Best way to clean this up?

OK, it's not exactly a kitchen knife. But it might get used there occasionally. This was my dad's knife, my first experience with a custom. He had it made when I was in high school (and managed to sit around sharpening it menacingly whenever any of us had dates come pick us up.) He died about 10 years ago, and it's probably been sitting in its sheath ever since. I finally managed to get my hands on it, and it needs some cleaning up. I'm thinking a good wash with dish soap and water to get off some of the funk (drying it immediatedly of course!) then a round of Barkeeper's Friend. Saddlesoap for the sheath. It's stainless (no, I don't know which stainless) with micarta & nickel silver (I think the spacers are leather.) Sound like a reasonable approach, or is there a better way?

Certainly can't hurt to clean it.

Cool story.

STOP !

Randall's are great collector knives and this one surely has some sentimental value.

The green is verdigris- a reaction with the brass in the guard.
Knife was stored in the sheath? A no no.

The handle looks like micarta with an inlay and aluminum pommel.
The blade steel appears to be their ss not the carbon.

I'd just take a soft cloth with some mineral oil on it and gently rub the the whole knife down.

The saddle soap will soften the leather sheath; not what you want.
Perhaps a soft clean toothbrush only at this point.

Randall folks can probably date this for you based on the sheath and handle combo alone spacer (material/inlay/etc).
Bernard Levine, a Randall collector site, or wait for someone knowledgable to chime in here for more info on care and the knife...

Maybe get a nice shadow box to put in in for display?

Sounds like a good plan of approach. Good luck.

Lucretia, perhaps post it here:
http://www.knifetalkforums.com/

Not sure if you have to register or not.

However, those guys are the Randall knife gurus and should be very helpful on any clean up, model, history, etc. advice.

Last I heard, there was a 4-5 year wait after you submitted your order to get a Randall from the shop... :eek2:

Lucretia , how sure are you that it's stainless? If I'm not mistaken, the stainless knives are marked with an "S", while the tool steel knives have no marks other than the maker's mark, like yours.

Rick

I would NOT use bkf on it.Try some flitz with a soft cotton cloth.

The knife is roughly 35-40 years old. It was made back when Bo Randall was still alive. My dad spent many evenings with graph paper scaling down the profile he liked to get the length he wanted and maintain the proportions. That was probably before calculators were common household items--he did the math by hand. Mr. Randall was a little resistant to making the knife because he was afraid the balance would be off, but my dad persisted. It's not carbon steel--my dad's one complaint about the knife was that he should have gotten carbon because he felt it would have taken a better edge. It is micarta, and the the pommel, guard, and inlay are nickel silver. Dad wasn't very demostrative, but he would get practically giddy when describing the knife while he was waiting for it to be made--we heard about it often enough that it stuck in my head. I'm kind of surprised about the wear on it, considering he was not a very good hunter. Maybe he loaned it to his buddies at the hunting camp so he could actually see it used on a deer. :wink:

Well, stainless or not, it is a wonderful example of a Randall. I am envious.

Perhaps 35 years from now one of my heirs will feel the same way.

Rick

Don't do anything to it at the moment. If you decide for yourself that cleaning it is what you want to do, and it is strictly a sentimental item, that is one thing. If you deem it a collectors piece, then do nothing to it until you consult someone with much more knowledge than I could hope to fake about any cleaning or restoration. That act alone could devalue such a piece greatly! In the end the final decision is yours to make, but it would be wise to gather all the info you can before committing one way or another. After all, it sat for years, whats a little more time in the interest of gathering information?

i cleaned up my dad's 1960s (complete with receipt signed by Bo) Randalls, because they are working knives, i use them when i go camping, and they will never be sold.

i say do absolutely nothing to it till u find out more about it.....if u need help i am willing to post on a few other forums for u...i frequent them all!.....ryan

DO NOT CLEAN OR OTHERWISE TOUCH THIS KNIFE BEYOND LOVINGLY FONDLING IT!!!!!

This knife may be worth a small fortune if left as it is but will more than likely be worth next to nothing if cleaned up. If you'd like an expert opinion on it's worth contact Bernard Levine and pay him to do an evaluation.

Ah heck, just bead blast the thing and call it good! Maybe tumble it to get it shiny.

SpikeC said:

Ah heck, just bead blast the thing and call it good! Maybe tumble it to get it shiny.

