.

That was tough duty - good on him !

The pitting under the rust won't go away w/o removing enough metal from the surfaces to get to the bottom of the pitting.

The rust can be removed by rubbing those areas with a well-oiled pad of Big 45 Frontier metal cleaner ($7, direct from the maker) - which (unlike steel wool/oil) will remove the rust w/o leaving scratches in the metal, or effect any remaining original finish.

Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner | Remove Rust from Gun Bluing and Clean Dirty Gun Bores Easy!

FWIW, here a rusted blade I so worked:

 

@Pete44ru Thank you! That looks great. I'm thinking to just remove the rust and protect what's left.

 

That's an interesting knife there. I am not an authority on restoration by any means. I can offer an opinion from my own experience only. First off Pete44ru is right.
That will work.
Personally I have had good results with a wire brush on a Dremel at lower speeds. Brass brushes will transfer brass to your steel item, but stainless will be okay. It could leave some marks with too much applied pressure. A fine small wire brush is not very aggressive though, and it will reach into the pitting. You may see ghost marks where the brush contacts the metal, maybe not.
A hydrosonic cleaner would work well if you have access to one.
A power buffer will shine everywhere up quickly if you want that look. You can get power drill attachments for a few dollars. See Harbour Freight for an example.
Those are a few things I've done, and can say they all work.
However you remove the rust, I suggest using Renaissance Wax on the entire item for protection. Apply as needed.
Post pics when you get her all cleaned up!

 

I zoomed in. Is that knife chrome plated?
It looks like chrome may be peeling off, and all exposed metal has rusted.
In this case you may want to buff/polish the whole thing to get an even looking finish. Then clean it off with isopropyl alcohol before using the Renaissance wax.
Just my .02

 

I zoomed in. Is that knife chrome plated?

I think you're right based on the appearance near the tip, top side in photo.

 

Is that knife chrome plated?

I'm not sure. I remember him saying it was stainless but that's all, and I'm totally uneducated in this area. I imagine that might effect how I go about this. Would starting with Big45 and oil still be a good idea in that case to start getting the rust off?

That's an interesting knife there.

One piece as I recall, handle to blade. My grandparents gifted it to him in 1943 while his ship was being refitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He was a NYC street kid so back on home turf for some R&R.

I have Big 45 on the way and will get some Renaissance wax, thank you for the suggestions!

 

I'm not sure. I remember him saying it was stainless but that's all, and I'm totally uneducated in this area. I imagine that might effect how I go about this. Would starting with Big45 and oil still be a good idea in that case to start getting the rust off?



One piece as I recall, handle to blade. My grandparents gifted it to him in 1943 while his ship was being refitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He was a NYC street kid so back on home turf for some R&R.

I have Big 45 on the way and will get some Renaissance wax, thank you for the suggestions!

Big 45 is good at removing rust or just scrubbing metal without causing damage.
I wonder if it will remove rust in the pitting. This is where a wire brush may be ideal. One style of wire brush looks like a round paintbrush. Those are good for reaching in to voids. I'd say that your knife is not stainless judging by the thick rust. Stainless can rust in certain environments depending on conditions. The lack of oxygen can actually cause stainless steel to rust. (For example)I used stainless screws on my boat, and the screws going into nylon board are rusting, but the heads look brand new.
Thanks for sharing your story!

Renaissance wax is spendy, but a little goes a long way. It's good for wood, metal, and leather in some applications.
It's good stuff, and worth the expence in my opinion. Renaissance Wax is a staple in the gun and knife world.

 

Copper chore boy pad and Kroil.

But Kroil on the rust. Scrub with chore boy pad. Stop periodically to clean the rust out of the pad. Copper is soft enough that it doesn't remove the steel.

If it's chrome plated (don't think it is) you can remove freckling with aluminum foil and water.

 

For your leather sheath I would suggest some gentle scrubbing with an old toothbrush and maybe saddle soap. If you don't want to buy saddle soap for this one item, then just use the toothbrush and a little warm water. Once it has dried then use some Neutral boot polish to preserve it and make it shine. You could use black boot polish, but IMO it would cover up the patina / age / wear.

 

Hello,

I figure folks here would have some advice on removing rust and stabilizing a family heirloom. My father carried this knife while serving on destroyers during World War II. It has come into my possession the worse for ware and I'd like to do right by it. I'd appreciate advice on what to do. Thank you.


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Nice. That looks like a 1940s U.S Military Langbein stiletto fighting knife. Very rare . Does the tang say LANGBEIN / NEW YORK.
im sure that is one. For your interest

langbein fighting knife questions

I had a guy call wanting to sell this knife. He saw one that sold on ebay for $1400. Do these fo for that much? From the pictures he sent, does it look original? There is no name on the handle. Should the maker be on both sides of the blade? Any help would be appreciated. I saw the display and ot...

www.usmilitariaforum.com

 

Does the tang say LANGBEIN / NEW YORK.

It does indeed. Thank you for that link! That certainly looks to be the one. Matches the pictures in that thread and has the same dimensions written there.

 

For the leather, I would use Fiebing's Aussie leather conditioner.

Aussie Leather Conditioner | Fiebing's

fiebing.com

 

Soak the rusty spots with any penetrating oil you have on hand, keep the rust 'wet' for days. When you go after the rust rub the B45 pad only until the saturated rust is off, once you hit dry looking rust stop and soak more. Work you way down like this repeating as necessary, Do NOT Get In A Rush

 

Work you way down like this repeating as necessary, Do NOT Get In A Rush

Sounds like great advice, thank you. I'll start soaking some of it while the the pads are on their way.

 

Pick up a bottle of Evapo-Rust from a local automotive store, enough to soak the entire knife.

The longer the better up to a couple of days.

All rust gone, with zero damage to actual steel.

Let chemistry do the work for you. Best part, its as reasonably bio-friendly as chemicals get. Re-usable up to a point.

One of the few things that comes in a bottle that actually works!

I have tried most of the above mentioned approaches but nothing comes close to removing ALL of the rust like Evapo-Rust.

One caution: will remove gun bluing because that is basically rust. It will completely de-blue an entire gun if that's what you want.

Don

 

Let chemistry do the work for you. Best part, its as reasonably bio-friendly as chemicals get.

Thank you! I read up on Evapo-rust and that looks like a great way to go.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I will follow up with some "after" pictures!

 

Good reminder about bluing! Ive just been thinking about an easy way to strip one for a try with Van's cold blue.

 

That's exactly what I did with excellent results.
After soaking, the metal will look greyish which will wipe off with VERY light wiping (Big 45) / sanding.
Use a couple of types of de-greasers to get bare dry metal after stripping.
Heat the gun with a hair dryer until you get tired of that, then apply Vans with a new clean toothbrush.
Toothbrush will not introduce any unwanted chemicals / blotching to mess up the bluing reaction.
Brush Vans on repeatedly until you get it as dark as you want.
Vans will give an even bluing if you are patient and persistent.
Then hit the gun with oil to stop the bluing reaction. Good luck!

Don

 

I wouldn't go near that with anything but Evaporust. No tools, at all. No abrasives.

 

Thank you. It is soaking right now and after a bit more than a day a lot of the surface rust is gone, but a lot remains in what look like scratches. There's no warning on the bottle or in the many good suggestions here about soaking for too long, so I'm going to just leave it alone for a few days and we'll see what happens.

It does now show "C. LANGBEIN NEW YORK" in two lines on both sides. My dad's name and the date are engraved on one side of the handle. The metal around the Langbein engraving is very grey and dull looking. Theorizing that it is a plated piece, and the rust attacked the metal underneath where the plating was thin, where it was engraved or scratched.