Noob wanting to restore an antique VomCleff

[WatsaNif]

Good day all

Got a lil pocket knife while thrifting and want to know how to restore it. Handle is marked as .925 and blades have VOM CLEFF LION marks. Love the Hand engravings!

Anyway, any resources, tips and ID info appreciated. Thanks and cheers.

[Doc B]

Hi, welcome to AAPK. There is an entire section devoted to knife restoration, with tutorials. The one broken blade will probably require finding someone to weld a new blade on it. There is a "Search" feature, in the "Quick Links" on the left side of the page.
viewforum.php?f=38

[Gunsil]

Sweet little knife!! The only hand engraving is the owner's name, the handles are die stamped on a machine.

[cudgee]

You are starting off in the deep end, but you will get plenty of advise and help here.

[Jeffinn]

Welcome to AAPK!
Goins says that VomCleff with the Lion stampings were produced between 1885 and 1926
If you decide to tackle this one you'll need to remove three pins (one at each end and one in the middle through the backspring. There's a couple of different ways to remove pins, but on this knife it would probably be best to remove the heads from the pins (either with a small grinding burr or a small drill bit or a combination of both).
The broken blade could be replaced if you could find a suitable part for it. Or as mentioned there are a few folks that could possibly weld a new blade on to your existing tang.
Lots of folks would probably leave it as-is and maybe clean it up a bit. Its just a matter of what you want to do with it.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Jeff

[1967redrider]

Is the broken blade a nail file? Very cool knife, not sure I would mess with it, except for removing the rust. to AAPK!

[Reverand]

If the knife were not so old, I would consider taking it apart, removing the broken blade, the blade across from it, and the spring between them.
It would be a more narrow, 2-bladeD knife when finished.
But anything that you do to that one will only hurt the value of it.

Still, that is an easy fix that I have tried on some cheap knives. It is a good way to learn.

[WatsaNif]

Wow! Thanks for the response. Way more than expected. I think 1967redrider (yup, it’s a broken nail file) has a good point and I am gonna simply remove the rust. Jeffin’s and Reverand suggestion for a full clean up appeals to my tinkering nature but I gotta resist… Might do more damage than good being a noob! I was going to ask who Goins is, but I know it now and thanks for that bit Jeffins.

DocB search suggestion yielded two posts of interest, ‪ viewtopic.php?f=38&t=47909&hilit=rust#p495555 Knife Polishing Removing Rust Pitting How To‬ and ‪ viewtopic.php?f=37&t=69007#p870513
Re: Rust recommendations‬
But before that I looked at this https://www.keithfarrell.net/blog/2017/ ... otherwise/ Preservation, cleaning, and restoration of blades - historical and otherwise - Keith Farrell and started at it with a pencil pretty much all over the darned blade LOL. Anyway, here’s a pic of “progress”…

So, after pencil… what next? Just steel wool? Won’t that mess it up? Maybe I am being to AR about it… Jeez

[herbva]

If you want to remove more surface rust and whatever other extraneous crud has accumulated on the knife, I suggest WD-40 and 0000 steel wool. I put the knife on a pile of old newspapers, spray liberally inside and out with the WD-40, let it sit a while and them rub with the steel wool. I use a small, thin piece of metal wrapped in paper towel to do the inside. You are done cleaning when nothing else is coming off. Then just oil the pivot areas and enjoy. This is just my favorite cleaning technique. There are about as many ways to do this as there are knife tinkerers. Do not use my method if there is something painted on the knife that you want to preserve. Before you tackle something more complex, which usually involves disassembling the knife, I suggest buying some cheap junkers on ebay or elsewhere and practicing after you have watched some of the excellent videos that are available. One word of caution - this great hobby can be quite addictive!