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Dave Martell said:

DO NOT CLEAN OR OTHERWISE TOUCH THIS KNIFE BEYOND LOVINGLY FONDLING IT!!!!!

This knife may be worth a small fortune if left as it is but will more than likely be worth next to nothing if cleaned up. If you'd like an expert opinion on it's worth contact Bernard Levine and pay him to do an evaluation.

Click to expand...

+1

Dave Martell said:

DO NOT CLEAN OR OTHERWISE TOUCH THIS KNIFE BEYOND LOVINGLY FONDLING IT!!!!!

This knife may be worth a small fortune if left as it is but will more than likely be worth next to nothing if cleaned up. If you'd like an expert opinion on it's worth contact Bernard Levine and pay him to do an evaluation.

Click to expand...

I am confused.Let say someone was using it the last 40 years and liked to keep it polished up,would it be worthless.

Dave Martell said:

DO NOT CLEAN OR OTHERWISE TOUCH THIS KNIFE BEYOND LOVINGLY FONDLING IT!!!!!

This knife may be worth a small fortune if left as it is but will more than likely be worth next to nothing if cleaned up. If you'd like an expert opinion on it's worth contact Bernard Levine and pay him to do an evaluation.

Click to expand...

Bernard's humor equals his expertise.

Both are priceless...

You don't want to destroy the patina. That is an awesome piece, I'd take Dave's advice and have it appraised.

I'll give you fifty bucks for it!

RRLOVER said:

I am confused.Let say someone was using it the last 40 years and liked to keep it polished up,would it be worthless.

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Nope. It would probably be worth even more.. and would still have natural patina and charm from age as well as use.

But if you "recondition" it wrong you loose alot of the value as a collectible piece.

I say if this thing gets sold to someone who wants to see the rust and corrosion on it, they aren't going to use it. And that sucks. And if it doesn't get sold, why would you want it dirty?

Maybe just me. I love things of grand historical importance, but this is still this knife's lifetime, baby! Nobody dug this out of the Earth! And even if they had, they'd knock the mud off.


Of course, keep the sandpaper off it, but I'd clean it. :2cents:

E. I agree, Its a knife and a damn nice one at that.. Made and ready to be used! I dont think anyone sad anything about selling the knife. Its obviously a priceless family heirloom. .
All were saying is get advise from someone who is in the know about these knives first.. Then follow there instructions as how to clean and bring it back into its best possible place without messing it up..

I'll be talking to the folks over at the knifetalk forums for the best way to go about cleaning it up. In the meantime, it's gotten an alcohol wipe followed by a little mineral oil--just enough to start cutting through the nicotene without affecting the patina.

My dad had 5 daughters and no sons, so I got to be his "boy". I was the one who helped him work on the car, got hollered and for reading his new "Outdoor Life" and "Field & Stream" before he got home from work, and the one who helped him build his dog kennel (during which he coined the phrase "you aren't accomplished unless you draw blood"--and yes, it was my blood), the one who begged to go fishing with him and his buddy and ended up in 20 foot seas in a 20 foot boat--and had absolute confidence that my father would get us safely home.

Some might see a collector's edition; I see my dad's special knife. It's getting cleaned and used.

LOL Lucretia, use that sucker as it was intended to be used, good for you.

BTW, my warning was in case you had interest in selling it. I'm more happy to hear that you'll be keeping it though.

Dave Martell said:

DO NOT CLEAN OR OTHERWISE TOUCH THIS KNIFE BEYOND LOVINGLY FONDLING IT!!!!!

This knife may be worth a small fortune if left as it is but will more than likely be worth next to nothing if cleaned up. If you'd like an expert opinion on it's worth contact Bernard Levine and pay him to do an evaluation.

Click to expand...

RRLOVER said:

I am confused.Let say someone was using it the last 40 years and liked to keep it polished up,would it be worthless.

Click to expand...

HHH Knives said:

Nope. It would probably be worth even more.. and would still have natural patina and charm from age as well as use.

But if you "recondition" it wrong you loose alot of the value as a collectible piece.

Click to expand...

Yeah that's it, had the knife been used & kept clean (in a used natural patina state) it would be worth more than it is now for sure but once it's been cleaned (after sitting unused for so long - another natural patina state) it usually is seen as having a cleanup job and the value decreases than if was just left untouched. Yeah it's strange but that's the game.

Ahhh.........I knew you are not to clean antiques but had no idea that a 35 year old Randall hunting knife fell into that realm.Learn something new every day:thumbsup: