Forged knife care -- advice please.

C

creek2

Joined
Nov 7, 2000
Messages
8
Hi all,

I'm just wondering what all of you'd recommend for maintaining your carbon steel blades in rustless condition.

I live in an area that gets pretty humid...

I've been using TufCloth and TufGlide on the blades, but I still notice on occasion some slight surface oxidation on the cutting edge, or gray rust "freckles" on the blade...

What would you recommend?

I keep my blades in a padded drawer (out of their sheaths, of course).
Should I be keeping them in, say, those zippered pouches or maybe trying some other form of rust prevention (Renaissance Wax? White Lightning?)....

Also to get the slight surface oxidation off of the cutting edge or the freckles off, should I try something like Flitz metal polish, or might that be risky to the finish ?

Thanks for your insights and advice!

Creek
 
I too am always looking for "the" rust preventitive, I had a Fitch knife get a small rust spot even though it had been thouroughly coated in BC Sheath. Same with another hunter I had, small spot. I dont know what the best is.

What i DO know however is, people will tell you Flitz is non-abrasive, that's not true, its mildly abrasive and will eventually remove or polish out a finish. What I would do is, take some oil and a nylon, stiff toothbrush and scour the rusted areas then use Flitz, checking periodically to see if its removing or hurting the finish.
 
You could put it into a container that has a packet or dessicant, though this dessicant has to be dried out occasionally when it has absorbed the water. You could wrap in paper treated with rust inhibitor. You could coat with a rust inhibiting grease such as RIG. I use the last two together.
 
I have stored over 50 forged blades in a gunsafe in my garage for over 3 years.

I use tufglide and keep them in padded cases. I do all the wrong things yet they never rust.
As long as there is a thin layer of tufglide they will never rust.

I am hoping my knives dont rust when they move to a climate controlled basement next week!
 
I use Ren' Wax on all my knives. I am planning to get a plastic Tupperware type container and put a dessicant bag in with all my knives. Of course here in AZ rust is a minor problem,however, most homes use evaporative cooling which greatly humidifies the interior air.
 
I tried several methods and now I use Ballistol. No rust on my blades since. I heard good things about Rennaisance Wax but didn't try it yet.
 
Thanks everyone for your input!

I'm going to put in an order for RenWax and some zippered cases this week...
Since I'd like to maintain the handles in good condition, too, I'm supposing that that product would be more versatile than a oil or lubricant...

I'm going to lay off of the Flitz, just in case...
at least until I feel I can't stand to look at the rust freckles any longer :)
 
Flitz is definitely abrasive. I use it as part of the finishing process on my blades that have been clay hardened.

As a general rule of thumb, if the blade has a finish in the 320-600 grti range, you can use Flitz on it somewhat agressively without risk of hurting the maker's blade finish. If you have a blade that's been sanded to the 1200 grit and up range....especially a polished blade with hamon...you could change the maker's finish with Flitz.

As for the rust prevention, I'm still looking for the definitive product. But there have been many good suggestions here that I have had good (but not perfect :) ) success with.

Nick
 
I live in a reather arrid climate so my knives are at a much lower risk of developing rust. They will however still oxidize. I use Eezox and have never had a spot appear on a blade. If you contact Eezox they will send you a free sample to try.
 
Mark Tells me Century Solutions has a marine grade tough cloth for extreme wet use. Should be a good one.

I tried Tough Cloth on an aged .357 revolver that rides behind the seat of one of my ranch trucks in an old fast draw holster tied to the seat. It is subject to a lot of condensation, Frost in the wnter mornings and dew in the summer. I have used many products. Rust usually formed in a few months, sometimes weeks, then I tried Tough Cloth.

The Tough Cloth just passed its 5 year test. I applied the tough cloth solution just like the directions said, degreased the metal thoroughly before applying the tough Cloth. At first I checked for rust, then forgot about it for a few years. I was very pleased, there was only one spot of rust, it was probably my fault when I applied the Tough Cloth, this was in a pitted area on the side of the hammer spur that I was not overly concerned with. The bore and chambers were free of rust the old revolver looks a little rough and was that way when I purchased it, she is very accurate so remains where she may be needed.
 
I live in Southeastern Ky and have never had a problem with rust or corrosion. I've used all types of products and all seem to work. I use Eeezox and Ballistol now. I think that if you keep your forged blades clean that it goes a long way in keep rust/corrosion from your blades.
 
I stayed away from the forged knife for a long time because of the rust factor. To pay that much for a custom knife knowing that it is certain to rust and pit didn't make any sense to me at all. Especially in the age of stainless steel.

When I bought my first carbon steel damascus knife I went out and got Ren Wax . After reading that museum curators use this stuff on priceless artifacts, I hurried out and got some and used it on all my customs. Even the stainless steel bladed knives.

After around a couple months sitting in my safe with Ren Wax all over the knife, my damascus knife rusted. Badly. I felt my knife was ruined. I wanted to give it away.

In fact, at that same time, I had another forged knife on order from a MS (he did not make the knife that rusted) that I didn't even want any more because of the rusting that occurred with my knife.

I was very po'd that I bought a knife that I knew was going to rust and then to have it rust despite my genuine effort to prevent it.

I called the MS that I had an order with and told him that I'm really second guessing my desire to collect anything forged.

What's so cool is this MS didn't even make the rusted knife (which was very well made by a non-ABS maker in Australia). He tells me to send it to him and he'll fix it for me.

A couple weeks later, I got the knife back from him and the damascus looks a lot better than when it was brand new. He re-etched it I guess. This MS didn't even charge me a dime for the time he spent on it.

To make a short story long, I like the forged blade a lot. I now use Break Free oil on my knives and guns and keep them in the safes in the same way I always had.
I own a number of carbon steel beauties that haven't rusted or freckled at all.

edited: grammar, etc.
 
I picked up some stuff called "Sweetshooter" and used it on a few carbon blades. Also on several stainless blades.

The stuff is amazing, the knives look soooo good. You have to superdry 4 or 5 times with a hair drier between applications, but it was fun to do, and the results are great..
 
Another vote for EEZOX, since I started using it about a year ago I haven't had any rust problems. I use to use a Tuff Cloth and really can't say it worked that great for me.
 
I have been using breakfree on my carbon and damascus blades for years with great results,wish I could say the same for Ren wax.
I have a $30,000 Moran Damascus St-24 50 yrs stamp,nothing but breakfree touches that blade
Dave Ellis
 
Bore Butter for my forged knives during hunting season. Non-toxic! It sounds silly but works.

Todd
 
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