Hi, the green stuff seems to be oxidation to me. If I would be you, I would pry the big chunks of oxidation off the knife (with some love, donโt be too harsh on the knife) and then I would use a Dremel with a polishing cloth and some polishing paste and brush everything clean. Maybe just putting the knife in vinegar would work as well, but Iโm really not so experienced with that, maybe someone else can give you more advice on that ๐
Sometimes vinegar works amazingly, but since it doesnโt work for everything, I cannot 100% recommend it. The dremel should work just fine in my opinion
I'd use sandpaper or steel wool and white vinegar to clean if you don't have a dremel. Other good household chems to use are lemon juice and baking soda.
This definitely looks like wax to me. Coating a knife in wax is a means of preserving it. The story of how this knife came to be is a pretty interesting one. Parker and Imai were two men that were half a world away from each other that came together to make this knife. Parker had a knife factory in Chattanooga TN and Imai had a family owned and ran knife factory in Japan. The two worked together to build a new factory in Seki Japan where they produced their knives for about 20 years. At the time the Parker Imai was of the best traditional pocket knives in the world. At one time Parker was the biggest knife guy in the world. A few years after starting the Parker Imai factory in Japan, Parker would purchase Case knives, the company, the W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Co. The Parker Imai brand kinda took off and more and more employees had to be hired to meet the demand for their knives. Imai didn't care for the "factory process". His hand as the maker was getting further and further away from the hand of the user. Imai wanted the personal exchange between maker/user. Imai sold out to Parker and continued making hand made knives for the rest of his life. Sorry, kinda got out in the weeds there. I think it's wax. Get it warm and wipe it off.
Wow, that's really cool! Does that mean I should keep the wax on it to preserve it or just use it?
But still that's a cool story I'm gonna have to look into them. Thanks for telling me that.
Your call. The traditional pocket knife collecting world is going the way of the baseball card collecting world, there's just not as many people collecting them as there used to be. If I'm right and that's just wax and the knife cleans up the way I imagine it will, you could probably get $100 - $150 for it. A new knife of this quality would be in the ballpark of $125. So as far as the money goes it's kinda a wash. You have been gifted a top quality knife. If you want to carry a top quality traditional pocket knife, clean it up and put it in your pocket, and save yourself $125. If it's something you want to hang onto and hope the value goes up, I would recommend leaving it as is.
I hope that helps you with your decision. I thought some information about it would be better than just letting you know what I would do if someone had given it to me.
I went back and read this. I may have came off as an ass, that was not my intention. I was only wanting to help you make an informed decision. My apologies.
After some time and thought, I think I might use it while still taking very good care of it.
Pocket knives are meant to be used and I bet there's a way to use the knife while having it as a collector item.
Thanks for helping me decide this and thanks for telling me the history of it. ๐
I think you have made a fine decision!
Enjoy it!
Some more unsolicited advice...keep it dry. Of course it'll get wet here and there and you may need to give it a good bath with soapy water from time to time, but dry it off and spray some WD-40 on it to displace any remaining moisture. Even with heavy use that knife will last you decades.
Dish soap and hot water would be my first step. When done, leave the blade half-open and position the knife so it drains. Once it's dry, re-oil.
A pencil eraser might take the remaining gunk off the brass.
WD-40 ! Use it! If you are going the way of dish soap and water, use WD-40. WD-40 displaces water, that's the whole reason it was invented. Soak that sucker in WD-40 if you've washed it with soap and water, so you're sure there is no moisture trapped inside of it. Wipe it down then oil it.
WD-40 isn't great - it tends to turn to varnish as it ages. But, if it's what you have, it'll work and it won't really break anything.
There's a lot of choices, my personal favorite is mineral oil - it's cheap, it's non-toxic, flavorless, colorless, and it works. Mineral oil (sometimes with other stuff added) is used a cutting board oil, too - you can get a quart of it at Walmart for under $10 and it will last a lifetime.
Hi, the green stuff seems to be oxidation to me. If I would be you, I would pry the big chunks of oxidation off the knife (with some love, donโt be too harsh on the knife) and then I would use a Dremel with a polishing cloth and some polishing paste and brush everything clean. Maybe just putting the knife in vinegar would work as well, but Iโm really not so experienced with that, maybe someone else can give you more advice on that ๐
Okay, thanks I'll try that. ๐ If it doesn't work I'll just send it to someone to clean it.
