Hello! Im here to learn! I love scouring thrift shops and always keep my eyes open when looking through the knife section. I found a vintage Sabatier (for $1.99) and would love some details on it caring for carbon steel and the knife itself. How old is it? What is it’s current value etc.
Nice find. Probably no / little collector value. To clean up blade would start with Bar Keepers Friend, powdered form, and get the crud off. Thoroughly clean with soap and water then leave lightly coated with mineral oil. To clean the handle, use mineral oil and some steel wool. Thin as needed and sharpen.
In use the knife will develop patina. That's a good thing as long as it doesn't go to rust.
~1960s-1970s. Often the ones with the embossed logo in the handle were marketed as "Sabatier Professional" in the US. Will be a solid knife to use once you get it tuned up. No collectors value.
Rub a piece of paper as fast as you can against the handle for a minute or two, then smell the paper. If it smells like burnt rubber then this is ~60s, when handles were made using hard rubber (just like old pocket combs). By the 70s, they'd switched to a sort of plastic. Regardless, if you want to polish it, use high grit sandpaper and oil.
Over time, these old sabs tend to develop a 'frown'--due to steeling, the blade developed a hollow in the middle and a high tip. If you want, you could correct either, the steel on these is relatively soft so it wouldn't take all day. To me, the tip is less of an issue than the hollow mid-blade which causes the heel to be lower than the blade-edge in the middle of the knife. Here's what I mean:
