Before there was stainless steel

D

dogstar

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Jan 23, 2011
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How did people (especially sailors) prep their knives against corrosion? Patina? Oil? Paint? Any other tricks?
 
Whale oil? Supposed tohave been the best stuff ever. Unfortunately we will never know for sure.
 
I'm not really sure either. That's a good question. Maybe they didn't worry about rust? Just buy a cheapo carbon steel knife, keep it sharp, and use it till it breaks :D
 
My father and many uncle's were born in the 20's, and they all let a patina develop.

I have no idea about sailors.
 
Likely the same as we all used to do when we used carbon steel blades, we just let the patina develop.
 
Same way mountain men and natives did. Use it. Honestly, with no sarcasm intended. Carbon steel won't rot away from a little rust, and things like fish guts, and land animal innards, tends to lend a helping patina.

We fuss about rust and corrosion, but there was alot of knives around long before "rust resistant" knives came to be.

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Moose
 
fish oil reacts with surface rust to produce a durable barrier, kind of like blueing.
 
This doesn't answer your question but, because I don't like to wipe a petroleum product off my knife just before I cut into an apple, I've been using olive oil on my carbon blades without any rust so far.
 
moosez45 said:
Same way mountain men and natives did. Use it. Honestly, with no sarcasm intended. Carbon steel won't rot away from a little rust, and things like fish guts, and land animal innards, tends to lend a helping patina.

We fuss about rust and corrosion, but there was alot of knives around long before "rust resistant" knives came to be.

Moose
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What's the saying - "A used tool gathers no rust."?
 
BillWolfel said:
This doesn't answer your question but, because I don't like to wipe a petroleum product off my knife just before I cut into an apple, I've been using olive oil on my carbon blades without any rust so far.
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Mineral oil is also edible, and won't rot like olive oil will. Not a concern about the oil that stays on your blade so much as that which ends up in your sheath. My uncle used to use olive oil for his axes (inside their covers) and boy did those covers ever stink. Lots of good 'ol bacteria in there touching your blade. Mineral oil is scentless, tasteless, colorless, cheap and will never spoil. It might be worth changing over, especially if the blade periodically will contact food.
 
t1mpani said:
Mineral oil is also edible, and won't rot like olive oil will. Not a concern about the oil that stays on your blade so much as that which ends up in your sheath. My uncle used to use olive oil for his axes (inside their covers) and boy did those covers ever stink. Lots of good 'ol bacteria in there touching your blade. Mineral oil is scentless, tasteless, colorless, cheap and will never spoil. It might be worth changing over, especially if the blade periodically will contact food.
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Mineral oil has been around for a while, too.

I like the modern configuration of Ballistol.

Moose
 
One of the first knives I made was O1 and I never oiled the blade for the year that I carried it. It was my EDC and got used constantly at home, work, in the kitchen at home, and camping. Just like most of the previous replies mentioned it just took on a nice patina. I am quite sure that use is what keeps the corrosion demons away.
 
I have a K294 blade (A11) I use in the kitchen, I just spray PAM on it once I clean it off, dry it ect.

Hasn't developed any patina yet though, still too new.
 
I've got WWII naval knives with parkerized (black oxide coated) blades. Sometimes blades were nickel or chrome plated. It did not protect the edge, but protected most of the blade somewhat. What I would do with knives like that is wax them. I would coat them with something like car wax or at least rub the exposed honed edge bevel with candle wax.

For folding knives you really needed a lot of oil in the pivot or they would rust into immobility.
 
If they were being used regularly, it was not a big deal. I have carbon steel kitchen knives that have a nice patina, and I just wash them with soapy water and then dry afterward, no oil is used on them. The only time they have any issues is when my wife leaves them in a sink full of water, and even then it's just a little surface rust that comes off easily. For folders it would have been good to use oil on the pivots occasionally, otherwise wiping down after use works fine for carbon steel blades.

I have seen some carbon steel blades that had no patina (brand new) in a store in SF (We Be Knives, Pier 39) and they were developing some small rust specks (and I mean very small dots) after long term storage in an environment that is arguably very similar to what sailors encountered. I'm sure that if they had been seeing regular use they would have had a patina and no rust.
 
Regular use, Clean the junk off after use and you can wipe it down with a sheet of wax paper and that is one of the ways back then.
 
They used pictures of Chuck Norris to scare away the rust! :eek:

Serriously though I just think patina developed with the constant use. BTW I also use mineral oil and highly recomend it. :thumbup:
 
t1mpani said:
Mineral oil is also edible, and won't rot like olive oil will. Not a concern about the oil that stays on your blade so much as that which ends up in your sheath. My uncle used to use olive oil for his axes (inside their covers) and boy did those covers ever stink. Lots of good 'ol bacteria in there touching your blade. Mineral oil is scentless, tasteless, colorless, cheap and will never spoil. It might be worth changing over, especially if the blade periodically will contact food.
Click to expand...
Isn't mineral oil also good for leather?
 
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