Care for a Custom Knife?

V

Veegal

Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Messages
4
Hi,

I just purchased a Lovestrand skinner knife as a gift (thanks to those who recommended a custom knife) and wanted to pass on "How to Care for" tips to the recipient of this gift. :) He is an avid hunter and is a big tool guy so I'm guessing he would know. But since this isn't exactly your basic knife I thought I should ask. The blade is ATS-34 and it's got stag scales. What should he use to sharpen it? Are the Arkansas sharpening stones good? I read that certain knives shouldn't be stored in it's leather sheath. Can he just wrap it in a towel? What should he use to clean the handle?

Thanks for you help,
Vee
 
So why is no one responding to my post? I got a lot of advice in the General section, but here, I seem to be ignored. :(
 
Ok I'll bite. I don't know the knife though so it won't be specific.

Keep it clean, don't let crud, food, blood, guts dry on the blade. Keep it sharp.

Leather not only holds in moisture, the chemicals used in tanning can be hard on the metal especially sharpened thin edges Don't store in the sheath for extended periods. Treat the leather sheath with a leather perservative to drive out moisture. If the knife is a beauty make a display box and store it uncased in that with a couple of those desicant packs to pull any moisture. Other wise store it in a lightly oiled terry towel. Storing for extened periods give the knife light coating of good quality gun oil.

Natural stones are in short supply and becoming exceedingly expensive for what you get. Better to buy a good set of ceramic stones I recommend Shapton ceramic water stones. or if you want oil stones go with Norton.

Clean the scales with a tooth brush and waterless hand cleaner, not the grit type but the antibacterial type. Water and antler/horn is not a great combination. I'm not a fan of antler or horn really, I don't own any but that's what I've been told.

Hope that helps some at least.
 
Sorry about that, stag and hunting knives aren't things I do much of, and I didn't want to give bad advice, I figured someone who uses those alot would have posted by now.

Arkansas stones will work fine if he wants to keep the original bevel, so if he already has them they'll work. If getting new stones or a "sharpener" then go with the spyderco medium or fine benchstones, or a sharpmaker (I think this would be best). I missed that he was a tool guy, if he has lots of woodworking tools (chisels and the like) then he may be okay with the mess involved with waterstones(even the relatively clean low maintenence shaptons) in which case they'll work great.

Storage in the leather sheath shouldn't be a problem, assuming the place it's stored is indoors and air conditioned. I'll prolly get jumped on by some folks for saying that but I've never had an issue with it, and those are mostly carbon steel knives. Otherwise give it a light coat of oil and store it with the sheath (but not in it). The only corrosion I've had with a leather sheath is on the brass bolsters of a Shrade lockback, so if the knife has any brass or whatnot on it you should probably store it seperately.

I hear that stag is something you should give a soak in mineral oil occasionally to keep it from drying out, you'll have to ask one of the stag gurus here for particulars.

With leather sheaths, use a treatment of some sort but don't use oil. Use a good leather wax or conditioner. I prefer montanta pitch blend leather dressing (the one with the beeswax). Oils tend to soften the sheath and if it's a form fitted one may cause it to not hold the knife properly. Silicone is all fine and dandy but all it's good for is waterproofing, you should also use something else to keep the leather in good shape.
 
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i oil my knives with three in one oil;then store it in a supermarket carry out plastic bag;plenty of oil on the knife replenish each week!roll the plastic round the knife and secure at the handle with a elastic band.
 
Veegal said:
Hi,

I just purchased a Lovestrand skinner knife as a gift (thanks to those who recommended a custom knife) and wanted to pass on "How to Care for" tips to the recipient of this gift. :) He is an avid hunter and is a big tool guy so I'm guessing he would know. But since this isn't exactly your basic knife I thought I should ask. The blade is ATS-34 and it's got stag scales. What should he use to sharpen it? Are the Arkansas sharpening stones good? I read that certain knives shouldn't be stored in it's leather sheath. Can he just wrap it in a towel? What should he use to clean the handle?

Thanks for you help,
Vee
Click to expand...

Congrats on the generous gift! Being a tool guy he probably knows a good bit on knife care ...

Keep it simple ... the arkansas stones will do very well for maintaining the existing edge on the knife. If not, he'll probably have the stones or tools necessaary to reprofile.

Any leather treatment with beeswax or similar should do nicely (I use snow seal on all my sheaths). Neatsfoot and others tends to soften the leather which is undesirable in knife sheaths.

The ATS34 blade could oxidize if in a very humid environment (unlikely but possible); treat it with Break Free CLP, Miltec, etc. to protect it.

Periodically wipe down the stag with mineral oil and treat it with respect (don't leave it in direct sunlight or someplace with high temps for extended periods) and it should last a very long time.

I've stored my blades in their sheaths for years with no ill effects but I live in the western United States where humidity is minimal and I protect my blades with Break Free CLP.

My $.02.

NJ
 
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