Vintage KA-BAR

Joined
Jul 29, 2021
Messages
4
New member and first post! I have this vintage KA-BAR here that I found while cleaning out a relative's house. My research points towards Vietnam era and that adds up with the owner. My question is how do I clean it correctly? It has a few rust spots but I just want to maintain it has it sat for years in an extremely humid climate.
 
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welcome!
i haven't seen the condition of your knife.
(and will not be able to access your picture).
so i'll just address rusting.
in general, once rust develops over
the zinc phosphate coating,
the eroded finishing can't be saved
since its been eaten away.
so corroded areas are in danger
of developing rust spots and possibly
the dreaded pits too.
first thing to do is to wash and scrub
down with a fine tooth brush.
you may use dish washing soap.
you only want to clean up the blade.
so be careful not to let water run
anywhere above the guard .
pour some hot water over the blade
and let the heat evaporate the remaining moisture. air dry in the sun.
inspect how much of the original finishing is left.
then decide if its worth saving.
the zinc phosphate coating.
at this point its worth to note
that any messing around with
the blade surface will depreciate the
collectability of the knife in the eyes of a collector.
if you intend on use. then by all means
proceed to maintain it as a using knife.
there are only two ways to completely
remove rust. one is through abrasion
action and the other chemical corrosion.
it becomes a matter of personal preference of just how ciean a surface
one wants to achieve.
only remember that any bare metal surface will begin to rust once more :)
so lets look at applying a protective coating. you may use generic oils .
or other forms of solutions use in aftercare of firearms. i hope this gives you some diection in your approach
in dealing with your new found knife.
 
welcome!
i haven't seen the condition of your knife.
(and will not be able to access your picture).
so i'll just address rusting.
in general, once rust develops over
the zinc phosphate coating,
the eroded finishing can't be saved
since its been eaten away.
so corroded areas are in danger
of developing rust spots and possibly
the dreaded pits too.
first thing to do is to wash and scrub
down with a fine tooth brush.
you may use dish washing soap.
you only want to clean up the blade.
so be careful not to let water run
anywhere above the guard .
pour some hot water over the blade
and let the heat evaporate the remaining moisture. air dry in the sun.
inspect how much of the original finishing is left.
then decide if its worth saving.
the zinc phosphate coating.
at this point its worth to note
that any messing around with
the blade surface will depreciate the
collectability of the knife in the eyes of a collector.
if you intend on use. then by all means
proceed to maintain it as a using knife.
there are only two ways to completely
remove rust. one is through abrasion
action and the other chemical corrosion.
it becomes a matter of personal preference of just how ciean a surface
one wants to achieve.
only remember that any bare metal surface will begin to rust once more :)
so lets look at applying a protective coating. you may use generic oils .
or other forms of solutions use in aftercare of firearms. i hope this gives you some diection in your approach
in dealing with your new found knife.
Thanks for the prompt advice. I've added pictures and hope to get further feedback now that there are visuals. I'd like to clean it and maintain the collectibility of it. Restoration is definitely not for me. Am I also correct on the approximate age? Somewhere around Vietnam era?
 
yes its post ww2 from pre-1974..
looks fine by all accounts.
rusting nearly always takes places
on the guard/pommel thanks to the
proximity to the leather.
as stated, in collecting circles,
less tale tale signs of cleaning the better.
know that the phosphate coating doesn't take too kindly to abrasives.
if you can live with the discoloration.
just give it a protective solution
or oil it up on a regular time scheduled frame.
and store the blade sheathless
in a dust and moist free environment.
i wouldn't reccomend steel wool
as its bound to do too good a job in
removing everything which matters
which also leaves behind fine powdered iron dust particles.
instead you could strip old electrical power cords and ball up the hair-fine copper wires to be a copper wool scrubbing pad.
and work only on the trouble spots
as you don't want to tear away at every thing.
the idea is to only scrub on the surfaces with signs of rough textured oxidation build up.
you may even apply a baking soda paste
(thats baking soda with water, some even add a pinch of salt) to help with the scrubbing process.
again be absolutely careful in not overdoing it.
don't ever loose that protective patina!
oh and btw, use a tooth pick and clean
out all the green verdigris stuff
from the brass rivets and snap button.
be careful as it will stain.
that's a nice knife btw.
 
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The knife looks good for its age. I would just wipe it down gently with baby (mineral) oil and let it be. The oil will take the lose active rust off while protecting the knife.

n2s
 
Thanks everyone for the advice and kind words. I'll stick to giving it a good wipe with mineral oil and keeping it out of the sheath and I'll see to the brass rivets. I found it laying in a box filled with assorted knives in my grandmother's house in Hawaii so it was possibly sheathed for longer than I've been alive. Were these KA-BARs still being issued to the Marines during Vietnam?
 
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