Should I send these for cleaning to the shop?

estate find, I just picked these up and the model 15 is really rusty, It's hard to even read the stamp and there's a guys name on the other side I can't make out. Wondering if the shop could get it clean enough?

Doubt we can do anything with the 15....shame...

However, that throwing knife is day-ummm cool!!

IMO, strip the handle off and media blast the crud off of all of the metal. re-handle and then Cerekote the blade/hilt.

Voila, new lease on life and a user model 15!

There are folks that'll do this for ya, too.

Yeah Rob...I kinda' disagree with the ceracote idea as this is an early VietNam Airman in green tenite. Whatever is done...be gentle with that handle.
IMO,
Capt. Chris

Thank you fellas for the good information. I won't send it in. For now I gave it a coating of ballistol as I have had good luck with this product in the past for cleaning rust from guns and knives. I certainly won't want to make such a historic piece to be a user anyways.

Send us some updated pics as you go along with this cleanup project.

For the first time I see such a thrower, I don’t see it in the catalogs either, is it a single copy? In any case, very cool, congratulations on the find

The pre-Model 9 appears to be quite rare. Never seen one before.

Here's my update. I kept it oiled all week and then cleaned the blade by scraping with another knife. It had some chunks of rust scaling which scraped off pretty easily and then I washed it in the sink with dish detergent, barkeeper's friend, and a pot scrubber. I did not want to use steel wool or scotch bright on this. The pot scrubber had been recommended to me by a gunsmith for cleaning gun blue also with oil. So I'm pretty happy with the way it looks now. I just wanted rid of those lumpy bits of rust that bubble up on the steel on something that's been sitting in moisture for so long. Also I should mention that the edge on this came clean and sharp with very little scraping. I'm not cleaning that thrower at all. It looks good enough the way it is for me.



Here's a comparison with one quite a bit newer.

I wonder if this is one of the original Mod. 15’s sent to the Marine Corps for trials and testing.

You don't use a pot scrubber, barkeeper's friend, or another knife to "clean' a blade. . Your gunsmith buddy must mess some stuff up using those materials. Barkeeper's friend is highly abrasive and wiil ruin a blade. Contradictory to what you may think, 0000 steel wool and oil is what you would use. if really bad, which yours is, perhaps 000.

Museum quality ! Terrific !

Agree with Joe.

Abrasives should be started with the finest grade first. In this case 0000 steel wool.

Some folks use Kroil or PB Blaster or kerosene as the lubricant on the surface rust.
Pitted rust is permanent, So leave that alone.