Old African knives

[Pieje]

Originally Posted by Duccio

Hi,
Varnish? I don't think so, the yellow came off too easily, in my opinion it was tobacco smoke tar: in the Belgian houses where many of these knives come from, they smoked a lot, I think.
Instead the varnish was there, and how, but on the blade: to remove it I struggled a bit, with chemistry and muscle energy. But always lightly.
And yes, the wire is aluminiun, I think.
Ciao.

To remove varnish, aceton does the job!
Some types of varnish come of easily, others are tough to remove.