KLVUK blade thickness query....

My beeswax/vaseline/mineral oil goop pretty much does same...simply makes a wax coat which stays put and dust attraction quotient is directly related to how much or little not wiped down...i wipe or handle them until nothing noticed on blade at all....but it is there.....the color change of steel after a hot soapy wash is amazing when film removed....but non-abrasive hard coat car wax is always excellent....or you can buy high dollar Renaissance Wax aka Ren Wax with its "micro crystal" wax (sounds like paraffin to me)......or paint AND wax....and get me thinking black with custom flames on the side!

But in all seriousness simply as best protection and looks be hanged as for Dobe's and mine own self coastal sauna and proximity to Gulf, a paint job is hard to beat and leaves only waxing edge between jobs.....

Am i painting mine?....probably not.....do i paint shovels and machetes and whatnot?.....absolutely....
 
I have been putting a blend of beeswax and mineral oil on mine. I call mine "Knife Balm" because it looks and feels like lip balm. I originally heard beeswax/mineral oil/Vaseline as well, but if you consider the fact that Vaseline is basically mineral oil as a jelly, I don't see how it is necessary.

Similarly to mtngunr, I usually rub it on the knife with my finger, then wipe or "buff" off the extra with a paper towel until there are no more visibly thick spots. Works like a champ against rust, and even helps them go in and out of the kydex sheaths.
 
I add the mineral oil for permeability/thinning/flow....it all mainly is a transport for the beeswax anyhow, which is the main protectant and one with staying power....i use it on leather and wood and mine own skin as well......so much exposure to more toxic stuff over a lifetime of blue collar work and just such a relief to get away from such that i use more standard things today, whether 3-in-1, Johnson wax or CLP etc with only greatest reluctance and even hating the smells...

For anyone not having an apiary nearby or a source known for beeswax, there are several online folk i can point you towards who sell filtered yellow unrefined 1lb cast cakes in the $5-$7 range which is about a years worth using it for everything....

PS...WOW has it gone up!....i just saw $14lb...still cheaper homebrew than any storebought thing i could use in such quantities....i only buy the stuff every 5-10yrs in quantities so it has been a couple since last price check...i started with using it as a black powder lube back in the late 60s or early 70s....and protectant for gun..


Investing precious metals looks as a bad choice considering percent gain of this stuff in last 20yrs....
..
 
Last edited:
Not sure what is driving the price hike, whether just wealthy folk willing and able, or also know domestic hives are being destroyed by a mite in danger of causing an extinction of the bees, or a combination thereof...

As for use, i use the same piece of rag such as small square of old t-shirt and rarely need reannoint the rag, and wipe off excess with another small rag.....which then becomes the annointing rag when first gets discolored and fouled....and then THAT one is the one rubbed with a stick of red rouge for polishing off objectionable stains on some blades......three little 4"x4" rags....guns, knives, whatever.....for years i carried an O-1 6" stabber IWB in a wax treated sheath, soaked with sweat in summer, the wax kept the leather from rotting and it dried out nightly, and every day or two of blade wipe with little rag kept knife from rusting when only time it saw a dry sheath was first thing in morning....same protection on handguns carried mex in summer, only hassle removing grips occasionally to wipe sweat salt out from under them....
 
Last edited:
Last I heard / read, pesticides. Many beekeepers are moving their hives to non-farm land or what is sometimes referred to as organic ( overly used word ) farm land.
 
Ours are not a pesticide problem...butterflies finches hummingbirds and all doing quite fine and hives dying from that mite or whatever it is.....really horrible as they are critical to pollinating our food supply...
 
The shift from KLVUK to beeswax is my fault but it is fascinating stuff......take a blob or squirt or bowl or whatever of your favorite protectant and just leave it sitting out, indoors or out, and it soon shrivels and dries and blows and washes away.....100 yrs later that little blob of beeswax will still be sitting there......and as mentioned previous, wax seals inside 2000 yr old pyramids were still pliable....amazing stuff....
 
mtngunr said:
The shift from KLVUK to beeswax is my fault but it is fascinating stuff......take a blob or squirt or bowl or whatever of your favorite protectant and just leave it sitting out, indoors or out, and it soon shrivels and dries and blows and washes away.....100 yrs later that little blob of beeswax will still be sitting there......and as mentioned previous, wax seals inside 2000 yr old pyramids were still pliable....amazing stuff....
Click to expand...

