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coldlightning
08-12-2010, 03:16 PM
i have an "old hickory" butcher knife my buddy gave me. it belonged to his dad when he was a butcher. it has been in the garage for ages, and has some rust on it. is it possible to save it, and how? will steel wool work? or is there some special method?

panch0
08-12-2010, 03:31 PM
Soak it in vinegar, and use the steel wool to remove the rust, oil it up with mineral oil to protect from further rust. There could be more done but not knowing the exact condition it is hard to say. Any pics?

crashdive123
08-12-2010, 04:00 PM
Ditto what Frank said. Use a extra fine steel wool - 000. (unless the rust is deep - you may need to be more aggressive if it is)

your_comforting_company
08-12-2010, 04:12 PM
I love my old hickory. It was abused and mistreated and broken in it's previous life and I found it in an old tool box.
It is my survival knife.
One of the best pieces you'll ever own. easy to sharpen, holds and edge well, and can apparently take all kinds of abuse. You're gonna love it!

hunter63
08-12-2010, 04:33 PM
Congrats on an Old Hickory. What they said on the rust.
Old knives never die, but just get shorter/thinner...........

Erratus Animus
08-12-2010, 05:17 PM
Old knives never die, but just get shorter/thinner...........

That was sharp Hunter :innocent:

hunter63
08-12-2010, 06:03 PM
That was sharp Hunter :innocent:

But true, right, tell me you haven't re-ground a new point on a favorite hunting knife after breaking it off........

I even rub potato or onion juice on my "primitive" knives to make them look "old".

oldtrap59
08-12-2010, 06:24 PM
I have had an old hickory for some ten years now. Sounds like yours is about the same shape mine was in when I got it. I cleaned mine up and wouldn't give it up for anything. It's for sure one of the best knives I have includeing some that I paid quite a bit for. It has field dressed and cut up several deer and alot of hogs over the years and sure is worth the $1 I paid for it at a yardsale. I'm sure you will like yours.

oldtrap

Camp10
08-12-2010, 08:12 PM
I still use my G-grandfathers old hickory knives to process deer. Those knives are many decades older than I am but still do their job just fine. Follow Pancho's advice on the rust treatment. If they are real bad you might need to take some 400 grit sand paper to them.

kyratshooter
08-12-2010, 10:11 PM
You guys know what those expensive RAT series knives, the K-bar, Moras are made from?

1095 steel.

Guess what Ontario makes the Old Hickory out of?

1095.

There is 5,000 years of knife design and steel evolution in that Old Hickory blade. It was knives identical to that our forfathers used to survive in the real American Wilderness. They have dug up blades identical to what Old Hickory makes form the waste pits at Jamestown, VA.

coldlightning
08-13-2010, 12:46 AM
wow, amazing! i know next to nothing about knives, and i have been sitting on a gem for 25 years lol. never use it much. ok another question, aside from the rust, there is some black stuff on it. what is that, mold? mildew? will the vinegar soaking/stell wool get rid of that too? or some other method? thanks fellas.

rwc1969
08-13-2010, 01:02 AM
Well I sure ain't no knife expert, but I recently found some old knives of my Dad's that had been stored away for over 35 years. They were rusty to say the least. I just threw em all in a glass of coke and in a day or two all the rust was gone. I oiled em up, sharpened em up and they are nice and shiny now and I can still shave with them. Some are pitted, but they look decent enuf for me and are fully fiunctional.

kyratshooter
08-13-2010, 01:07 AM
If the black is on the blade we refer to it as "patina". It is simply a chemical reaction with the acids in food. If you slice a tomato with a carbon steel knife and leave it overnight you will see the same thing. It will harm nothing and is normally considered part of the aging process. "Character" for the blade.

If it is on the handle is is just stain in the wood from the same acids and chemicals. Do not worry about it unless the wood is soft in those areas.

You can knock the scales off and put new ones on, but they never look right. Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig. Nothing the matter with a pig, perfectly good animals that don't need lipstick.

It is automatically assumed that a guy in the woods with a butcher knife knows what he is doing. No waste, not frills, no apiologies, just good steel that does its job.

You should get yourself an old boot top and some brass tacks and make a pouch sheath.

Winter
08-13-2010, 04:08 AM
I just modded a tip-broke old hickory today. I don't trust steel that doesn't rust.

Ole WV Coot
08-13-2010, 08:08 AM
If the black is on the blade we refer to it as "patina". It is simply a chemical reaction with the acids in food. If you slice a tomato with a carbon steel knife and leave it overnight you will see the same thing. It will harm nothing and is normally considered part of the aging process. "Character" for the blade.

If it is on the handle is is just stain in the wood from the same acids and chemicals. Do not worry about it unless the wood is soft in those areas.

You can knock the scales off and put new ones on, but they never look right. Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig. Nothing the matter with a pig, perfectly good animals that don't need lipstick.

It is automatically assumed that a guy in the woods with a butcher knife knows what he is doing. No waste, not frills, no apiologies, just good steel that does its job.

You should get yourself an old boot top and some brass tacks and make a pouch sheath.

Guess that's about the best I've read on Old Hickory. I have plenty of them and can't be beat. I bought a bunch at a yard sale in Woodbridge, VA, seems the lady of the house didn't want those "dirty looking" blades in her kitchen, she wanted the nice shiny stainless kind that looked nice and clean, handles and all. I have many blades in the safe, unused. I know I will roll over in my grave when my youngest grandson chucks them at a tree when he gets them.:blushing:

coldlightning
08-14-2010, 12:41 PM
ok good. i am sure the black is that patina you mentioned. so it is safe to use once the rust is off. good good. thanks for the help. by the way, i looked up old hickory on amazon just outta curiosity, and they are selling new old hickories for 8 bucks plus about 4 bucks shipping. 12 dollars for such a fine knife? wow! i ordered a new one, am thinking of getting one each for every member of my family.

hunter63
08-14-2010, 01:22 PM
CL, You will like them.
I think the only reason that some other the other knives are so expensive is simply snob appeal.

You know, like,..... I just bought the new/latest "Tactical Bush (oxymoron?)/Super Survival, Bear Special Knife" for $800 bucks and it cuts 100 times better than a $8 buck Old Hickory......

If I paid that much with for a knife, I would expect the camera crew, support crew, Helo' and rescue crew to come with it, for life.

Just an opinion.