The old draw knives that I come across are usually pitted with rust, have broken handles, or are so worn out there’s not much metal left behind the cutting edge. Occasionally they’re bent. Mostly good reasons to pass them by.
This one is stamped Lakeside Quality, and may or may not have been sold through Montgomery Ward department stores before or around 1950. I found it after looking for a draw knife at the flea markets for a few months. It was one of the few that was solid, sharp, and dirt cheap. The blade was spray painted silver, and at some point someone was too aggressive with a grinder on the right side. The bevel varies between 20 and 23 degrees and the blade is 8″ wide.
The first step in cleaning it up was to remove the paint from the blade and the overspray on the handles with brake cleaner or acetone, which evaporates quickly.
It’s almost a shame to polish the patina out of old steel, but that’s what I did. 320 – 400 grit sandpaper, by hand and on a rubber block. I left the ferrules and handle caps mostly untouched, just erased the rust from the blade with some sandpaper, and took it easy around the Lakeside stamp.
If you haven’t cut yourself yet, nice going! Tape up the blade to protect your fingers and knuckles. I used #0000 steel wool on the handles and it takes some time, but doesn’t remove too much of the wood. You might be more aggressive with sandpaper to get the deeper scratches out, but I just wanted to remove the varnish and get the handles nice and smooth again.
With the handles mostly finished and the blade cleaned up, the last step will be setting the bevel and sharpening the blade.