Blade Care

[pguinto]

How do you care for your blades? What kind of sharpening tools, polishes, lubes, etc do you prefer? Whats details do you pay attention to when dealing with pins and springs on folders, balisongs, automatics?

[lhommedieu]

Re. Sharpening tools: I currently use two water stones. The first is 400 grit and the second is 1200 grit. I re-edge with the 400 grit (i.e. create a bevel) and put a secondary edge on with the 1200 grit. I used to use sharpening guides but find that doing it by hand is often easier. I finish up with a steel and I always use a steel before and after using my knifes.

Since some of my knives are carbon steel, I find a light coat of mineral oil to be helpful in preventing rust.

That's about it: nothing fancy but it works for me.

Best,

Steve

[eskrimakaliarnis.com]

I recently had to give mine some TLC as a few new ones had got rusty p.d.q here in the P.I :(

I used a Brill pad and olive oil to take care of the specks of rust. I then applied a few coats of Jonston Paste wax and they look great.

Renaissance Wax came up in quite a few articles like this one:

http://www.ruble-enterprises.com/restoration.htm

Which was the best webpage I found when looking into it.

Excerpts:


DO NOT wire brush sword hilts or blades to remove rust or clean.

DO NOT sand sword hilts or blades to remove rust or clean

DO NOT use acid cleaners remove rust

DO NOT use brass polish to clean brass guards and hilts (on old swords)

DO NOT polish sword hilt and blades (this could reduce the value of an old sword)

USE acid free oil (fine gun oil) or acid free wax (see below)

EASY SWORD CLEANING

We have found that waxing sword blades will clean and stop rust from forming. By waxing the blade, oxygen can not get to blade, so any old rust will not continue and new rust will not form. The blade can be handled with little worry about the salt and acid on your hand from forming rust (rust fingerprints). We use JOHNSON PASTE WAX which comes in a yellow can. This wax is acid free and works well on sword blades (and armour). NOTE: DO NOT WAX JAPANESE SWORD BLADES.

MINOR CLEANING: using cloth, rub wax on one area of the blade, then immediately wipe off with a clean cloth. Do this two or more times until wipe off cloth does not show dirt being removed. Wipe a thin coat of wax on the blade and allow it to dry for approximately 2 hours. Hand polish sword blade to a nice shine using soft clothes (towel or old sock working best).

RED RUST REMOVAL: Use a SOTCH-BRITE PAD with a large amount of wax on it and very lightly rub rusted area of fresh rust. Immediately wipe off with clean cloth. Repeat as required and then finish clean sword blade per MINOR CLEANING instructions listed above. NOTE: Do this very lightly with wax so not to scratch the blade. Use this to remove red (fresh) rust and heavy dirt from blade. Do not try to remove old dark rust or pitted areas.

Wax can be easily be remove by using ACETONE. When this is done, you must immediately protect the blade from rust by use of oil.

Interesting to read the knights would deliberately let their swords get rusty for more damage.

[PG Michael B]

How do you care for your blades? What kind of sharpening tools, polishes, lubes, etc do you prefer? Whats details do you pay attention to when dealing with pins and springs on folders, balisongs, automatics?

I use honing stones to keep my edges...1 medium grit the other smooth..as for polishes I don't use them...I keep all my blades razor sharp and bone dry..I wipe them down with an oil cloth and a bit of hone oil from time to time. As to lock blades, make sure they are snug yet workable..a bit if WD40 keeps the mechanism well lubed. I don't deal with automatics or balisongs so I can't answer that..lol...

[arnisador]

I have been lax about this and have had some of my good knives get rusted because of it. I just don't tend to think about doing it (but am getting better).

