Eickhorn short etched bayonet, for Review.

[Grofaz45]

Hi,
I posted a thread earlier about this bayonet when I was deciding to buy it or not, well I did and it arrived today I am pleased with it but would like some opinions on it please. It had a lot of horrible sticky black residue from the old melted patent leather frog that had adhered and hardened on the reverse grip plate and hilt but I managed to clean it all off successfully using a isopropyl alcohol soaked rag a wooden tooth pick and an old electric toothbrush also soaked with the alcohol it did a great job of dissolving the sticky tar like mess without causing any problems to the plastic grip plate or the hilt plating, it took a lot of persevering but worth it in the end I think. The etch on the blade was a bit dirty as well and it cleaned up nicely again using isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud being very very gentle. The hilt plating looked dull on the dealers site but when I got it here it was just sticky grime maybe nicotine staining so gave that a gentle clean with a soft cloth and a very small amount of Autosol polish and it now looks very nice, now I know some would say never clean but in this case I think it was the right thing to do to bring this piece up to it's true condition under all the crap. The first photos are of the bayonet before I cleaned it and second lot are afterwards for comparison.
Regards, Andy.

These are the before pics:

[Grofaz45]

And these are the after cleaning pics:

[Anderson]

I think you've done the right thing, and the result is an improvement. That dissolved patent leather gunk was a devaluating aspect of the bayonet as sold. And the etching was dirty probably from overhandling with greasy hands. So as you say you have simply restored the piece to it's "true condition". The use of the isopropyl alcohol appears to be the correct choice. You have to be careful with solvents, but in case it appears to have worked well.
Just one point. The patent leather revenge may not have ended and it may pay to consider how you store the bayonet and frog. Possibly slipping a piece of clear plastic between the leather and contact point with bayonet may prevent a relapse.

[Grofaz45]

Hi,
Thanks for your post, I have done a lot of delicate cleaning/restoration on many things in the past (not edged weapons though) and have used isopropyl on many different materials for cleaning and it is pretty gentle on most things and is an excellent degreaser but I did test it on a rather beaten up old dress bayonet I've had for ages to make sure it wouldn't damage the grip plates because I didn't want to risk it with this bayonet until I was sure it was ok. The frog leather is very degraded, disintegrating and deteriorating/melted so I have decided not to use it and will look for a nice appropriate replacement example for this bayonet to add later.
Cheers, Andy.

I think you've done the right thing, and the result is an improvement. That dissolved patent leather gunk was a devaluating aspect of the bayonet as sold. And the etching was dirty probably from overhandling with greasy hands. So as you say you have simply restored the piece to it's "true condition". The use of the isopropyl alcohol appears to be the correct choice. You have to be careful with solvents, but in case it appears to have worked well.
Just one point. The patent leather revenge may not have ended and it may pay to consider how you store the bayonet and frog. Possibly slipping a piece of clear plastic between the leather and contact point with bayonet may prevent a relapse.

[Rossi]

nice work

[gerrit]

You have done the exact same think as i would do when i got it in that state!
You cleaned it the proper way, only think i would add is a small piece of fabrik and put that between the grip and the frog, so there will be no more laquer residu on the grip again in the near future when temperature rises next summer.
Very well done!

Ger

[Larry C]

Nice restoration Grofaz

[Grofaz45]

Hi, Many thanks for all the replies and kind comments I am certainly pleased with the way it looks now but I have put the frog onto a pack bayonet I posted here earlier as it had an incorrect K98 combat frog and have put a better conditioned dress frog onto this one. Here are some pics of the new frog now on this bayonet I think it looks much better and I am waiting for a nice green and silver NCO bayonet knot to put on this frog as the final touch.
The replacement better frog:

[Grofaz45]

And finally with the NCO knot added to the new frog: