Care and Maintenance of a HJ Knife

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Dec 30, 2013
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Hampshire, England
I suspect this question has been asked before but I would like to seek advice as to what is good or acceptable practice for the care and preservation of a HJ Knife. Obviously certain things are definite don'ts i.e. using wire wool or abrasives and personally I would not consider sharpening either. On the other hand, I would imagine a light coating of oil (3 in 1?) would be good to protect the blade. But what about cleaning, polishing or buffing? I have seen references to all of these on various sites. Also, what could or should be done to prevent deterioration of the leather work? All suggestions or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks, Nick
:uk :001_unsure:
 
Your knive has no heavy rust or dirt on it otherwise check here:
http://www.hj-research.com/forum/f54/removing-rust-4526/
Then you have to decide what you want. Do you want to leave the item untouched and with all its patina or do you want to handle it as the first owner might have done. Jo once wrote about an enamel badge: "You could take a cotton bud, dip it in window cleaner and gently clean the enamel surface. I dont like tampering with the Patina of any item, but Glass enamel can not build up any patina so to speak, so gently cleaning the surface with a normal window cleaner wont do any damage, and it will look much better." I personaly use Brasso on knive blades. But be careful to use Brasso or other hard detergents on any other part. Especially where the metal meets the leather. Do not let it touch the leather! If not cleaned off totaly Brasso will leave ugly white drying stains. So do not use it anywhere where it can seep and hide from your touch. I would not let any oil touch the leather either. For leather (belts, Tornister, Schulterriemen and other stuff) I use Tierowa, a cream for leather care which is used for saddles and other riding equipment. They have nice small tins (no larger than a watch) for the rare occasions that I need it. I personaly trust it because if it is ok with an animal it is ok with my collectible. Many (even the expensive ones) modern waterproofing dubbins (Lederfette) contain chemical substances which might be ok for your leather boots, motocyclist equipment and so on. These items will last to a maximum of 10 or 20 years I guess so it will not do them any harm. But our items are about 80 years old. So you have to be a lot more careful with these old leather parts. This old leather tears or breaks really easyly.
:sad:
If you want to resell the item think it over before touching it. Maybe the new owner has other ideas. Maybe he would have just loved the original patina...
I personaly do not like my items cleand before I get them. Especially cloth stuff washed with modern detergents or papers "repaired" with scotch tape, magazines newly stapeled and things like this.
:yo:
 
i personally like renwax for overall p[rotection, its what is used by most collectors and museums to protect blades
 
I don't use anything, just leave them as they are...

Patina or dirt can build up on enamel - I'll put up a pic showing this when I can.

Regards

Russ
 
Here's one at the bottom end of the 'condition' scale, completely dirty, and well used.

Some of the dirt on the diamond has been scraped off, showing the bright enamel underneath.

Regards

Russ

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