Should traps be sand blasted, sanded or just take steel wool after it?
What do you put on it after it is all cleaned up.
Thank You

If you are talking about collector traps - none of the above!!!

Use warm water and soap with an old toothbrush to remove dirt and loose rust. Dry thoroughly and you are finished. Do not dye, dip, wax or anything else. Old traps are supposed to have tight rust. It is called patina.

You will lower the value of your collector traps if you clean them up too much.

Why is it I see traps that look like they have a shine to them? What's going there?

A lot of people that are selling collector trap put a wire wheel to them and get them shinny. If you are going to collect for resale never clean them to much. I have bought collectable traps for myself that are shinny and didn't pay much for them and that was the reason. Maybe in 10 - 20 yrs they will look better.

I like to wipe them down with wd40

This is all good information.
Thanks Guys

If you are collecting traps (or any item) for your own personal satisfaction with no thought of resale value down the road, you can do what ever you want to them - paint, varnish, bare metal cleaning, etc. after all, they are yours. If you are thinking of your traps as an investment, you will want to keep them as natural as possible.

I knew an older gentleman (now deceased) who collected old tools, traps and small farm items. Everything in his collection was painted silver and was nicely displayed in a large shed. When folks would tell him he was lowering the value by painting the items, his response was that he liked the appearance of everything being silver and he could care less what the paint was doing to the value down the road. Which is/was his prerogative.

I have a guy around here at the flea market. He will get a good collector axe, razor knife any labels off, put a generic handle on, paint it red or black (including the handle) and bench grind an edge on. I don't buy from him because of all the work I would need to do to get it semi-original. But hey, their his and he can do whatever to them.

I ran into a guy once that sandblasted his traps and blued them.

I have never seen where paint stripper has ruined the patina of a collector trap. There may be a white film left over that dissolves with your WD-40 or other lubricants. It will not react with rust as it (stripper) leaches through the paint and causes it to "float" where it can be wiped away. I will buy all your "painted" Newhouse traps at de-valued prices if you want to sell them. I DO AGREE de-value comes with a harsh brushing or chemical reaction to remove the rust as others have stated but I will take all the painted ones I can get.

I wipe mine with gun oil. After a month or so it looks really good. Not oily, just darker and richer color.

I dont believe oil changes collector value, but correct me if I am wrong.

Submerge trap in wd-40 in 5 gal bucket for one week. Remove and hang in sun for couple hours or until dry. Hand rub trap surface with soft steel/brass brush evenly. Dip back in wd-40 bath momentarily again to clean...remove and wipe dry with rag. When dry, wipe lightly with "Mystery Oil" or gun oil. Trap will return to brown patina in short time.

Because I study part numbers, foundry marks, and Gov't stampings; I must be able to see/read entire trap. Other markings like dancing bears or makers signatures (which have direct effect on value) are often missed on uncleaned traps.

There is a difference between a cleaned trap and a butchered trap finish. Don't ever grind, wire wheel, tumble, or reduce a collector trap to bare metal.