CLEANINGS by Rattlesnake

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, I thoroughly enjoy bringing knives back to life. I never posted my knife cleanings before on aapk. I saved several pics over the last few years so I will post some of my work,,,some of the cleanings turn out better than others, if you know what I mean,,,lol.

I have never taken a knife apart & dont know how to. I will leave that aspect to those who enjoy it.

Last night, I couldn't sleep so I started on my Schrade knife. This knife got sent back to me the other day on ebay because the buyer said the knife had significant wobbles(It didn't). All he wanted was a partial refund & I certainly couldn't justify it so I asked him to return it for full refund.

I thought since he didn't want the knife, I WOULD pay attention too it because I LIKED it.
This particular cleaning Took me all night long to get it looking good again. Its not one of my best jobs at all & I dont want to go back & start from scratch again, so it will just have to do(it has some tiny leftover pitting here & there). I do believe "Perfection" is in the eyes of the beholder.

I have seen & Owned many of Mr. Herbert Aycocks "Cleaned" knives over the years & they are pretty Impressive as is Mr. Florida Bobs.
A few years ago, I took a FULL 6-mos EVERY SINGLE DAY, To teach myself how to "Clean" knives. What I found to be the very best method is "Slow & Easy" taking your time to go thru the grit stages.

Whenever I clean up a knife, I will post it on here for now on. I am pretty slow at my cleanings so I dont do a whole lot of them,,,Just when I have a little spare time or cant sleep, lol. I hope you guys enjoy seeing the before & after pics.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

I did this Case model 64 earlier this year. I was very proud of it & I should have gotten LARGER Pics but oh well. I spent about 3-Days on this knife & took it to 5,000 grit. It sure was pretty too me & a Super sharp clear image.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[BWT]

That's a really good job Mark. I was wondering how long it took for that particular knife? I usually don't do much to a knife if it is carbon steel and has patina only. If I get one that has pitting I will usually try to get some if not all of it removed. I always remove any rust and clean the well of the knife. You really did a excellent job on this one I was asking about the Schrade, you posted another one while I was posting.

[ratlesnake75]

This Catco came from the Tulsa show in April of this year. It was a Tuff knife to clean because of the deep pitting in a few spots. I did very well to preserve the knife & its thickness. This one took me about 3-days also.
Kindest Regards,
mark

[ratlesnake75]

That's a really good job Mark. I was wondering how long it took for that particular knife? I usually don't do much to a knife if it is carbon steel and has patina only. If I get one that has pitting I will usually try to get some if not all of it removed. I always remove any rust and clean the well of the knife. You really did a excellent job on this one I was asking about the Schrade, you posted another one while I was posting.

Thank you Mr. Bill for the kind words Sir. I just did the Schrade last night. Took me all night, lol
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[Gunsil]

A real shame about the Case 64. It was a fine full bladed example with some scratches in the chrome plated blade. Now there is a knife with all original chrome removed. Sorry, the shine of polished steel does not have the same color as chrome and in the eyes of many Case fixed blade collectors the knife has been ruined.

[ratlesnake75]

I forgot to keep the before pics of this Rem knife. This knife had no original finish at all w/ some pitting. I have only did 2 fixed blades so far.
I put 2 different finishes on this Rem Knife as it came from the factory that way. Top part I put a "Mirror" finish & the bottom next to the blade edge I put a Satin/Glazed finish.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

A real shame about the Case 64. It was a fine full bladed example with some scratches in the chrome plated blade. Now there is a knife with all original chrome removed. Sorry, the shine of polished steel does not have the same color as chrome and in the eyes of many Case fixed blade collectors the knife has been ruined.

Yes Sir you speak the truth!! Many guys dislike "Knife cleaning" completely in its entirety.
When I was sanding on this knife, I personally didnt notice any chrome plating on the blade whatsoever. I have owned a bunch of chrome plated knives & this particular example was not plated from what I could tell. I wouldnt have taken the chrome plating off because I agree with you.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Gunsil, I didnt touch the tangs of this knife either. Matter of fact, Some of the original factory finish on the blade, I left on it Sir. All I did was remove the scratches & I blended it in with the original finish. I do know most of these did have "chrome plated" blades, But I dont believe this one was made that way.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[tongueriver]

When 'cleaning' means removing part of the knife, I rarely buy such examples. Just me.

[wiseguy]

Hi Ratlesnake75, I think to each his own on cleaning up a knife.....question, can grind lines that have been slightly obliterated by a poor sharpening be brought back to crisp ? JJ.

[ratlesnake75]

Hey JJ, Can you give me an Example Sir? To be honest with you, YES most all grind lines can be re-profiled & shaped nicely. I will post another example that I did a year or so ago. Its a case tested with good looking grind lines after I finished it.

