Restoration of vintage knives?

Not sure if this is the right place to post this. I just joined. I was lucky enough to get a huge cardboard box full of antique and vintage butchery tools at an auction for $5. I'm a single mom without much of a knife budget, so I was pretty stoked. All the knives are really dull, minor to moderate rust, some pitting and some questionable handles. I probably have 50 or so of all different kinds. The blades themselves don't look too bad for the most part. My plan is to go from crappiest to nicest and restore them all, with the hope that by the time I get to the good ones, I kinda know what I'm doing. For my regular knives, I just have a couple of steels and a cheap wusthof manual sharpener. So, I want to upgrade to the Lansky Deluxe 5 Stone with a strop. I have no hands on sharpening experience so I like this one for the price point and the relative ease of use. Thoughts? Also wondering about how to quickly get past the surface rust and imperfections to a point where I'm using a fine grade sandpaper. 400? I have given thought to a dremel but am concerned it will make the blade uneven, thickness wise. The last question I have for now is about handles. If a handle is going to be replaced, is it best to remove it before restoring the blade? Should the old handle be saved as a pattern for the new one? I'm guessing that there are folks around who custom make new handles. Do they also put it all together? Like a mail order deal? Do you have any favorites? Are there any tips or things I "have" to know before I really get into this? Thanks so very much in advance! I'm so excited to be here!

Welcome to the forum!

thatonebitch said:

...how to quickly get past the surface rust and imperfections to a point where I'm using a fine grade sandpaper. 400?

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I'd start with a lower grit sandpaper to remove rust and pitting, around 80 to do all the major work til the blade looks clean and consistent, then move up in grits from there. There'll be a lot of elbow grease involved but you can make them look amazing in the end. Here's a good video of a good technique you can copy:

[video=youtube;NJ4Mitbpyzc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ4Mitbpyzc[/video]

thatonebitch said:

I want to upgrade to the Lansky Deluxe 5 Stone with a strop. I have no hands on sharpening experience so I like this one for the price point and the relative ease of use. Thoughts?

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They're decent learning tools for a beginner, however once you learn the simplest part of the basics it becomes far more efficient to move onto hand sharpening. To be honest, you'd be better off learning to use the finer sandpaper you bought for the aforementioned restoration job to do the sharpening as well.

No idea on the handles sorry, but someone else here will be able to help you. Best of luck!

Welcome to the forum!

I have a very similar project in mind (about 100 years old knife made by my grand-grand-father in awful shape), so I am subscribing to this thread

Welcome! Skip the Lansky and go straight to full size synthetic water stones. Been there, done that. Recently. I am a recent convert to full hands-on without guide sharpening - wasted cash and time with guided sharpeners, sandpaper/glass, and oil stones. There is a learning curve to hand sharpening, but the trick is good stones, good light, paying very close attention, and continually checking your work as you go. The good stones will cut fast so you will actually make fewer mistakes like rocking the blade.

Lot's of folks here use just 2 stones or a single combo stone so your cash outlay won't be any worse than a guided setup. I just lay my stones on a rubber countertop mat - not even using a pan or sink bridge.

GeneH said:

Welcome! Skip the Lansky and go straight to full size synthetic water stones. Been there, done that. Recently. I am a recent convert to full hands-on without guide sharpening - wasted cash and time with guided sharpeners, sandpaper/glass, and oil stones. There is a learning curve to hand sharpening, but the trick is good stones, good light, paying very close attention, and continually checking your work as you go. The good stones will cut fast so you will actually make fewer mistakes like rocking the blade.

Lot's of folks here use just 2 stones or a single combo stone so your cash outlay won't be any worse than a guided setup. I just lay my stones on a rubber countertop mat - not even using a pan or sink bridge.

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I second this. Have been sharpening with stones for 2 years now and still on the learning curve. But i get better edges now than i ever did with any other system. Just remember to take your time.

I rushed things while doing some sharpening last night and mucked up the bevels on a new gyuto... oh well it still cuts great and it'll get fixed eventually.

As for the refurb, I am currently in the process of doing one. Taking my time. I am using a 400 grit stone (i have a 220 on the way so i might swap to that) which i am using to clean up the face/thin it out. I don't think i will remove all the pitting as i want some character left in the knife. And i think i will try for a duller brushed look rather than shiny. Picked up a heap of different grit wet/dry sandpaper for that.

Please start by learning hand sharpening on a simple but decent new carbon steel knife, just to get the basics. In Europe I would suggest one of the cheaper series by Robert Herder, AFAIK Old Hickories are fine for that in the States. Don't start with a thick, fat neglected blade with a recurve belly and a protruding fingerguard. First things first: sharpening.

Nick Wheeler is pretty much god in my book. Wish he sold those jigs.

Suggest you pick a couple favorites from your stash and shoot Sam at Buttermilk Supply an email/pic. Think about what you would like done. He'll likely tell you what can be done. Then haggle over price a little. If you have a couple professionally restored it will give you an idea of potential and you can determine if you want to try your hand at it. Sam has a subgroup here with contact info..

And +1 to going right to free hand sharpening on whetstones vice fooling with gizmos. Go big or stay home.

Any chance for some pics of your haul?:hungry:
-Mark

let me offer my 2 cents.

First off Rust can hide a great deal of imperfection so I would suggest you save time and effort by getting something like Birchwood Casey's blue and rust remover (read and follow the directions), it will remove the rust and give you a better idea how much work you are in for, :biggrin: As a side note: if you are going to leave the handles on, do not get the rust remover on them.

Now that you can clearly see the imperfections, start sanding, I usually start with 220 Grit wet dry and work up to finer and finer grits until I reach the desired finish. Use a sanding block and sand in a new direction with each grit until you can no longer see the scratches from the previous grits.

If you decide your going to do the handles remove them first, makes it easier, and I would keep the old ones for the pattern if you want to reproduce the same shape, if not the sky is the limit. just start slow and work carefully.

When sharpening, I would suggest the use of a "Sharpie Permanent Marker". Use it to color the edge bevel before you begin sharpening, now you don't have to guess if you have the right angle, if the color is being cleanly removed from the edge bevel then you are on the right angle. Hone one side until you feel a burr develop (on the opposite side to the one you are working on), then switch to the other side until the burr is gone, like sanding, you will want to work from course to finer and finer grits until you have the edge you want. each time you switch stones or just to make sure your on track, recolor the edge bevel and continue.

As was noted in the video: use something to support the work piece and make sure the support is big enough to protect you from the edge and point but not so big as to get in your way. I have discovered from refinishing Straight razors that it is possible to hone an edge sharp enough to cut you while sanding, so be careful.

This has worked well for me, I hope it helps you.

+1 on removing the rust first. I've bought and restored a fair number of 100 year old woodworking planes. Naval jelly has always worked wonders for me. It eats rust for breakfast. It's also nice and thick so it stays where you want it (not on the handles like Wimpy mentioned).