restoration of some old knives

[plb38801]

found some older partially damaged knifes at some gun and knife show cheap. thinking about picking up a few next time and testing my skill set on them   anyone ever do anything like this and would they have any input or suggestions.   

[SteveC]

Bringing old knives back to life is a lot of fun.  I give them a good cleaning inside and out. Try not to go overboard on polishing old blades, try and leave as much character and patina as possible while getting rid of any active rust. I hate seeing old knives that are polished up to try and make them look new.You can sometimes get away with reprofiling broken or chipped blades while keeping mostly original shape. Give them a good oiling and they are good to go   

[Sterg]

Nothing looks worse than an old knife with buffed out blades and polished bolsters.

[Barry Rowland]

   I love seeing an old warhorse come back to life.  Character is the key. 

Bringing old knives back to life is a lot of fun.  I give them a good cleaning inside and out. Try not to go overboard on polishing old blades, try and leave as much character and patina as possible while getting rid of any active rust. I hate seeing old knives that are polished up to try and make them look new.You can sometimes get away with reprofiling broken or chipped blades while keeping mostly original shape. Give them a good oiling and they are good to go   

[Aloha]

Pretty much most of my traditional folders.  Each needed some work of some kind.  Each was a joy to work on and get back into service.  I'd agree to clean and get the damage out to be usable.  Tackle any rust and reprofile blades as needed but I'd not go to far.  The knife had a life and survived before it came into our hands so leave as much of that life visible.  I used feel I had to restore old knives back to their former glory.  I'm so glad I only did that to one knife.  They do look amazing with scars and wear. 

Can't wait to see what you pick up and what you do.