Salvageable case knife?

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Sentryau2

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Around 5 years ago when I was a teenager my grandfather lost a knife while working out in the fields. While hunting a few weeks ago I seen something in the bottom of a creek bed. It turned out to be the knife he lost! A case yellow bone trapper. I've cleaned it up as much as possible and took a stone to the blade edge after taking a wire brush to it. I'm assuming the steel is just too far gone to save but a small shred of me is hoping I can save it. I actually really like the tone of this knife aside from the pitting. I failed to patina my amber bone trapper due to its SS blade.
So can I stop the pitting or is it doomed? I also wanted to share the pictures. I think k it survived rather well. It may be out for me to find again in a year or so because he gave it to my little brother haha.
 
Pretty far gone.

But, a fine wire wheel on a grinder will get down to the bottom of the pitting and stop the rust after you put some paste wax or rust inhibitor grease on it.

You might contact Case Customer service.

They have been known to re-blade knives free with a family history story behind it.

http://www.wrcase.com/support/warranty/

rc
 
That's rough, but I've seen worse. Can you stop the pitting? Sure. Can you remove the pitting, not without a tremendous amount of work and probably weaken the blade.

Once you've removed ALL of the rust from the blade, if you keep it lightly oiled with some sort of corrosion preventative (Birchwood Casey Barricade, RemOil, Starret Machine Tool Oil, etc) it will not continue to rust, and rust is what causes pitting. Well, the chemical action of moisture against the metal is what causes rust. Rust is the metal trying to go back to its natural state (iron ore).

To remove all that pitting would require you to remove the surrounding metal to bring the blade thickness down to the same level as the areas that are pitted. A lot of work and not worth the effort. Thinner blade equals weaker blade.

You've got it cleaned up, just keep it that way and prevent any further decay.

Case makes some great knives. American quality. No Chinesum junk.
 
I found some similar looking knife steel in the back yard when I lived at a place in 1985 that had been built in 1969. It was an Edge brand Solingen Premium Stock Knife that I figured had been lost there during construction. It cleaned up pretty well functionally and served to slaughter the two elk I'd taken thereafter over 4-5 years. It failed working on its third elk from failure of the back spring on the primary blade. More moisture can get trapped there than where the blades are suspended between the scales (assuming their not under water or submerged like yours is described to have been.). Mine was found under 3-4" of lawn when I was testing out my new metal detector, but I live in Colorado where the only time the ground gets really wet is when I water the grass.
I'd treat your Grandpa's relic as a keepsake reserved for cutting cigar tips, packaging and picking splinters rather than a working knife if you want it to stay around.
 
Sentryau2

I would try contacting Case as rc suggested just to see if the knife blades can be replaced. I bought a new, top of the line Swiss Army Knife that someone had dropped. This was a knife that retailed for well over $100; I got it for literally for pennies on the dollar. The knife was completely sprung and the scales were nicked and scratched. I wrote to Wenger's distributor to see about getting an estimate to fix it. They wrote back and said send it in and we'll see what can be done. Several weeks later I got it back, totally fixed and refurbished and everything done at no charge! Never hurts to ask.
 
Soak the whole knife in EvapoRust overnight
It will be totally clean of any/all rust next day.
No grinding/metal removal req'd at all.

Sharpen as usual and carry as a story topic when seen. :D
 
COOL!
id just put a new edge on it best i could and you have a knife with a heck of a story! Hows the handle look? id figure it to be in bad shape also?
Congrats
Gene
 
like rc said, use a wire wheel. $7 for a 5 pack at harbor freight, put in a drill, and grind away. The wheel will not remove anything but the rust, thats the whole point. Take about 5 minutes to do that blade. Then apply wax, or oil if you use it a lot. vegetable oil or olive oil stay pretty good.
 
mjsdwash said:
like rc said, use a wire wheel. $7 for a 5 pack at harbor freight, put in a drill, and grind away. The wheel will not remove anything but the rust, thats the whole point. Take about 5 minutes to do that blade. Then apply wax, or oil if you use it a lot. vegetable oil or olive oil stay pretty good.
Click to expand...
along with metal and a lot of it to get rid of the pitting, judging by the OPs picture, already looks cleaned of scale rust and lots of deep pits
gene
 
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