Tongueriver, I hear ya bro!!! Here is how I see it. If you cut anything with a knife or sharpen a knife on a stone, Sir you are removing metal. Even a light buffing of the bolsters is removing metal. If you carry a knife in your pocket,, over time,,,You not only remove the metal from the bolster but you also remove the jigging from the bone. I have owned MINT knives that had only been "Handled" to open/close them Only,,, to the point of having ZERO SNAP because of the wear it caused just by opening/closing them. Just food for thought!
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[wiseguy]

Hey JJ, Can you give me an Example Sir? To be honest with you, YES most all grind lines can be re-profiled & shaped nicely. I will post another example that I did a year or so ago. Its a case tested with good looking grind lines after I finished it

Id like to see..... thanks for the reply , looks good but my knife the line is kinda gone from what looks like a wire wheel hit it in a small area... I don't have a photo of it handy, I tried to block sand it with 1500 but its not quite there, I was staying flat on the blade profile but not sure how to address the swedge

[OSCAR]

Beautiful work! If it isnt a trade secret, what are you using in the cleanings? I have done. a few with Micromesh, a wet or dry sandpaper that I believe goes to 12000 grit...

[ratlesnake75]

Yes Sir wiseguy, I understand. You will need to Re-Profile the swedge yourself. If the "Grind Line" is gone in the middle of blade, You got to keep sanding to get it back again.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Thx Oscar I appreciate the compliments Sir. To get GOOD results is HARD WORK & Patience!! I just use the wet sandpaper. I have never went beyond 5,000grit YET!! I doubt I will because I am not a perfectionist. Beyond 3000 grit, Unless you really have a trained eye in "Mirror" finishes you cannot see any difference with the naked eye. Under a microscope, Yes indeed
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Here was another different type of piece that I was proud of. I blended in my sanding w/ original factory finish. Turned out great considering how deep the rust was.

In order to get better & better,,,,at ANYTHING,,,,is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!! These results did NOT just happen Immediately. I ruined a lot of knives LEARNING the LEARNING Curves of What to do & What NOT to do. Yes I tried a belt sander from harbor freight w/ 1000grit sandpaper & it didnt take 5-seconds & I had a half a blade left in my hands, lol . I chunked that knife in the trash & kept going.. Thats where I started,,lmao
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ea42]

Mark, I'm not a huge fan of cleaning either, mostly because it completely changes the knife from the way it was done originally, meaning that most of those old knives were never made with fully mirror polished blades, or bolsters or backsprings for that matter. I like to keep them as original as possible. With that being said your method of hand cleaning with sandpaper is many levels above the hackers who just buff a knife into a rounded off godawful mess. You maintain swedges and keep the lines crisp and flat and I commend you on that, it looks good. In fact I'd say your knives are almost right up there with the old Aycock knives. Great job for sure!

Eric

[glennbad]

Regardless of what debate this topic can bring out, your work is quite impressive, Mark!

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys (Glennbad & ea42) -- Thx so much for the Nice compliments!!

I do want to be clear also that I dont PREFER cleaned knives either when it comes to Antique knives. I MUCH Prefer them to be as original as possible BUT sometimes I just feel the Need to "bring the knife back alive" again.

You said it very well Eric that MOST individuals could care less when they buff a knife to death & it looks like garbage. It completely RUINS the knife in my opinion.

Eric, I do my very best to stay with the knife as it was originally made. If the knife came from factory w/ Crocus Polish on front & Glazed finish on back, That is exactly what I would do back to it again(As you can see in the Remington Fixed blade that I did). Many of our old knives came w/ factory mirror finish on front of Master blade & then a glazed finish on back of master & glazed finish on the secondary blades.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[1967redrider]

Regardless of what debate this topic can bring out, your work is quite impressive, Mark!

I agree with that completely.

It seems shiny knives are sought after on eBay, so if I was into knife selling I would be calling you up.

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, Here is another one I did last year sometime
Kind Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, I found a few extra pics last night that I want to share with you guys. These knives in particular came from a Long time Collector(were talking back in the 90s ok). The Gentleman was a knife lover & would have his knives personally cleaned by Mr. Herb Aycock. He couldnt remember if he had them done in the 80s or 90s but he thought it was early 90s. Nevertheless, They were wonderful knives & so is the Gentleman. I am posting these because there maybe some of you guys who dont know what Mr. Herbs knife cleanings looked like.
Kindest Regards,
Mark

[ratlesnake75]

Hey Guys, Here is another one I did awhile back
Kind Regards,
Mark

[Meridian_Mike]

Those are some nice shinny knives! Who needs a mirror?