2nd life for a pocket knife...

Howdy folks,
On my way to work the other day, I found an old Opinel knife in the middle of the street . It's pretty bruised up and I want to revamp it to give it a second life.

The blade is slightly rusted and the wood finish will need to be sanded and re-varnished (I want a red-ish color sort of like this )and protected.

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to proceed to remove the rust from the blade and how to polish the blade afterwards?

Cheers!

Fish

PS: I'll post pics when I'm done with this micro-project!

brillo. and light use of emory cloth is it's really bad.

Most Opinal knives are not stainless and get rust routinely unless you keep them oiled. So oil it after you het it all cleaned up.

I really like the edge you can put on them. It goes on fast and gets quite sharp. One of the advantanges of ferrous steel vs stainless.

steel wool will work too

I used to have one of those knives! They're so cool

I have used the Sandflex abrasive blocks to clean up old hand planes, and recommend them for the metal parts of your project. They are a good alternative to steel wool. You might want to finish with 600- or 800-grit (or maybe finer) silicon carbide sanding sheet material.

Klingspor has been a good supplier of abrasive materials, in my experience. You should be able to get useful stuff for refinishing the handle there, too.

After staining the handle, try rubbing it with several coats of Tung oil, which is water resistant. There will be some finish buildup after a couple of coats -- polish out with the #0000 steel wool.

G.

I have never been crazy about the Opinel knifes but they are a good piece of steel and I know plenty of people who swear by them.

The 0000 steel wool with help clean it up unless there is pitting then you may need to go more abrasive. When I worked in the gun store I cleaned many guns with 0000 steel wool and 3in1 oil. Works great, won't remove the original finish. If you need more than that then the finish is already ruined because you probably have pitting. I have also used carbide impregnated rubber blocks and they work pretty well also.

There are lots of people that can help with this type of question on this forum.

Bladeforums

Looking forward to seeing your finished pictures.

Keith

A USFS Forester told me to use citri-solv on a couple old crosscut saws I have.
HE reconditions old saws on the side....
You need to get the kind that has D-limonene listed as the active ingredient.

It worked great!!

good luck!

Throw it in a glass of Coke for a couple of days, then proceed as described above.

Brill/ steel wool and wd-40 should do it then spray with a silicone mold release to protect....

With all the chemicals suggested here, it'll end up costing 2-3 times the price of a new knife just to restore this one!

Whatever, it'll still be the only one to have a red oak Opinel hehe.

Thanks for the all tips guys

Fish

Viewseeker said:

Brill/ steel wool and wd-40 should do it then spray with a silicone mold release to protect....

Click to expand...

I'm wondering if spraying the blade with wd-40 would be a good thing. I will be cutting things I'll be eating...

What do you guys think? Couldn't I just rub some olive oil on it or something (yes, I'm serious hehe). I have to do this exact same ritual everytime I cook with the wok...

Fish

hikingfish said:

I'm wondering if spraying the blade with wd-40 would be a good thing. I will be cutting things I'll be eating...

What do you guys think? Couldn't I just rub some olive oil on it or something (yes, I'm serious hehe). I have to do this exact same ritual everytime I cook with the wok...

Fish

Click to expand...

If you're squeamish about the WD-40 you might try a little common mineral oil to prevent rust.

I haven't yet converted to a waterstone system for sharpening woodworking tools and knives, and still use various grades of Arkansas oilstones. The sharpening lubricant is non-detergent 20-weight motor oil cut with kerosene until very thin. Works great. After sharpening I wipe the tool down with a rag. Rust is seldom a problem on tools that get used regularly. On knives used for food prep, I rinse in hot water before use.

I don't use WD-40 on tools because the silicone it contains can interfere with various wood finishes. If a more thorough rust-repelling treatment is needed, wiping down a little Three-In-One or Hoppe's gun oil works fine, in my book.

BTW, the knife you found is a gift. In keeping with that, perhaps it is best to not spend a great deal of money on materials to fix it up. Invest, instead, in loving effort and ingenuity. Use what is laying around the house, or what you can cadge off a friend, or find at the local hardware in small quantities for little money. The finished product then will be true to itself, and more greatly prized.

G.

While it may not be desireable/applicable in this case, for removing rust with minimal elbow grease give Electrolyte Rust Removal a shot. I've done some frame parts off of a 1979 chevy pickup, and an old milk can (used a 30 gal trash barrel for that one) and it works great. The finished product is not always smooth (you are removing material after all) but in 24 hours or so it will be rust free without sanding, steel wool, or sand blasting.

I only suggested wd-40 to clean the rust off..You could use olive oil as a lubricant to rub the rust off or just clean it off after getting the rust of and then olive oil maybe for protection. After more thought the silicone isnt the best to eat !!! ...besides a little wd-40 in your belly may keep your joints moving on the next hike!!

Pics!

Well, I'm not quite finished yet, but I wanted to know my progress so far:

Before: http://picasaweb.google.ca/dpoisson/Temp#5252610569220603938

After: http://picasaweb.google.ca/dpoisson/Temp#5252610575541730274

The handle is pretty much done as far as I'm concerned, however I'd like to know what you think about the blade (although the pic might not be the best because of the flash...). I grinded it using a dremel and the used a polishing paste that came with the dremel. It looks ok, but I wish I could do a bit more...I'm also looking at the people that recommended Brasso. Do you think I could further polish the blade by using Brasso?

Cheers!

Fish

Its looking good.

Nothing like making or refurbishing your own knife.

Keith

nice very good, whats your plans for it now?

Gee! Looking at your before-and-after pix, the condition this knife was in when you found was pretty darned good, to my eye.

I don’t think Brasso is what you need for the metal parts – especially the blade.

As for the handle, I would have been happy rubbing in a little little tung oil to renew the finish. But I like the results you’ve achieved with staining and varnish. Now rub out (polish) to high luster sheen with #0000 steel wool, maybe lubed with common paste wax. Buff to final sheen with a soft rag (an old wool sock will do. (This also will take care of the blade locking ring and bolster.)

For me, you’ve most likely also gone far enough with polishing the blade. Just make sure it is polished to about the same level all over, for best appearance. (I don’t think the surface on these blades -- as manufactured and marketed -- is highly polished. These are utility grade knives and priced accordingly.) What I don’t see yet is evidence of a nicely shaped and sharpened cutting edge. Now the job is careful hand sharpening on oil or water stones, possibly finished with a buffing wheel to bring up a keen, highly polished working edge.

Neat project.

G.

Good job, and as Viewseeker said, olive oil works fine in place of a mineral-based oil. As an aside - I've rubbed olive oil on a heating stove to prevent rust during the warm months. Sure, it smells the first time it's fired in the fall, but it's much less than when you use a mineral-based oil.

Also - the ferrous steel blade that John Swanson mentions - have had a couple of kitchen paring knives made of the stuff for many years. They have to be sharpened frequently, and they do rust, but ... a freshly sharpened one is a joy to work with.