Cleaning knives?

[bencox84]

Hello all, I'm new as new gets when it comes to collecting knives as I just inherited my grandfathers collection of remingtons and am trying to learn. My question is should I have these knives cleaned? It seems to me that everyone seems to have fairly clean knives,(not rusting, and the pitting is even clean) the knives that I have are not like this, they have I guess what you'd call a petina? not rust, but a lil pitting and they aren't shiny new like the "old" ones I see on ebay. My Grandpa says not to clean em but just to oil em up every now and again but I just wanna make sure I shouldn't have them professionally cleaned...any help would be great!!

[tc3500]

Collectors opinions vary on this subject, in the end you have decide that for yourself (or listen to Grandpa).
Definitely remove any active rust though. A little hand 'polishing' with a rag and Mothers metal polish will do
wonders imho. Don't be too agressive and be careful around handles and blade etchings. Others will follow
with advice that have alot more knowledge than I do. And welcome to the site.

[bencox84]

Thanks for the info tc. I was curious if something like mothers would damage the handles or anything.

[gino]

Welcome aboard! Any pics of the knives?? Sure would love seein them.

[tc3500]

I dont believe that mothers would damage a handle, but if you have 'clear' or celluloid handles
you want to be careful not to get any polish behind them as it may affect thier color. The
polish quickly turns black as you clean the metal, and you dont want it behind a 'clear' handle.

If you dedcide to use any tools (i.e. dremel) you have to be VERY careful !! They generate
heat quickly and can do damage if the felt slips off and the arbor (metal part of dremel bit)
contacts your knife. That is why I have been buffing by hand 99% of the time.

Hope it helps a little.

[Miller Bro's]

I just inherited my grandfathers collection of remingtons and am trying to learn. My question is should I have these knives cleaned?

The short answer is NO!

Let`s see some pictures of some of the knives you are talking about. Then we can better tell if you should do anything to them or not

[bencox84]

Wow guys thanks for all of the help thus far. I only have part of the collection right now,(which is all of the reproduction bullet knives) but the next time I go to his house I will get the rest of them and post pics!! Im not real sure how good of a collection it is, but I know there are a lot of knives! Like probably a couple hundred!

[tc3500]

Cant wait to see em !!

[bladeguy58]

Hey Ben,
It sounds like the knives are in pretty good shape so they should't be messed with too much. That said rust is bad and needs to be tended to but ever so carefully. The inside of a regular jack knife can be a bear to clean out and you'll need to find the right type of tools to use. My choice is to use Q-tips dipped in Flix cleaner or some other type of approved product but you'll want to be carefull and not to wet it too much because whatever you put in there will also have to be wiped out. I also take very fine grit emery paper probably about 1500 grit and cut a small strip and wrap it around the end of the Q-tip which really works well especially in trying to clean the tang area. It also works to use the same method but did it in the cleaning solution and use it for cleaning rust off the inside of the case but you always want to make sure you get the inside wiped out very well. In most cases what you don't want to do is to clean a old knife to the point of making it look like a new knife but you might find others with a different opinion on this. Hope this help.
Richard

[bencox84]

Here ya go!!

[bladeguy58]

Wow Ben you are one lucky guy, that is quite the collection. In order to make a real assesment we would have to see each knife but if they have been kept in their boxes they should be in pretty good shape. I read here recently that it is not good for the Backspring to leave them half cocked like some are, they should either be all the open or closed so there is not tension on the spring. Thanks for sharing!
Richard

[bencox84]

This isn't all of the knives, just the newer ones...but thanks so much for the info about the backspring! The only dilemma I have is not really having a good place to store them as their boxes are molded for them to be stored in the open position..any help?

[bencox84]

Here is a display I forgot to post yesterday, I'm pretty sure these are newer remingtons, not sure if they are worth much but I think theyre pretty cool either way. The other pic is just of a gun rack that Grandpa gave me as well, just thought I'd post it cuz he says its really old. Not sure if it's worth anything either, but again, I think it's pretty cool! Thanks for the help guys, and hopefully in a week or two I'll post the rest of the collection!