Blade article on knife maintenance

[yitz]

This month's Blade has an interesting article on products related to knife maintenance. The following is a copy of a letter I wrote to Blade:


Dear Editor,
I enjoyed the article in February's Blade entitled, "Take Good Care of Your Blade Babies." I've often had problems with spots and rust on the blade, and cracking in the handles (who hasen't). However, I was left feeling a bit empty at the end, wondering about the products I already have and use, such as Boshield, Rennessaince Wax, Flitz, Simichrome, etc.
What's really needed is an article directly comparing all the different products and rating them for type of use and effectiveness. Thanks.

 

[yitz]

The following is a reply I got from Blade Editor, Steve Shackleford:

Good idea. I'll put that one our list.
The reason we didn't do the ones you mentioned is that we wanted to try to
get some in that we had not done before. With the exception of Boshield,
we've done the others you mentioned before.

Thanks for reading BLADE,

Steve Shackleford
Editor
BLADE


I'm surprised no one has any thoughts on this topic, (though perhaps it's related to the fact that I didn't really ask a question or solicit responses).
I know this topic has been discussed upteen times before, and that there's a knife maintenance thread at the beginning of this forum. However, it's confusing to read it. I would still love to see a head-to-head comparison of products, like consumer reports does, or what's often done for motor vehicles.
Rust and other spoilage is the one of the main reasons I have limited my knife collecting. I wish I had a better handle on the BEST way to prevent it.

 

[2knife]

......

 

[Kevin Jones]

This month's Blade has an interesting article on products related to knife maintenance. The following is a copy of a letter I wrote to Blade:


Dear Editor,
I enjoyed the article in February's Blade entitled, "Take Good Care of Your Blade Babies." I've often had problems with spots and rust on the blade, and cracking in the handles (who hasen't). However, I was left feeling a bit empty at the end, wondering about the products I already have and use, such as Boshield, Rennessaince Wax, Flitz, Simichrome, etc.
What's really needed is an article directly comparing all the different products and rating them for type of use and effectiveness. Thanks.

Sounds like you are having quite a problem.

Though important, there's a lot more to keeping your knives nice than just the products used.

I find the maintenance "sticky" thread you referenced very helpful. Probably more so than some lab preforming product test under "mocked up" conditions.

What kind of handle materials and steels are you having problems with?

How often do you observe and/or clean your knives?

What products are you or have you used?

How do you store or display them.

At what humity/temperture are they stored or displayed?

To answer your question; "who hasn't" had problems with handle cracking? I haven't. Perhaps I'm just lucky.

 

[yitz]

Kevin: You're right! The products used are not the major factor in keeping our knives problem free. If you clean them regularly and store them under the best conditions, they'll be okay no matter what is used. That being said, however, when knives are being maintained less than optimally, for a variety of reasons, some products will keep 'em better than others. I'd still love to know which products are best for which purposes.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Kevin: You're right! The products used are not the major factor in keeping our knives problem free. If you clean them regularly and store them under the best conditions, they'll be okay no matter what is used. That being said, however, when knives are being maintained less than optimally, for a variety of reasons, some products will keep 'em better than others. I'd still love to know which products are best for which purposes.

I agree, just don't know what we can add here that's not in the sticky above.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=534526