[jezah81]

As a collector of antique Japanese swords, and a practitioner of Filipino blade arts, and Toyama Ryu, which is a Japanese sword art, I can say that choji oil is the best way to keep blades from rusting. Choji oil is a mineral oil, with 1% drop of cloves to give it a pleasant aroma. Best way I have found to clean blades after cutting use, is to use water and detergent, then wipe the blade down with a clean dry rag and apply the choji oil with a seperate flannel cloth. To keep blades nicely honed, especially knives, I use a computer mouse pad and some wet and dry paper up to 2000/3000 grit and give most of my knives a nicely polished convexed edge, which last a long time before needing to be resharpened. Just my 2 cents. :)

Kind regards,

Jeremy Hagop

[fisherman]

For rust prevention I use light machine oil, on folder pivots I like to field strip the knife and use Mad Dog Lab's MD7 for lube. For sharpening I love to use a Spyderco double stuff ceramic stone and finish up with a leather strop mounted on a piece of wood with some rouge.

[neo]

I use gun oil to wipe off my knives on a regular basis - including the locking mechanisms on my folders. I am just learning how to sharpen my knives and purchased a Lansky system. I have only used it on one knife so far (CRKT folder no longer made) and have mixed feelings about it. Theoretically, this system should be easy but it was a bit of a pain for me. The biggest issue was that no matter how much I tightened the clamp on the spine of the knife, the knife seemed to slip out after I began sharpening. The second thing was that I had a difficult time removing the burr after it formed. The instructions for the system did not discuss burr removal so I ran the blade over soft wood - this did not work very well because I still felt the burr after several runs through the wood.

I would like to hear how others sharpen your knives in general and if you have any recommendations for burr removal please share. Also, does a leather strop remove the burr or is it just used to polish the blade?


Thank you,

Mitch

[Brian R. VanCise]

As a collector of antique Japanese swords, and a practitioner of Filipino blade arts, and Toyama Ryu, which is a Japanese sword art, I can say that choji oil is the best way to keep blades from rusting. Choji oil is a mineral oil, with 1% drop of cloves to give it a pleasant aroma.

Choji is perhaps the finest thing out there to take care of your blades. Once I made the switch I have never gone back!

[TuhonBill]

I've been using Renaissance Wax on my tool/carbon steel blades for several years now and really like the stuff. Works well and goes on easier than the old boy scout trick of rubbing a candle on the blade. Here's the website for the U.S. ren wax distributor.
http://www.restorationproduct.com/

I don't put anything on my EDC stainless steel blades and haven't had a problem with them. (I do wipe the ones going into storage with ren wax if I don't plan on using them for a while).

On anything that will be used for cutting food, I would just use plain mineral oil (not mineral spirits - that's paint thinner). It's not a natural product, but it won't hurt you and won't go bad like some vegetable oils. Don't use baby oil for this, it's mineral oil, but it's scented.

To lube the pins and locks on my folders I use Tuf-Glide ( http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=SY1060 ) This is a dry film lubricant that won't attract dust the way oils do. I also use it on my firearms. Works really well.

I've started a knife sharpening series on my YouTube channel. Here's the first two installments. Most of this will be pretty basic for guys on this list, but let me know what you think of them anyway.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hecKdNJ6E9Q


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWIgHdychQ

Regards,
Tuhon Bill McGrath

[Carol]

I have a question for you folks...

What's a good way to clean a folder that's really gunked up? Here's what I've recently run in to. I am in the process of moving and my Spyderco Delica has been cutting up box after box as I've been getting stuff moved from point A to point B.

At the end of the day, the sides of the blade had some gunky goop on it from the tape, glue, and adhesives I was cutting through all day.

I was trying to clean the goop off with isopropanol and ended up messing up the knife in the process. I had the blade pointed up and outward....and some of the dissolved goop got in to the mechanism of the folder and froze up the mechanism. My Delica has now become a fixed blade. Whoops.

So....other than making darn sure I keep the tip DOWN the next time I clean my blade....what would you folks use? Oil alone wouldn't be enough IMO, I need some kind of solvent to cut the gunk.

[silat1]

I use hoppes #9 or break free to clean my blades.. It preserves the mechanism while preventing rust and lubricates the mechanism.. I have been using this for more than 20 yrs, but if you use your knife to cut up stuff in the kitchen or peeling an apple, I would suggest that you use alcohol and then lube the blade and mechanism with olive oil.. If the knife is used daily, the break free is best to go..

