All About Pocket Knives

Hi I collect antique fishing lures. I bought an old tackle box
recently and in the bottom of the box was an old knife. The knife is
a 5254 case with the XX mark. It appears from you very useful site
that its a fairly valuable piece. From my expirence in lures I know
that condition has alot to do with value. The knife I found is not
in mint condition and appears to have been sharpened. It is however
very solid and in good working order. The blades have not lost any
"meat" from being sharpened but are lightly scratched and lightly
rusted along the top edges from being in the tackle box for years.
Should I clean the blades with steel wool or leave that to its next
owner as I'm going to sell it to finance my lure fetish. Any input
or advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Please note: Asked for pics. Will post if received.

Post some pics

I don't think rust on a knife adds "character" either, but you might be able to get most of it off without using steel wool. If it were mine I would put it in a ziploc bag with enough mineral oil to completely soak it. I'd leave it in there for a few days, then I'd take it out and clean it with a microfiber cloth for an hour or so. That will remove most of the rust but won't significantly impact the aged "character" of the knife.

You asked for input or advice. Take ddixon's advice and put it in your pocket and move on. You wont regret it.

As they said-------- if you're selling it,let the next owner decide,you won't get any more for the knife,as is,or with steel wool rubs?????

I would avoid the steel wool. The most severe thing I'd put on it would be Semichrome or Metal Glo, or Flitz, or such.

I took the knife to work and a tool and die maker I work with polished it with diamond paste. It removed the rust and fortuenately it doesn't appear the rust was deep enough to pit the blade. Its now a pretty nice looking knife. I think if I really put some elbow grease into it I could get all the light scratches of the blade. Attached are a few pictures. It really cleaned up nicely...

That is a very nice and rare old 5254 that is actually in good condition - I would not do anything further to it. It's value in that condition is in the range of $250.

You just got a professional evaluation and appraisal from an expert in the field (knifeaholic). Should you decide to sell it for less, I wouldn't come down much because someone will have it professionally cleaned and jack up the price (There's a big difference between what you had done and a professional knife cleaning). Those are hard enough to find, especially in as good a condition as yours. If it were mine I wouldn't come down at all (actually, as a collector, I'd keep it). Nice find! Lady luck was on your shoulder that day.

Some of the prettiest stag I've ever seen!!!! You won't regret keeping it.

Great looking knife! Nice find!