All About Pocket Knives

I have been eyeing a Schrade 80t ffa knife at the antique store. It's still in its original package with everything but not mint. Do I display as is or open carefully to wipe the oil off the knife? I would appreciate any info. Thanks

Personally I would take it out especially if the knife is open in the package.
I would clean it up then wipe it down with mineral oil.
I would save the old package, but I do not like to display knives open, unless they have a strong half stop, which the 8OT does not. The reason is, the springs can weaken, especially the spring that has 2 blades on it.

It doesn't always happen, but I have seen enough of it that I don't display mine open.

thanks for the info Dale. Whats the best way to clean it up? Where can I get mineral oil and what does it do?

There are different grades of mineral oil.
I bought a quart at a pharmacy and have not use it all yet and I bought it 5 or 6 years ago.
I think it was about $3 when I bought it.

I would clean the knife with Birchwood Casey's Gun Scrubber. Available at most gun stores, Big 5, Wal-Mart, etc.
About $5 for the smaller can shown here. It won't hurt the handles, whereas warm soapy dishwater may accelerate the oxidation of the Blue Delrin.
For some reason I have seen a lot of the blue Delrin that has oxidized; it gets a white layer on it.
The Gun Scrubber won't cause that, but sometimes warm soapy water will.

The mineral oil will keep moisture away from the steel (preventing rust in most cases) and it will coat the brass & Delrin too help keep out contaminants. It helps keep the knife oiled too. I would work it into the joints also unless you use something like Quick Release on the joints, which I highly recommend, BTW!
http://quickreleaseoil.com/

It seems to me that if a blade is COMPLETELY open, and its spring shows no compression, that would be an OK way to display a knife without weakening the spring? Thoughts?

tongueriver wrote:It seems to me that if a blade is COMPLETELY open, and its spring shows no compression, that would be an OK way to display a knife without weakening the spring? Thoughts?

That would be fine, but I have not seen a stockman displayed that way from the factory.
Usually they are partial open. I am not sure why, maybe they didn't think they would be in the clampak displays long enough to weaken the springs.

Hi all thanks for all the info the ffa knife is cleaning up but there is some type of reddish film on the main blade and sheep foot blade. Any ideas? Ive tried gun scrubber, and wd-40. It seems to come off when I use my fingernail. Thanks for any info.

Then scrub it off with a #2 lead pencil. It's a very gentle way of cleaning surface rust (not saying that is what's on your blade) or any other foriegn substance from your blade without scratching it.