Damascus and ivory upkeep question...

J

Jinxstarr

Joined
Jun 13, 2005
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20
Hello all,

I have my heart set on a beautiful W.D. Pease custom but first I'd like to find out a couple of things regarding its upkeep. The handle is polished mammoth tusk bark and the blade is Eggerling mosaic damascus. If this is to be an EDC (but not heavy use), what would you recomment in terms of upkeep for the ivory and the steel? I read in the archives someone mention that they used Camilla oil from Murray Carter for their damascus blade - does anyone know what this is and where I would be able to get it? Any other suggestions/advice would be very welcome.

Thank you,

Cristian
 
You don't need any kind of magic snake oil. Flitz polish or MetalGlo or Simichrome polish are all readily available and will work just fine.

Try to keep the blade dry. This doesn't mean it can't get wet, just dry it off promptly if it does.

DO NOT use the blade to cut acidic foods such as peeling an orange.
 
Wouldn't the metal polishes mentioned affect the look of the Damascus? If Damascus is etched in a weak acid to bring out the pattern, then the polish would remove a very thin layer off of the surface of the metal, correct? It wouldn't be enough on a couple of polishing sessions, but over the course of time, would it be enough? I mean, Flitz can remove minor surface rust. I don't know for sure though, just double checking...
 
Christian:
This sounds like a nice knife. The best course of action is always to ask the maker what they would use.
As a maker, and a heavy user (knives) I have tried a lot of products, and have been happy with very few. No offense to Murray carter, but camilia oil is a fairly poor protector for a using blade. It is Ok in the drawer, but needs to be applied often and generously.
For blades, I am now using a product called "COLLECTOR" by the "BREAK-FREE" company. I have been pretty impressed with this oil. It stays on the blade very well, and even when it is wiped off, still seems to protect well. It is one of the only products I have found that is primarily a protectant, not a lubricant. It can be found at gun shops.
As for the Ivory. I would soak the whole handle in mineral oil evry 6 months for a few hours.
If your damascus gets tarnished, it is far easier to toutch-up than carbon steel. Use some super fine sand paper: 2000 grit or so. Use a hard backing pad, and drag the paper in one direction down the blade a few times. Remember, you only want to do this as little as you need to make it look new. don't get carried away, or you will sand off the pattern.

Good luck, and enjoy using a great knife.
Adam.
 
keep it in a belt pouch, maybe like a William Henry ClipCase, or at the very least, a slipcase.

If you keep it in a pocket with keys, change and whatnot,unprotected, you deserve the misery that you will inflict upon yourself.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I've heard that you are never to polish damascus!!!!!! I've tried and it doesn't work very well. ;)
 
Here is info on ivory. Since it has "pores" like bone and antler you don't want to get stuff on it that gunks it up or is too harsh (go-jo). Here is what the Smithsonian museum says about handling ivory (they should know).

http://www.si.edu/scmre/takingcare/ivory.htm

Does this help?

For damascus I would just use a little lube every now and then like any other knife. I have a raindrop damascus hunter and I like CLP Lube because I'm a cheap-skate (blame it on my Scottish ancestors). CLP is the military version of Rem-Oil only comes in bigger bottles for lower prices. I use it on both guns and knives. It C-leans, L-ubricates, and P-rotects. You can find it at any gun store and many sporting good stores that sell guns. CLP doesn't have any really nasty stuff in it so you don't have to be concerned with using it only outdoors, wearing a respirator mask, taking a shower afterwards, etc. etc. I would be very very careful not to get any cleaner on the ivory handles.

Do you have a picture of the knife you are looking to buy that has the ivory and damascus? Post a picture. Sounds very nice. What does the maker suggest as far as maintenance. He's the expert.
 
I would not use any kind of polish on Damascus. It will fade the etch and reek more havoc with heat colored damascus.

For long term storage Ren Wax and Rem Oil/CLP are hard to beat if you are looking to keep the knife as original as possible. I like Sentry solutions for non-damascus blades. (it will cloud the etch of damascus).

For the mastadon, stag or ivory handles a good coat of mineral oil or baby oil every six months or so does it for me, but the best thing for natual handle materials is a consistent environment.
 
... for all your good advice - will save this thread and follow your instructions.

For those who asked here's the link to the knife in question:

http://www.knifeart.com/bardamfol.html

and here's the one that came in second:

http://www.rehobothcustomknives.com/KFC000.htm (no damascus so I thought it may be more user-friendly - could cut oranges with it :) ).

Would appreciate any comments regarding my choice(s)...

One thing that now worries me a bit - I live in a pretty hot and humid climate (Caribbean) - how serious a "threat" is that to the knife?

As for contacting the artist, Mr. Pease, wasn't sure if that was appropriate seeing that I'm not buying the knife from him, but from a dealer. If this is normally done I'd appreciate it if someone could post his contact info.

Thanks again,

Cristian
 
As Adam does, I use Break-Free on all my Damascus and never had any rust. Same for my guns.

I used Ren Wax once when I first started buying forged knives and my first knife I used it on started to rust like crazy. IMO, it's worthless stuff for steel.
 
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