Blade Oiling

A

alecw

Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
23
Any best practices recommendations for oiling blades as far as brands (I am considering Break Free), frequency, and necessity? Thank you.
 
I am a convinced user of BALLISTOL. In my experience it works better than Brake-Free as a corrosion inhibitor for blades. Ballitol is odd stuff, German made, non-petroleum based, seems to be partially saponified vegetable glycerin/alcohol mix. Smells like licorice! :) works great though, and will really neutralize acidic finger prints, etc. I have used it on newly acid etched blades, and it gets soapy and makes suds, and absolutly positively neutralizes things. NO after rusting. Do a web search for it.
 
If you are talking about fixed blades NOT FOLDERS, I make my own stuff. Equal parts beeswax, johnsons pastewax, linseed oil, a little solvent of some sort, heat in a double boiler and let cool after stirring.

I have a couple of katanas I made with 5160. For some reason the would rust no matter what you put on them. I started using this and haven't had anything rust.
 
Plain old Mineral oil works great, it's cheap also.You can get it at any drug store.:)
 
I recomend marine Tuf Cloth by Sentry Solutions(they also make Tuf Glide)to all my customers.It is the best corrosion inhibitor I have been able to find.
 
I agree with Sean, I like tthe tuff cloth, besides us Ohio boy's got to stick together ;)
 
Ballistol is really nice stuff and used it for many years.
Now I use Break Free as it allows me to have just one type of oil for lubricating, cleaning and protecting.
It's cheap and works great.
 
I have been using Rig Gun Grease for the past 4 years with excelant results.It resists those nasty finger prints at shows and also resists those equally nasty spittale marks you can get at shows..
I am about out and have to find some more.
Peter your mixture sounds interesting,What kind of solvent are you talking about using ? I have all your ingrediants in the shop already and would like to try it..
Bruce
 
I use Ballistol on my knives and all around my shop. A little bit goes a long way. I use one drop on my pivots and they stay smooth a silk. I really like the stuff.
 
Ballistol is the best I've ever found. You can use it anywhere a lubricant is required. You can use it as a leather finish and it has the side benefit of neutralizing the acids in leather that cause knives to rust when the leather gets wet. The Germans used it as a topical antiseptic in WWII. It's completely water soluable and is a water displacer. As a blade rust preventative it's fantastic. And it will lube up a pivot on a folder finer than frog hair. It can be used to clean the bore of black powder rifles and handguns. It actually acts as a solvent much like Hoppes #9 blackpowder solvent. It can be used as a wood sealer and finish. It takes the place of ArmourAll for preserving and cleaning rubber tires and vinyl upholstery. It can be used as a cooling agent when mixed with water for metal cutting bandsaws and while drilling. It's also harmless to the environment and bio-degradeable. And that's just off the top of my head. There's much more to Ballistol that you can find out by doing an internet search. If you haven't tried it you should give it a go. I'm sure there's something better somewhere but I haven't found it yet. But I'm not looking any more either.
 
Bruce, I normally use acetone. You may want to put in a spoon ful of Japan dryer also. Same mixture works great on wood.
 
Thanks Peter...Don't have any Japan dryer butI do have the acetone,How much should I put in say a pint total of the mixture?
Bruce
 
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