Thread: Rust Removal Reccomendations

A lot of rust can be removed by scraping, with steel wool, or with sandpaper. There have been a few discussions of chemical products and processes in the forum here. The general consensus seems to be that most seem to prefer the manual approach (scraping, sanding, buffing).

If you do use a dremel, please be very careful! While they can remove rust and polish quickly, they can also destroy the edge if you aren't paying attention, and as with any rotating tool, have the potential to fling the blade in a decidedly unwanted direction.

Removal of patina is very much a personal decision. Patina will not damage the blade and lots of guys (myself included) actually prefer to leave some patina on vintage blades. So really you can polish it out, but you don't have to. Patina is essentially tarnish.

EDIT: Glen clearly types faster than I...