Opinel Knife

[Johnboy06]

Iv just found my old fishing knife well happy its still pretty sharp. However its pretty rusty well its got specks of dark brown to black all over the blade and not as sharp as it could be. Can any one tell me is it possible to clean it up shiny and new ? Me grandad always says waste not want not so thought id have a go. Plenty of sharpening threads so im alrite with that. Finally is there ways to tell weather its carbon or stainless. Sounds silly but it was my first fishing knife my uncle bought me who i thought knew a bit bout knives being the hunter / fisherman he is , so i assumed it was stainless however its not got stainless printed on it and its like dull grey with thin lines running down it (hard to explain) and also it says au carbone which i assume is french , on the wooden handle. Its opinel no 6. Seems like alot of fuss for an old knife probably and i know there not expensive but itll give me something to do and practice sharpening and knife care without having to spend money.

Any help appreciated guys

 

[addyb]

If it's rusty and has brown and black flecks all over the blade, I'd say it's definately a carbon blade.

If you want to clean it up, spray some WD40 on the blade and scrub the rust off with some steel wool or a green kitchen scrubby pad. It works wonders.

Cheers,

Adam

 

[Johnboy06]

thnx mate ill try that wen i next get down to my grandads hes probably got around 40 cans of wd40 at any time , think he drinks the stuff

 

[sxmolloy]

If it's rusty and has brown and black flecks all over the blade, I'd say it's definately a carbon blade.

If you want to clean it up, spray some WD40 on the blade and scrub the rust off with some steel wool or a green kitchen scrubby pad. It works wonders.

Cheers,

Adam

I second that.

ATB, Stu

 

[David Morgan]

I'll... third what's been said with the added comment that one of the good things about carbon steel is that it can develope a character over time, a patina that tells of it's history and can stand against further unwanted corrosion. With this in mind I'd recommend just using a cloth and metal polish to start with and see if it achieves a finish you're happy with. Of course you need to remove the grime and flakey rust, but if you remove too much patina you can't just put it back, you'll have to let it build up again over time.