Damascus Maintanace

2

2ac

Joined
Sep 13, 2009
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Understanding that the blades are carbon steel, they will need to be kept oiled. I was thinking Frog Lube would be good for this, knowing it works well protecting firearms. Does anyone here have any experience with this? I have pretty toxic sweat and work in a steamy kitchen. If this thing has a chance at surviving EDC, I'm going to have to stay on top of it.
 
Well, I posed this question and the best response I got was from Chester22. He uses mineral oil I believe, but said the easiest is just WD-40 like every other day or something like that. I picked up one of those WD-40 pens at the dollar store, and it works great. It just draws on the oil, and that's about it. It dries a bit after a day, and that's about it. Obviously, it wouldn't be good for food use, but I don't ever use my EDC knife for foods.
 
For longer-term, beeswax or renwax on the blade. If you EDC / Some Days Carry, I'd use mineral oil.
 
I use rem oil wipes, the oil stays on for probably a month. That's when I'll get everything out, re oil, and fondle ;)
 
If you are into mineral oil, as I am:

WD-40 contains mineral oil, plus mineral spirits and propellant. The latter 2 are volatile and disappear, leaving the mineral oil behind. Johnson's baby oil is also 100% mineral oil, plus baby butt fragrance, if you want your damascus to smell springtime fresh. Or one may use food grade mineral oil.

Mineral oil is not the best rust preventative of all time, but it is cheap, plentiful and works fine is you use it regularly. So does just about anything that provides a barrier between the steel and the O2 in the air.
 
All off the Damascus I just got is coated in oil, so I'm leaving it alone. I checked my Skylines last night, and they all still have the original oil coating on them. Considering I didn't wipe any of the factory oil off, I'm just leaving them in the bag.
 
I like to spray some Breakfree CLP on a rag or qtip and wipe mine down. Works great and i love the smell. Brings back memories of the Army. :)
 
What sort of oil coating does Kershaw put on at the factory? I have gotten some knives before that shipped with a little desiccant pack in the box as well. If you're just going to keep it in the box or some other storage case, that might be an option.

I plan to carry mine as well. I was thinking I'd just treat it like any of my other carbon steel knives (mostly 1095, but also one L6). Will the Alabama Damascus take on a patina, or is it more prone to rusting? If it does take on a patina, will that have a big effect on the appearance of the Damascus patterns?
 
Has anyone ever had to re-etch a damascus blade? And by chance does anyone know if Kershaw will re-etch a blade? I plan on using mine, and if you polish or rub the blade enough, the pattern will lighten up.
 
I have some TW25B I could use for long term and maybe everyday use. I was just thinking the Frog Lube sounded good because of how it's applied. It seems like it would really penetrate the steel and put up a good barrier. I guess I'm looking for something a little more durable than mineral oil or CLP. But if it's the price to pay to own Damascus I'll deal.

As for kitchen use, I have a whole rack of Globals and Shuns to choose from. I'm def not into using my EDCs for food prep. I was referring to caring at work, in a professional kitchen.
 
My DAM Leeks are safe queens. I have never oiled them and after 4 or so years, they look just fine.

If I were to EDC them, I would oil them often.
 
melt some beeswax in some White Mineral oil and coat the blade is one of the best ways. No harm chemicals or anything. Keeps it nice and shiny.
 
I use butcher block treatment on all of my damascus. It has mineral oil plus a little bit of wax and nothing else. I don't like to treat damascus with Rem Oil/WD-40 or the like because I'm concerned the additives may cause the damacus pattern to fade.
All of my other knives get Rem Oil. I wouldn't use it on my firearms, but my knives are subject to different use than firearms (no heat, no high impact cycling, etc). There are better oils and I'd use Breakfree LP most likely if it was
cheap and more readily available, but Rem Oil is plenty good and is cheap and easy to find. I definitely would not use the CLP version of Breakfree though on damascus as I can't imagine the cleaning components of the solution that
are designed to remove carbon fouling aren't going to fade the damascus.

My damacus is all safe queens though as are most of my knives. I'd use the same mineral oil and wax on damascus if I carried them though but apply it more often. For carry knives that don't need to be food safe, I like the White Lightening bicycle chain stuff that has a solution that evaporates leaving a thin coating of wax, teflon, and oil. The stuff smells nasty as it evaporates and I'm sure not food safe by any measure. I warm my knives up with a hair dryer before applying working under the theory that the little bit of warming helps open up any pores in the steel.
 
Have etched and re-etched several blades. Ferric chloride from radioshack 1:1 with water put blade in after cleaning old etch off with very fine sandaper etc then let it soak , make sure there is NO OIL or fingerprints on the blade...Alabama damascus is great steel but is not as contrasting as some other damascus.
 
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