Don't get me started on Beeswax - I've been using Sno-Seal (mainly beeswax) on leather since I'm a kid. You put that on shoes and boots and next thing you know, you're out of sole and the leather still looks as good as new. Amazing stuff. It doesn't dissolve the leather like grease does so it keeps it strong years after years.
 
snowwolf said:
Don't get me started on Beeswax - I've been using Sno-Seal (mainly beeswax) on leather since I'm a kid. You put that on shoes and boots and next thing you know, you're out of sole and the leather still looks as good as new. Amazing stuff. It doesn't dissolve the leather like grease does so it keeps it strong years after years.
Click to expand...
Ive used Sno-Seal too. I put the can in the oven to melt it and put my boots in as well just to warm them up. Brush it on liberally as they cool and it sucks the stuff deep into the leather then wipe it down. Usually good for a year before I have to do anything to them. I need to do my moccasins now come to think of it.
 
ndoghouse said:
Ive used Sno-Seal too. I put the can in the oven to melt it and put my boots in as well just to warm them up. Brush it on liberally as they cool and it sucks the stuff deep into the leather then wipe it down. Usually good for a year before I have to do anything to them. I need to do my moccasins now come to think of it.
Click to expand...

That's hilarious - I do the exact opposite. I put my shoes/boots/gloves (+-200F couple of minutes) in the oven and then apply liberally.
The hot leather drinks the wax as it melts on it and suck it in. When it cools down, the extra wax moves on top while extracting the dirt for the leather.
Do not forget valuable footwear in the oven. I killed an expensive pair of shoes once by leaving it too long.
2-3 minutes is good enough, one shoe at a time.
 
On my wax treat of leather i melt a pan of pure beeswax in the oven and immerse the sheath, belt, whatever, and let it soak for hours, generally at least two, and sectioning of thick samples shows 100% penetration....pure beeswax is critical on temperature, as if you go 10° over melting temp it starts getting dark and chocolatey...and some stuff such as stitching this darkening matters....the leather, of course, turns chocolate anyhow.....it waterproofs to a degree but main thing is if even permeated completely by sweat, it does not hold it and when it dries the salts crust on outside after swift drying...have stayed busy at times doing pals' old leather handled knives and the sheaths but also causes (depending on leather) more problem with green verdigris creeping out from under snaps and whatnot....the aim was to completely displace all the salts and acids from the tanning which kills some leathers from inside out no matter what you do, but only partially successful in that regard......pretty cool though when your old floppy worn sheath now sounds like wood when rapped with a knuckle....it.still is an excellent way of doing some things....such as a leather sheath in salt water....most factory or waxed sheaths are more as a 15 min dip and most of it paraffin cut with some beeswax......small jobs at home for most folk a double boiler and candy thermometer would be best...and a gas stove or oven far more controllable....no.....i never did boots that way for some reason....never had a taste for wooden shoes i guess....

Wanted to add in comparison to sno-seal jobs i have seen of friends, the pure beeswax job not as gummy but greasier feel, with haze developing if it just sits, while scratch self healing when warmed even in sun, but think it also perhaps weakens leather as for tensile strength since also softens what was hard surface perhaps...and perhaps also interior....you folk with oiled leather goods know whereof i speak as for scratch magnet...it may last forever but not strongest in world....
 
Last edited:
While mentioning beeswax melting tips, may as well mention microwave for mixing up a goop.....use a ceramic bowl or cup which can handle extended periods of extremely hot fluids.....the large ceramic soup cups with snap-on plastic lids have proven quite useful...

Heat small chunks of wax with whatever/if anything, you mixing in, using one of timed and cycling off/on reheat cycles....but if something such as a 4:30 min cycle interrupt a couple of minutes into cycle and just allow to sit as ceramic will be blazing hot and no point in attempting to move....when it gets to where ceramic can be touched, repeat.....it takes three or four such cycles to get everything melted without risk of cracking a cup......it mostly is self mixing but one can stir and repeat if desired, easiest to use a disposable item such as a popsicle stick....if consistency seems too thick or thin after cooling for hours or overnight, easily adjusted by adding a little more of whatever will fix......a little wax goes a long way and easier to add wax to thicken if needed...volume wise the wax required is 1:4 or less or even far less depending on what desired....consistency will vary with ambient temp and can be adjusted seasonally....
 
I love sno-seal, but the wife would kill me if I microwaved it or baked it in the house. So I just wait until summertime when it hits 90+ degrees, smear sno-seal on all my leather stuff, and let it sit outside in the sun for a few hours. Doing that once a year seems to be enough.
 
If you're gonna melt wax in the microwave, there's no need for ceramics and whatnot. Just keep in mind that microwaves heat water molecules, so the wax doesn't melt very easily by itself. Instead, put a microwavable bowl, with the wax inside, into another microwavable bowl with water in it. Heat the water for min or two, just til it starts to boil, then stir the wax and wait. It's just a simple double-boiler, like mntgunr mentioned. I used Tupperware/Rubbermaid containers, like the ones you store food in. The thinner the inside container is, the more quickly and easily the wax will melt. Oh, and use a container you don't mind storing the knife balm in, rather than struggling to get it all out :b
 
If you ever overheat a non-ceramic container with wax and or water in it which gets hotter than container can stand, your microwave will be the first to let you know.....we DO forget at times to keep an eye on things....which why the soup bowl with snap on cover recommendation....it helps prevent accidents and also is a great perpetual storage and making container.....but the microwave double boiler idea is a dandy if you can always always keep an eye on things...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top