Old African knives

[Duccio]

Originally Posted by gp

so what would be your advice concering cleaning these 2 Boa knives:
leave it as they presently are or still clean it? thnx a lot

I tell you what I would do: cleaning the blades with a weak acid (classically white vinegar, a little diluted) and a rough rag (never anything that could cause scratches!) If the blades were very dirty or rusty (but these are not ) you can use very fine steel wool, gently. Be very careful with the blackened central part of the right knife, use double delicacy!
Proceed calmly and slowly, repeating the cleaning many times, trying to remove as much rust as possible.
The handles: for me the ideal would be to use a diluted metal cleaning product to reduce oxidation but avoid making the copper and brass elements shiny as if they were new.
But this is a matter of personal taste.
When you have finished removing what you think should be eliminated, proceed with mineral oil and a soft rag (wax on, wax off ...). In the end, the knife should not be greasy, just polished.
This is how I behave, but I imagine there are people in the forum who are much more experienced than me.
Good job to you.

[gp]

grazie mille Duccio !

[gp]

Originally Posted by Duccio

I tell you what I would do: cleaning the blades with a weak acid (classically white vinegar, a little diluted) and a rough rag (never anything that could cause scratches!) If the blades were very dirty or rusty (but these are not ) you can use very fine steel wool, gently. Be very careful with the blackened central part of the right knife, use double delicacy!
Proceed calmly and slowly, repeating the cleaning many times, trying to remove as much rust as possible.
The handles: for me the ideal would be to use a diluted metal cleaning product to reduce oxidation but avoid making the copper and brass elements shiny as if they were new.
But this is a matter of personal taste.
When you have finished removing what you think should be eliminated, proceed with mineral oil and a soft rag (wax on, wax off ...). In the end, the knife should not be greasy, just polished.
This is how I behave, but I imagine there are people in the forum who are much more experienced than me.
Good job to you.

I just got this Konda and think to leave the wooden handle untouched, except for a little oil to keep it from drying out...but have to see when it arrives what the white colour is. Your thoughts concerning the white ...prego...?

[Pieje]

Just clean (in this case) with simple steelwool 000 and 00 and some oil like WD40 or ballistol.

Duccio, the yellow is probably varnish?
Wire seems aluminium.

[Duccio]

Originally Posted by Pieje

Just clean (in this case) with simple steelwool 000 and 00 and some oil like WD40 or ballistol.

Duccio, the yellow is probably varnish?
Wire seems aluminium.

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.

[gp]

Merci and grazie Pieje & Duccio !

[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.

[gp]

just collected it from the seller and the root cause is even more simple, amazing but very logical than we could have guessed...


the seller told me it was caused by animal fat, which was used by the Kuba for protection reasons. Both to the blade as to the wooden handle as well.
Obviously in the bush in the 1920ies they had no grease or fancy protection material as we have nowadays.
So they used what they had and by experience what worked well.

But the Congolese couldn't take the ignorance of the white Europeans into consideration, who just took these cold weapons to far away destinations and never asked how to deal, handle and threat them....
Hence after decades or like mine a century...not being threated well, stored in a house or monastery ... the fat dried out, became hard, mixed with dust and dirt, next to the influence of the climate and you saw the result.

The seller did clean a bit, he told me but left it as it was, because it is a quite time consuming activity ( as I am starting to learn now...)

But knowing the root cause, it is clear what to do: elbow grease....!
Unfortunately under the blackish layer, some oxidation had started.
Althoug dry and old... more elbow grease required.

This puts now a different perspective to my complete Congolese collection, but also a big smile on my face as I think or know for sure that I shall like them more once cleaned from the animal fat...
As for the long road ahead to get there ... like the French Foreign Legion sings "Marchons dans le sable brûlant,"☺☺☺ as it doesn't come off easy but eventually it does.
So I started this one and tried a few which looked similar and am very positive about the preliminary result. Still a long way to go...☼
Especially with 2 Tetela daggers of 52 and 49 cm long.....

[gp]

a few pics from a century ago : a Salampasu group, twice Boa with their short swords / long knives from around 1910-1920