Jerry, I know that if you take and reblue an old colt peacemaker you have whacked a lot of collector value off of it. How about with an old randall or marbles. How far should you go to clean them up?

You are correct, don't do it man!

If it's a user and your going to beat it up, well anything you do is ok.

If it's an antique or classic or you think it might be, the answer is it depends. Certain items like japanese swords, should not be done at all, let a professional do it.

When it comes to Randall's and Marbles I'm honestly not sure whether you should do anything or not. You may have heard of "Renassiance Wax" www.silversmithing.com/cutleryspecialties/ (http://www.silversmithing.com/cutleryspecialties/) it's a paste wax/cleaner that's used by many museums to preserve many things. This company also makes a metal de-corroder that removes rust from metal. However, remember rust was once metal if you remove the rust you will be left with holes and pits.

DO NOT do this until you are sure it's OK to do so.

I don't know about Marbles but Randall www.randallknives.com/ (http://www.randallknives.com/) does do refinishing and they will probably be able to tell you how far to go. As to worth, Bernard Levine's "Guide to knives and there values" is definetly a book to have. He also runs a forum at www.bladeforums.com (http://www.bladeforums.com) you may also want to ask your question there.

Marble's does refinishing. Here's a pic link of my Grandfather's
albums.photopoint.com/j/V...0&res=high (http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=269728&a=2006217&p=20134911&Sequence=0&res=high)

It was rough enough that I had nothing to lose. Rusted,chipped, grinding wheel marks from "sharpening"
Mr Levine was very helpful and I would also rec you contact him on this subject. Some knives are rough enough to justify refinishing and some should be left alone. whenever possible the original maker should be utilized for any repair IMO.