5160 in veg tanned sheath

[StoneAndSteel]

Alright gents, I have a very particular set-up question. I want to know if there is a way to properly care for a 5160 knife if it sits in a leather sheath for six months? I've read a lot of theories, but I am new to 5160 and never store knives in leather sheaths. If anyone has relevant experience, I would love to hear it. Here are the conditions I need to meet:

Unchangeable conditions:
1- Blade is forged 5160.
2- Petina is fine, but needs to be rust free without care for at least 6 months at a time in an environment with humidity of between 65-85%.

Don't want/probably can't change:
1- Any rust inhibitors need to be food safe-ish.
2- I don't think Kydex will work due to bade shape, so I am currently planning on going with veg tanned leather.

This is the background: I acquired my first hand-forged knife in 5160 made by a good friend of mine. I waited for about 18 months to get it so even if it wasn't well made and beautiful, I would still want to see it cared for. I work in both kydex and leather and have determined that kydex is not the best option with the ricosso flare and recurve of the blade. Also, the handle is wood (another first for me) which is a huge pain to make work with kydex. So I have settled on the sheath being made of veg tanned leather sealed with Sno-seal. I want to have this knife for my GBH bag so it will spend prolonged stretches of time sheathed and out of site in my car. I want to be able to use it for everything from bushcraft tasks to food prep for my young kids (hence the need for inhibitors to be food safe-ish). I generally use FrogLube for my food safe knives, but when I lived in No. Carolina the knives still needed pretty regular love to avoid rust spots.

Any thoughts?

 

[StoneAndSteel]

 

[USMCPOP]

You might use a mix of beeswax and anhydrous lanolin on the inside of the leather. Wax the blade, maybe wrap with wax paper. You could also put in one of those plastic bags with the vapor rust inhibitor, if it was food safe.

Back in the day, machinists would put blocks of camphor in the toolbox where they kept expensive measuring equipment.

 

[The Mastiff]

Wax the knife blade with something like Rennisance wax. That should do it. When you first try check it after a week or so just to see how it's doing.

Joe

 

[Pilsner]

Wax the knife blade with something like Rennisance wax. That should do it. When you first try check it after a week or so just to see how it's doing.

Joe

I agree with that, for what it’s worth.

OP:

Funnily enough, only the other day I took out a custom A1 fixed blade that had been its sheath for around 6 months. We’ve been under very heavy restrictions here in the UK, so I haven’t exactly had a lot of opportunities to use it, sadly.

The blade did have a good, natural patina on it. Before putting it away, I cleaned it, gave it a tiny wipe with mineral oil, then did my upmost to remove the oil with a dry rag. Mineral oil and leather aren’t great.

It looks just the same as when I put it away. The humidity is not bad here, to be fair, although being English perhaps I’m just used to damp weather. I think the Ren Wax is a good shout, as suggested by Joe. Good luck!

 

[guy g]

What about storing the knife in a gun rug with some silica packs or similar. Put the sheath in there separately .

 

[Black Oak Bladeworks]

Nice looking blade! I have used olive oil before but the sheath was kydex. It gets really sticky and losses some of its oil quality's after about 6 months in my experience. I have no experience with wax but I dont see why it wouldn't work.

 

[The Mastiff]

I have several 5160 knives and all are stored in the sheath. Same with A2, W2, 1095, SK5, etc. It's pretty simple in theory and in real life. Seal away the air ( oxygen) from reacting with the steel and whatever other stuff is there. A couple coats of wax does just that. It really doesn't need to be any more complicated. Naturally you will want to test it for a period of time before just leaving it for 6 months. Liquid silicone does pretty well also but I'm more comfortable with Renn wax.

 

[StoneAndSteel]

I KNEW I’d get some ideas that I hadn’t thought of! I actually have some Renwax bu have only used it for restoring some antique wood. I’ll for sure be giving that a try. I’m a knife user so if it gets a few spots in the process of testing it isn’t the end of the world— just can’t let my buddy see it down the line rusting away. I also like the silicone packet idea, that is a super simple solution. Thanks guys!