Old Folding Knife Cleaning Advice Requested

**black651** · Oct 27, 2010, 10:30 AM

Since the weather is starting to turn up here in MN - I decided to start spending some time with the rusty relics I have aquired over the last few months. I worked one spot from August on up to now and I was fortunate to find a good amount of coins, jewelry and relics from the late 1800's up to the 1940's - including over 11 folding knives. All are in various states of caked on rust but I was curious as to the age and maker of these pieces so I soaked a few in some penetrating oil and was able to get the blades out after a while. One small pen knife I found buried a couple inches from a 1892 Barber quarter (2.5" closed, 4" open) I selected as the first one I would clean due to it's small size so I could bring it with me to work and clean it during breaks. (I find it relaxing)

I started to remove the rust and found what appears to be a figure holding a rifle over it's shoulder and several areas of scrolled letters and numbers throughout the blade's surface. I apologize for the photos - they are terrible, but I can definitely see many letters and numbers on it.

I have had some good experiences with electrolysis and some bad ones. I found that this method can really pit up the surface and I am hesitant to use it on this piece due to the delicate features. I am asking if anyone has any good advice on how to clean this up better? I know it's just an old rusty knife but I am so curious about it's origins and want to find out what it has written and portrayed on the blade!

(I included some photos I took while in the process of cleaning the blade. So far I have only used a toothbrush and very delicate scrubbing with a brass brush and some 00 steel wool.)
Thanks in advance!