Best rub on oil for high carbon steel?

Wax can not "penetrate metal," nor can oil.
Wax can protect the surface of metal, though.
The expensive Renaissance Wax is designed to protect stationary items. It is designed to be easy to apply and easy to polish. It's not the best wax for protection of working knives.
Regular paste wax or neutral shoe polish works very well. They are formulated for floors and shoes, and will last longer than RW.
 
My favorite has always been the Sentry Solutions Tuf Cloth and Tuf Glide. It protects the steel without leaving any sort of sticky or oily residue and it's also non toxic which is always a plus.
 
roosterscrow said:
coconut oil

It is recommended for wood cutting boards as it doesn't go rancid like other cooking oils.
Click to expand...

Only while it's properly stored; that means in a sealed container, minimizing it's exposure to air (oxidation). The 'long shelf life' claimed of coconut oil is completely dependent on that. Once it's continuously exposed to fresh air or other contaminants, as would be the case on a knife blade or cutting board, it'll start oxidizing and goes bad in a matter of hours. This is true of most any food-based 'cooking' oils containing fatty acids as well.

I'd once experimented with coconut oil as a skin moisturizer, and made the mistake of using it on my face (including in my moustache/beard). By that afternoon, it was really beginning to stink under my nostrils (didn't smell like fresh coconut anymore; it was getting funky); I didn't waste any time washing it off.

Whether that makes any difference on a knife blade or cutting board that presumably gets thoroughly cleaned & re-oiled fairly often, is up to the user.

Mineral oil or products using it, like 'cutting board oil' or 'butcher block oil', are an easy no-brainer for such uses, as mineral oil won't oxidize at all (it's chemically inert).


David
 
Last edited:
Bill DeShivs said:
Wax can not "penetrate metal," nor can oil.
Wax can protect the surface of metal, though.
The expensive Renaissance Wax is designed to protect stationary items. It is designed to be easy to apply and easy to polish. It's not the best wax for protection of working knives.
Regular paste wax or neutral shoe polish works very well. They are formulated for floors and shoes, and will last longer than RW.
Click to expand...

My apologies, you are correct.

What I should have wrote instead of 'penetrate' (which is incorrect) is that it is a permanent barrier.
 
JR88FAN said:
My apologies, you are correct.

What I should have wrote instead of 'penetrate' (which is incorrect) is that it is a permanent barrier.
Click to expand...

You might want to apologize for that one too... LOL! There is nothing permanent about it. Well, so long as nothing touches the blade, perhaps it is. But as soon as you repeatedly cut something hard or abrasive it will scour off any wax, grease, or oil that you use.

My own choice is Sentry Solutions "Marine Tuf-cloth" for general use. I live in the jungles of Northern Thailand. Pretty damn humid most of the time, and raining the rest of the time. "Marine Tuf-cloth" keeps all my knives rust free. I also use it on my fencing weapons which really want to rust up in the worst way! One week of not being covered means a layer of rust over most of the blade. Tuf-cloth prevents that. I do reapply after an afternoon of fencing.

There is only one group of knives that do NOT survive with Marine Tuf-cloth, and those are my dive knives. Without protection these stainless steel knives rust up overnight after a day in salt water, and Tuf-cloth doesn't help them very much. So I use a coating of thick silicon grease on them. That works very well... BUT..... If I run across an illegal fish trap (baited submerged rectangle of 1/8" hemp rope about 5'x5'x 3' with openings for the fish to swim in) while diving in the Gulf of Thailand or the waters around the Philippines, I usually cut open the trap and free the fish. Just this action of cutting the hemp is enough to remove enough grease for the edge to rust up if I don't rinse off the knife when I get back on the boat.



Stitchawl
 
I use Ballistol or Frog Lube. Both are non toxic and do a heck of a job keeping a metal surface lubed.
 
Ive used mineral oil for years and never had a single issue. Its cheap, easy to get, doesnt decay andstays on the knife quite well. And as already mentioned it is food safe. Seems like a no brainer to me. It never discolored any wood handles and all my leather is treated with obenauffs leather protectant so they are already dark colored.
 
I also suggest camellia oil.

I believe the japanese use them for their katanas and Chef knives.
I had a bottle until my dog ate it... yeah its food safe for sure!
Smells slightly minty if I remember correctly.
It was about 8 bucks for 3 oz
 
Any one using frog lube, don't you have to heat the metal when applying it, and remove any oil based lubricants first?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top