Old African knives

[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.