A visitor with great stuff.

[Barnfixer]

I was working in the garage not long ago and had a visitor stop buy. He said he was a distant relative through marriage. He had in his hand my grandfather’s hunting knife and wanted me to have it. My grandfather passed away in 1972 when I was young, but I do remember him, my uncle and my dad hunting together and still have a few pictures. The knife is a Aidaco. Pictured is the Aidaco and the Camillus USN Mark 2 my uncle carried in the pacific during WW II. I was told my uncle was involved with the landing at Iwo Jima when he was 18 or 19 years old but he never said a word about his service. I’m going to give them a little TLC.

 

[Mk-211]

Don't take a wire wheel to them, as was passed on to me, get some Evaporust from harbor freight.

Soak it for 24 hours and you'll see an amazing change. Use some fine steel wool to gently help rub off any rust that's still on the blade.

You can find replacement leather to restack the handles.

 

[hso]

Soak the blade in Evaporust.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Honestly, neither the blades nor the handles look all that bad. Oiling up the leather should rejuvenate handles, just light vegetable oil has been recommended here in the past.

 

[Barnfixer]

Was thinking of soap and water first, then some oil and go from there.

 

[sgt127]

I think I’d go with a bronze brush and a decent oil on the steel.

One coat of neatsfoot oil on the handle and then wax the whole thing.

 

[defjon]

Renwax is good after you get them cleaned up.

I've used the steel wool before, but now use a rust kit. Just sand paper pads with varying grain coarseness. Go slow and gentle with the grain. I got my first from kult of Athena, but I'm sure Amazon sells as well. Usually come with several and you can start and adjust as needed.

I've even used olive oil on sheaths and stacked leather handles or scabbards, but neatsfoot would be better to bring the leather back to life.

 

[defjon]

I've heard the olive oil or vegetable oil can eventually break down and cause issues. I've used it in a pinch, and so far haven't noticed any issues ...about two decades or so, so I imagine I would have seen something by now lol.

But prefer neatsfoot and I believe it can restore but also help water/weatherproof should you decide to take one or both afield again.

Very cool blades, one of those situations where "if those knives could talk..."

 

[hso]

soap and water first

Saddle soap on a clean rag. Then neatsfoot or mineral oil. Veg oil goes rancid.

 

[Speedo66]

I was working in the garage not long ago and had a visitor stop buy. He said he was a distant relative through marriage. He had in his hand my grandfather’s hunting knife,,, View attachment 1093764

That must have been a little odd, having a stranger walk up to you with a knife in his hand.

Nice old knives, enjoy!

 

[gotboostvr]

That must have been a little odd, having a stranger walk up to you with a knife in his hand.

Nice old knives, enjoy!

I had a recently ex-employee of mine come up to me with a OKC M9 Bayo in his hand in the parking lot before work unexpectedly once.

Turns out it was a gift because he enjoyed working for me.

Definitely kind of threw me off haha.

Actually just found that knife two days ago in stuff from my last move. I was pretty giddy about that turning up again. Was starting to think it got lost in a move. Although, I was kind of looking forward to buying a new knife to replace it. Quite the conundrum.

 

[Barnfixer]

That must have been a little odd, having a stranger walk up to you with a knife in his hand.

Nice old knives, enjoy!

It was in the sheath. He was a bit older than me and smaller, I think I could of took him

 

[SteadyD]

Saddle soap on a clean rag. Then neatsfoot or mineral oil. Veg oil goes rancid.

One day at the LGS the owner showed me an old revolver that stunk to so bad you couldn’t imagine. It had been treated with a vegetable oil or lard most likely. I can still taste the smell all these years later.