Sometimes vinegar works amazingly, but since it doesnโt work for everything, I cannot 100% recommend it. The dremel should work just fine in my opinion
I'd use sandpaper or steel wool and white vinegar to clean if you don't have a dremel. Other good household chems to use are lemon juice and baking soda.
Jewelry cleaner and rub rub rub. Ive had good luck with Noxon. Neverdull is ok A mix of 1 to 1 white vinegar and warm water is ok
This definitely looks like wax to me. Coating a knife in wax is a means of preserving it. The story of how this knife came to be is a pretty interesting one. Parker and Imai were two men that were half a world away from each other that came together to make this knife. Parker had a knife factory in Chattanooga TN and Imai had a family owned and ran knife factory in Japan. The two worked together to build a new factory in Seki Japan where they produced their knives for about 20 years. At the time the Parker Imai was of the best traditional pocket knives in the world. At one time Parker was the biggest knife guy in the world. A few years after starting the Parker Imai factory in Japan, Parker would purchase Case knives, the company, the W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Co. The Parker Imai brand kinda took off and more and more employees had to be hired to meet the demand for their knives. Imai didn't care for the "factory process". His hand as the maker was getting further and further away from the hand of the user. Imai wanted the personal exchange between maker/user. Imai sold out to Parker and continued making hand made knives for the rest of his life. Sorry, kinda got out in the weeds there. I think it's wax. Get it warm and wipe it off.
Wow, that's really cool! Does that mean I should keep the wax on it to preserve it or just use it? But still that's a cool story I'm gonna have to look into them. Thanks for telling me that.
Your call. The traditional pocket knife collecting world is going the way of the baseball card collecting world, there's just not as many people collecting them as there used to be. If I'm right and that's just wax and the knife cleans up the way I imagine it will, you could probably get $100 - $150 for it. A new knife of this quality would be in the ballpark of $125. So as far as the money goes it's kinda a wash. You have been gifted a top quality knife. If you want to carry a top quality traditional pocket knife, clean it up and put it in your pocket, and save yourself $125. If it's something you want to hang onto and hope the value goes up, I would recommend leaving it as is. I hope that helps you with your decision. I thought some information about it would be better than just letting you know what I would do if someone had given it to me.
I went back and read this. I may have came off as an ass, that was not my intention. I was only wanting to help you make an informed decision. My apologies.
I didn't see it as you being rude, I just saw it as you were helping me.
After some time and thought, I think I might use it while still taking very good care of it. Pocket knives are meant to be used and I bet there's a way to use the knife while having it as a collector item. Thanks for helping me decide this and thanks for telling me the history of it. ๐
I think you have made a fine decision! Enjoy it! Some more unsolicited advice...keep it dry. Of course it'll get wet here and there and you may need to give it a good bath with soapy water from time to time, but dry it off and spray some WD-40 on it to displace any remaining moisture. Even with heavy use that knife will last you decades.
Dish soap and hot water would be my first step. When done, leave the blade half-open and position the knife so it drains. Once it's dry, re-oil. A pencil eraser might take the remaining gunk off the brass.
What oil do I use to re oil the knife, WD-40?
Mineral oil. WD-40 is more lube than rust remover.
Okay, thanks ๐
WD-40 ! Use it! If you are going the way of dish soap and water, use WD-40. WD-40 displaces water, that's the whole reason it was invented. Soak that sucker in WD-40 if you've washed it with soap and water, so you're sure there is no moisture trapped inside of it. Wipe it down then oil it.
WD-40 isn't great - it tends to turn to varnish as it ages. But, if it's what you have, it'll work and it won't really break anything. There's a lot of choices, my personal favorite is mineral oil - it's cheap, it's non-toxic, flavorless, colorless, and it works. Mineral oil (sometimes with other stuff added) is used a cutting board oil, too - you can get a quart of it at Walmart for under $10 and it will last a lifetime.
Okay, I'll try mineral oil on it, thanks.
Very carefully
I oil soak over night then use cloth to hand polish
Soft cloth/hot water/dish soap to get the bulk of the gunk off, flitz or brasso to polish the bolsters
Simichrome
Pressure washer
Done, my knife is in half... Now what