still and flat so it wont bend or flex then it will probably do the job, never tried using one of them on a knife blade I much prefer the grinder and hold the knife. A wire wheel on a bench grinder will only hurt the knife if you use too much pressure when buffing it.

[Dunderi]

Here is Bessie with the huon pine pieces I've been given to make a new handle.

Honestly I'm not sure about the huon pine. I am sure its lovely, and i know it takes a long time to grow but it looks boring to me.

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[curan]

My Dad used to bring stuff back in an orange juice bath he'd make by mashing up windfall oranges. Used to sit out the back of his shed.But it used to take 4 to 6 weeks to do the job. If he was in a hurry he had a vinegar solution he would use for a day or 2 first.

[Rabbitz]

I've used a combination of xxxx (ultra fine) steel wool and machine oil combined with lots of patient elbow grease.

Sitting in the winter sun restoring something that deserves it, or sanding a project, or rubbing wood is a very cathartic way to spend an afternoon.

[Timmo84]

Could you soak them in a molasses bath to clean up the steal? I don’t think it’d do the handles any good.

Tim


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[The Raven]

Could you soak them in a molasses bath to clean up the steal? I don’t think it’d do the handles any good.

Tim


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I was going to suggest molasses as well. Good point on what it might do to the handle.

PS. Ultrasonic cleaners will also help remove rust but it's not going to restore a shine.

[Camel]

Looks like the spine has been bashed with a hammer or bit of steel pipe to make it cut thru bone You can dress that down with your file, similar to dressing a chain saw bar, then if you need to bash it thru bone again, use a piece of hardwood The one I restored had a bit of damage like that, but it wasnt as bad as yours, it also had a piece of one inch gal water pipe welded on for a handle, I replaced that with a handle made out of mallee branch. I agree, the Huon pine looks very plain, some of your black wood would come up nice.

[Dunderi]

I agree it looks like it's been given a walloping (not by me!)

Blackwood might indeed be the way to go.

I'd not heard of using molasses, do you dilute it with water ir just drop the blade into a tub?

Perhaps I can suspend the blade in molasses, keeping the handle out?

Vinegar makes sense (as does juice! )

[Camel]

Yep, with molasses you just submerge the blade in it, though I have never done it, by all accounts it gets rid of the rust.

[Camel]

Yep, with molasses you just submerge the blade in it, though I have never done it, by all accounts it gets rid of the rust.

A photo of my old restored chopper