[TuhonBill]

I've been using Renaissance Wax on my tool/carbon steel blades for several years now and really like the stuff. Works well and goes on easier than the old boy scout trick of rubbing a candle on the blade. Here's the website for the U.S. ren wax distributor.
http://www.restorationproduct.com/

I don't put anything on my EDC stainless steel blades and haven't had a problem with them. (I do wipe the ones going into storage with ren wax if I don't plan on using them for a while).

On anything that will be used for cutting food, I would just use plain mineral oil (not mineral spirits - that's paint thinner). It's not a natural product, but it won't hurt you and won't go bad like some vegetable oils. Don't use baby oil for this, it's mineral oil, but it's scented.

To lube the pins and locks on my folders I use Tuf-Glide ( http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=SY1060 ) This is a dry film lubricant that won't attract dust the way oils do. I also use it on my firearms. Works really well.

I've started a knife sharpening series on my YouTube channel. Here's the first two installments. Most of this will be pretty basic for guys on this list, but let me know what you think of them anyway.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hecKdNJ6E9Q


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWIgHdychQ

Regards,
Tuhon Bill McGrath

I've added two more sharpening videos to my YouTube channel:

Sharpening a Scandi grind blade.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06oPQitr7is


Sharpening a Saber grind blade.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbg5LKL36Ps&feature=related

I should have some more videos on this subject posted soon.


Regards,
Tuhon Bill McGrath

[lhommedieu]

I have a question for you folks...

What's a good way to clean a folder that's really gunked up? Here's what I've recently run in to. I am in the process of moving and my Spyderco Delica has been cutting up box after box as I've been getting stuff moved from point A to point B.

At the end of the day, the sides of the blade had some gunky goop on it from the tape, glue, and adhesives I was cutting through all day.

I was trying to clean the goop off with isopropanol and ended up messing up the knife in the process. I had the blade pointed up and outward....and some of the dissolved goop got in to the mechanism of the folder and froze up the mechanism. My Delica has now become a fixed blade. Whoops.

So....other than making darn sure I keep the tip DOWN the next time I clean my blade....what would you folks use? Oil alone wouldn't be enough IMO, I need some kind of solvent to cut the gunk.

Bill's correct: Hoppe's #9 (Your knife will smell good too). I use "Ed's Red" (homemade product) but Hoppe's #9 has the traditional cache. Alternatively, you could spray brake line cleaner (wear gloves and a mask, and work outdoors) with a straw into the mechanism and then rinse with kerosene. Keep solvents away from any plastic parts of your knife, wherever possible. Don't forget to lube the knife when you're done cleaning it and it's dry.

Tuhon, great vids - thanks for posting. I cook a lot and my prep work got much easier once I figured out how to maintain sharp edges on my knives. I generally use a steel before and after use to keep the edge longer. Re. mineral oil: I use this regularly since most of my knives are the old carbon variety. Keeping a bottle of mineral oil on the counter reminds me both to oil my knives and cutting boards regularly.

Best,

Steve

[sjansen]

I have a question for you folks...

What's a good way to clean a folder that's really gunked up? Here's what I've recently run in to. I am in the process of moving and my Spyderco Delica has been cutting up box after box as I've been getting stuff moved from point A to point B.

At the end of the day, the sides of the blade had some gunky goop on it from the tape, glue, and adhesives I was cutting through all day.

I was trying to clean the goop off with isopropanol and ended up messing up the knife in the process. I had the blade pointed up and outward....and some of the dissolved goop got in to the mechanism of the folder and froze up the mechanism. My Delica has now become a fixed blade. Whoops.

So....other than making darn sure I keep the tip DOWN the next time I clean my blade....what would you folks use? Oil alone wouldn't be enough IMO, I need some kind of solvent to cut the gunk.

Hoppes #9 is my favorite scent, but it won't get rid of gunk. Your best bet is Rem. oil. It will cut the gunk and has silicon for lubrication purposes which is far superior to Hoppes. I use it on all my carry knives. If they're cooking knives I use mineral oil. It's what's used on butcher block counters and tables and unless taken in great amounts (it's a laxitive if you use alot) it won't cause a problem. I use Rem. oil on all my other knives and guns. It won't ruin any finish and keeps everything clean, rust free, and slippery.