Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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De-rusting a rusty buck knife

Hi I recently bought a used Buck knife and saw that it has a lot of rust on it. I tried looking at sites like this and used some of the ideas like baking soda and vinegar and a white ink eraser, but none of the things I tried worked. It's a Gold Star Buck Knife that says its made from Special 420 Stainless Steel. Please help. How do I get all the rust off?

Kevin Thomas
- Fort Knox, KY, U.S.A.
December 22, 2008

Try 5% ammonium citrate solution(50 gm citric acid [on eBay or Amazon] / 1 lit water+some ammonia-pH must be 3,5). Probably only citric acid based solution can be used too.Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
December 29, 2008

Trying to remove rust with chemicals is rather difficult to control: it would probably carve out holes in the flat surfaces, just as the rust is, especially if what you're using is steel. The best method I know of is to use a grinding stone.

Steven Xu
- Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
January 28, 2009

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Best bet is to use a sanding belt and sand it down as far as you dare. Where ever there is rust there are pits. The only way to get rid of pits in this type of situation is to sand the surface of the metal down below the bottom of the pits. Of course you will start changing the shape of the blade. Only you will be able to decide which looks less bad. The pits or the new shape of the blade. Then use finer and finer sandpapers until you have it smooth enough to use a buffing wheel. I am not sure about knives but I do know that a collector gun is worth more untouched rather than restored.
Have fun.

Frank DeGuire
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
January 30, 2009

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There are a lot of methods given on the internet for removing rust from a knife. The Buck website says to use [adv: Flitz on eBay or Amazon] or Metal Brite, which are metal polishing compounds. One place said to soak it in Diet Pepsi for up to 3 days. Others say to use a rust removal compound containing oxalic acid [affil links]. Someone said to use 00 steel wool [on eBay or Amazon] and alcohol.

When I was a kid, we used to remove rust by repeatedly sticking the knife into the ground.

Chris Owen
- Nevada, Missouri
February 3, 2009