Before there was stainless steel

I grew up with carbon steel knives and blued steel guns. I kept both clean. No patina on the carbon steel blades. I still don't. Blued steel guns were a pain in the a$$ and took a bit of work. I still have guns over a hundred years old with the original bluing ( a form of rust) and knives from the 20's or 30's with no rust on the blades.

I think you young guys ( my son included) have the wrong idea about this. They( even stainless) need some work. It's a matter of how much.

I use wax for long term storage. Clear liquid silicone for the other times.

No rust or patina developing.


Joe
 
Cold Kill said:
Isn't mineral oil also good for leather?
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NO!!! Okay, it's not quite three-exclamation-marks-bad, and it won't hurt it to get a little on there (like the amount that might come off onto a sheath from a lightly oiled knife blade) but never soak leather in mineral oil, it'll make it too soft and weak. For leather, you want beeswax--Obenauf's leather preservative is one of the best products out there, and it smells rather wonderful too. Mineral oil is just fine for living leather (skin) but nothing you want to keep a rigid shape or have strength like a shoe, sheath, belt, etc.
 
Seriously they used their knives harder, and in worse conditions than any of us and did just fine. People online make it out to be a huge thing. "my knife rusts to hell in my necker sheath on a hot day."

No it doesn't, it might discolor or get a bit spotty, wipe it down when you get home. Done, oil or no oil makes no discernible difference in reality. Unless you just absolutely need a spotless knife, in which case just get a spoon and be done with it.
 
goodeyesniper said:
Seriously they used their knives harder, and in worse conditions than any of us and did just fine. People online make it out to be a huge thing. "my knife rusts to hell in my necker sheath on a hot day."

No it doesn't, it might discolor or get a bit spotty, wipe it down when you get home. Done, oil or no oil makes no discernible difference in reality. Unless you just absolutely need a spotless knife, in which case just get a spoon and be done with it.
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It's true that excessive worry is, well, excessive, but it isn't true that just not worrying about maintenance at all is a good idea or accurate to how tools of any kind used to be used in "olden days". Lewis and Clark were using animal fat to protect their saws and axes two hundred years ago. They weren't worried about stains, they were worried about tools getting dull. And yes, they CAN rust dull over night. You're quite right that a good wipe-down after use will go a long way towards maintaining it's usefulness. Giving it a rubdown with dry dirt is a reasonable method to clean blood or vegetable matter off.
 
t1mpani said:
NO!!! Okay, it's not quite three-exclamation-marks-bad, and it won't hurt it to get a little on there (like the amount that might come off onto a sheath from a lightly oiled knife blade) but never soak leather in mineral oil, it'll make it too soft and weak. For leather, you want beeswax--Obenauf's leather preservative is one of the best products out there, and it smells rather wonderful too. Mineral oil is just fine for living leather (skin) but nothing you want to keep a rigid shape or have strength like a shoe, sheath, belt, etc.
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I think there are differing opinions on this. For years I heeded the advice of "don't oil your boots", and the leather would always crack and stitching would tear out at the flex point for the toes. Horse tack needs oil to stay healthy, I oil my belt when it gets too stiff, and last year was the first time I oiled my boots on a very regular basis (weekly to monthly). The rubber toe still tore out, but all the leather is still in excellent condition.
Maybe I just use my boots way more than most people? In the summer they can go from soaking wet grass or splashing in puddles (water or horse crap) to dry sand a dozen times a day, that or just plain dusty dry sand. If I oil them regularly they seem to do much better.

Will wax actually keep the leather fresh and pliable? Stiff leather that moves will always crack and tear in my experience.
 
Well, the right kind of wax works well. You don't want to just pull the Turtlewax out of your garage and use that. There are oils that are good for leather (actually, Obenauf's makes a good one too, in addition to their wax) in terms of conditioning, but do not provide a good seal in terms of keeping other oils and stains out. You don't need (or want) a really thick layer of wax on there as a spit shine, but just enough worked well into the leather to protect it from heat, dirt, sweat, etc. which over time will break down the structure of the shoe. Nothing lasts forever, of course, regardless of care, but using the right kind of maintenance will definitely extend the life. Mineral oil, great for many, many things, is not a good choice for leather.
 
t1mpani said:
NO!!! Okay, it's not quite three-exclamation-marks-bad, and it won't hurt it to get a little on there (like the amount that might come off onto a sheath from a lightly oiled knife blade) but never soak leather in mineral oil, it'll make it too soft and weak. For leather, you want beeswax--Obenauf's leather preservative is one of the best products out there, and it smells rather wonderful too. Mineral oil is just fine for living leather (skin) but nothing you want to keep a rigid shape or have strength like a shoe, sheath, belt, etc.
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Obenauf's is great on old leather or new. I have been using the HD paste for quite a while. Not for dress shoes as it doesn't shine up well but just about anything else is good to go. I am new to their oil but I like it so far.

Back on topic...I used Obenauf's on a couple of carbon steel knife blades and so far so good. Kind a of a cross between a paste wax and an oil. Non-toxic and you don't even have to clean it off of your hands...just rub it in. Great stuff. Haven't used in on a gun yet and may never do so...but we'll see.
 
i have a cut down old hickory that i take fishing with me, its my official bait knife, i just rub it down with a brillo pad after fishing.. been seeing boat use for well over 2 years now, i'll try to get some pictures of it, but they will be cell phone quality... its a bit rough looking, but amazing edge still
 
Has anyone played with "rust converter", used to convert rust into a "hard, paintable surface". It seems to convert brown rust to black.

I use it on actual pits in a carbon blade and it seems to prevent them spreading.
 
They would have a bucket full of whale blubber or oil of some kind mixed with saw dust - the knife would be stabbed into it - no rust.



.
 
davek14 said:
Has anyone played with "rust converter", used to convert rust into a "hard, paintable surface". It seems to convert brown rust to black.

I use it on actual pits in a carbon blade and it seems to prevent them spreading.
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I generally don't use it on knives, but I have used it before and it works reasonably well. I try to clean up all the rust I can get to and then spray the surface to nail the stuff in the pits that are beyond my reach, and yes it does seem to stop them.
 
davek14 said:
Has anyone played with "rust converter", used to convert rust into a "hard, paintable surface". It seems to convert brown rust to black.

I use it on actual pits in a carbon blade and it seems to prevent them spreading.
Click to expand...

I've used molasses and water to convert/remove rust from lots of things, haven't tried it on knives, no reason it wouldn't work that I can see.
 
I have heard that sailors and others used nose grease in olden times to coat their working blades/tools. It was cheap and plentiful.

Personally, I think that people just wiped down their tools when done using them.
 
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