My grandfather died last November. In the process of cleaning out the old home (as my grandmother is now in an assisted living home), we found (among other things), a bayonet.
The blade is in good condition, and its still got its scabard and leather 'frog' (both the hilt and the scabbard are rather rusted). My Dad and Uncle gave it to me, and none of us were really sure 'whose' it was ... well, I identified it. It's a Mauser bayonet.
I'd like to clean it up ... but, really, have no experience cleaning up rusted ... well, anything. Any ideas?
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
WD 40 and a high grit sandpaper.
Patients and elbow grease come in handy as well.
Posted by WizArtist (Member # 1095) on :
DON'T do a THING to it!!! Find a local reputable individual that deals in antique firearms and such and find out what it is worth. Quite often the value of an antique is RUINED by people "Cleaning-up" problems. Find out what value it has as is and what its value would be if restored. Then make a decision whether or not you want to do it. If it's worth $5,000 as is and $500 if you start sanding on it, which would you rather have?
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
quote:DON'T do a THING to it!!! Find a local reputable individual that deals in antique firearms and such and find out what it is worth.
A rusty Mauser bayonet? Not like there are many of those around.
Jeff's is indeed special. It was his grandfather's.
But, unless this one is from some special SS unit and has unique markings on it, I'd say it ain't worth much.
Remember, gun and military antique collectors collect mint condition pieces. Rust leaves the metal pot-marked and even if it was from some special SS unit that guarded Hitler's outhouse, there are probably dozens of bayonets from the same outfit in better condition. A fact about WWII collecting is that there was vast amount of stuff made...a great deal of which is still around.
[ February 12, 2004, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: Jay the Obscure ]
Posted by WizArtist (Member # 1095) on :
True, but I don't know what amount of rust he may be talking about. A "little" to some is a spot the size of a pin head (insert joke by PsyLiam here) while to another person it could cover half the knife. And there IS the possibility that it could be something special. Wouldn't you rather spend a couple of hours to find out BEFORE doing something to it rather than later find out you get a DOH! award?
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Well, there's no interest in selling it. I've also got his sword (he was a captain in the infantry) and it could use some elbow grease. My uncle is talking about building a display box for the flag we got at his funeral, his dress uniform, the sword, and some photos of him in Europe.
Oh ... we also found a box of letters from him to my grandmother, from when they were dating in the late 30's, to him sitting around LaHavre in August '45 wondering if he was going to get sent to Japan. One of the letters has a sketch (not by him, but a Lt., presumeably in his unit) of a cat eating an arm, and the caption is "German cat munches on German soldier." Just an interesting thing of note.
Oh ... re: the bayonet, a quick search on eBay and I found several like bayonets selling for about $30-50. It was from a Mauser.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
My grandfather's just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. . . And I also know my grandmother is throwing a lot of stuff out that he'd prefer to keep, because they always were pack rats. I think there's some of his military stuff in there, and I'd love to have a look at it (he was a Captain in Tanks in Burma). . . The thing I'd have loved to have got was his old Webley .455 revolver, but they handed that in as part of one of the firearms amnesties.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
For blades, Metal Glow is great: it's cheap and Museum Replicas sells it by the tube. It should take off the rust without sanding anything.