Khanjar Indian brass hilted, rams head knife

Kmaddock · 4th January 2019, 05:23 PM

It is uncleaned at present and I am quiet reluctant to clean it at all except to clean the rust off the blade, I prefers to keep my collection as dirty (platina covered) as possible except without rust.

Hi Detlef,
as per above I will clean rust but not the Platina,
I will use 0000 wire wool and lubricant (diesel) I just don't like overly shiny items in my collection.

I have had this discussion with many collectors and some overly clean in my opinion. I see some items on here that to me have been way over cleaned but that is just my personal opinion and i don't want to cause any offence or argument. This is the friendliest most informative forum group i have ever been on and i want to keep the peace.
I would never clean the brass on the handle and i will probably just polish a window to see if there is a wootz blade as if so i would like to show the whole beauty of the knife off
Regards

ken

mariusgmioc · 4th January 2019, 10:49 PM

Regarding cleaning the knife, I fully agree with Detlef.

What you think is patina, is actually rust. While black rust is less active (but still active) and may contribute to the character of a blade, brown rust does nothing but damage the blade. And it is precisely brown rust what you have on your blade.

Moreover, it is as you said a 19 century blade (best case scenario) but it can also be from early 20 cent, so not so old. While is I consider acceptable to have some black rust on a 16-18 century blade, I find it less acceptable on such a recent blade.

But this is my personal oppinion. It is your blade abd your call.

Sajen · 5th January 2019, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

It is uncleaned at present and I am quiet reluctant to clean it at all except to clean the rust off the blade, I prefers to keep my collection as dirty (platina covered) as possible except without rust.

Hi Detlef,
as per above I will clean rust but not the Platina,
I will use 0000 wire wool and lubricant (diesel) I just don't like overly shiny items in my collection.

I have had this discussion with many collectors and some overly clean in my opinion. I see some items on here that to me have been way over cleaned but that is just my personal opinion and i don't want to cause any offence or argument. This is the friendliest most informative forum group i have ever been on and i want to keep the peace.
I would never clean the brass on the handle and i will probably just polish a window to see if there is a wootz blade as if so i would like to show the whole beauty of the knife off
Regards

ken

Hi Ken,

like you I want to keep peace for sure and at last it's your dagger and can handle it like you want. Maybe I will start once a thread about restoration, a discussion where everybody can add his view about how far restoration should go.

Regards,
Detlef

4th January 2019, 05:23 PM	#1
Kmaddock Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Ireland Posts: 543	It is uncleaned at present and I am quiet reluctant to clean it at all except to clean the rust off the blade, I prefers to keep my collection as dirty (platina covered) as possible except without rust. Hi Detlef, as per above I will clean rust but not the Platina, I will use 0000 wire wool and lubricant (diesel) I just don't like overly shiny items in my collection. I have had this discussion with many collectors and some overly clean in my opinion. I see some items on here that to me have been way over cleaned but that is just my personal opinion and i don't want to cause any offence or argument. This is the friendliest most informative forum group i have ever been on and i want to keep the peace. I would never clean the brass on the handle and i will probably just polish a window to see if there is a wootz blade as if so i would like to show the whole beauty of the knife off Regards ken

4th January 2019, 10:49 PM	#2
mariusgmioc Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Austria Posts: 1,911	Regarding cleaning the knife, I fully agree with Detlef. What you think is patina, is actually rust. While black rust is less active (but still active) and may contribute to the character of a blade, brown rust does nothing but damage the blade. And it is precisely brown rust what you have on your blade. Moreover, it is as you said a 19 century blade (best case scenario) but it can also be from early 20 cent, so not so old. While is I consider acceptable to have some black rust on a 16-18 century blade, I find it less acceptable on such a recent blade. But this is my personal oppinion. It is your blade abd your call.