Advice on Knife Restoration

[AJB]

Hello,

Today I acquired my Great Grandmother's carving knives...



...what should I do to them? Leave them alone with their existing patina, a bit of a clean and preserve them, or full shiny and sharp?

Thanks for reading, opinions please!

Andy

 

[kristophish]

id just get the rust off the top one and sharpen them all.

 

[Big Stu 12]

Please dont use abrasive paper on them, and scratch them to bits....

most I would do is for the rusty one is dip the metal bits in a Molasses/water 50?50 mix and leave for a week or so... I have used bleach before to clean up wooden handles before, the re-stain them then wax them

 

[dwardo]

Oil and a few grades of wire-wool would be enough for me. The top one would be very easy to re handle in something pretty, did the same on a similar knife years ago which turned out nice.

 

[AJB]

Many thanks for your suggestions

 

[ozzy1977]

A good wash with a spongy scourer pad oils the handle and sharpen

 

[HHazeldean]

A good wash with a spongy scourer pad oils the handle and sharpen

I'd go with this pretty much, the top one may need a little more work with a new handle perhaps. Nice looking knives though, always nice to have a story behind them..