Protecting carbon blades

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kenk

Joined
Oct 5, 2004
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What should I use to protect a carbon blade (Becker BK10) from rust, assuming it may be used for food preparation?

I noticed that the blade, when new, had some kind of grease on the non-coated edge of the blade.

Would using petroleum jelly (Vaseline) be appropriate? It can't be too toxic since many use if as a lip balm. Would it damage the Kydex sheath liner?

I would usually have some along anyway in the form of cotton firestarters.

I've read someone mention mineral oil, but that seems very messy.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Ken K.
 
For a knife used in food prep you have some choices.

1: No protection at all

I'd try this first, just run the blade under a bit of tap water and wipe with a rag or paper towel. This works great in alot of circumstances, after all, carbon steel doesnt "just rust" it needs some kind of corrosive agent, sweat, gunk from the stuff you cut, high humidity/saltwater etc.

2: If the first one doesnt work, just use kitchen oil, put a dab of it on a paper towel and wipe the blade down, olive oil works great for this, just don't use it for long term storage as some lower quality oils can go rancid.
Ballistol works fine for this too, but alot of folks don't like the smell, and I'm not convinced that it's signifigantly better than a cooking oil for short term protection.**
Most important though is to keep the blade clean, that'll take care of most corrosion problems. IE: don't chop a tree down or something and put the knife away for a month without cleaning it.

** I happen to be doing a (relatively) controlled corrosion test between my 3 favorite knife oil/lubes, ballistol/Militec1/Breakfree CLP, so far the ballistol is the weakest of the 3, at least in my ferric chloride test.
 
I mainly use Carbon steels in the kitchen and in the field. Carbon will tarnish and stain so you may want to just get used to the idea. Anyway - Kidex sheath and vasoline sound like a bad combo to me. Simply because the vasoline will hold to the inside of the sheath ,more so than a thin coat of mineral oil, which will then hold dirt in it. Then you may wind up with a scratched blade finish. What I use mainy is mineral oil but ANY oil will work for that matter. I used spray pam cooking oil last night ;). Also, keep in mind that when your done in the kitchen you will be using soap and water which will strip the oil away. Just simply hand dry, oil, and wala. Thats it. Some will sugest wax - I have a homemade wax recipe if ou want it. Got this from indian george or peter nap here on bladeforums.


Use
3 parts Johnson's Paste wax
Mix with enough turpentine to make a thick liquid...NNo need to heat it

Melt 2 parts Bees wax and mix in

Add 1 part Anhydrous Lanolin.

I use this on wood and metal. After shooting and cleaning my muzzle loaders, I use it on the whole thing.

It is one of the best rust inhibitor/wood preservative I've found and it is great on bead blasted surfaces.
It fills in the pores and gives you a smooth, non glare, rust resistant finish.

- Indian George's or peter nap (can't remember) recipe -
 
It always somewhat amuses me the way people think a carbon blade is going to rust away almost imediatly. The old vikings sailed open boats across the sea and took the cutlery with them. The British carried Brown bess muskets across India and other hot humid places and the plain steel barrels did not rust if given the most modest of care.

If you consider the great importance a sword had to the men who sailed the sea's of the world, be they the navys or explorers or soldiers, they kept the blades from rusting in a salt environment.

If you just wipe the blade off when you cut something nasty it will be just fine. Once your carbon blade gets a good protective patina, that will actually protect it. Take a carbon blade, wash with warm water and detergent, dry and then stick it in a potato over night. The next morning it will look almost case hardend from the coloration. From then on, just keep it clean.

I've been carrying carbon steel blades for about a half century now, And I have'nt lost one to rust yet.
 
jackknife said:
It always somewhat amuses me the way people think a carbon blade is going to rust away almost imediatly. The old vikings sailed open boats across the sea and took the cutlery with them. The British carried Brown bess muskets across India and other hot humid places and the plain steel barrels did not rust if given the most modest of care.

If you consider the great importance a sword had to the men who sailed the sea's of the world, be they the navys or explorers or soldiers, they kept the blades from rusting in a salt environment.

If you just wipe the blade off when you cut something nasty it will be just fine. Once your carbon blade gets a good protective patina, that will actually protect it. Take a carbon blade, wash with warm water and detergent, dry and then stick it in a potato over night. The next morning it will look almost case hardend from the coloration. From then on, just keep it clean.

I've been carrying carbon steel blades for about a half century now, And I have'nt lost one to rust yet.
Click to expand...


Best method I've used for a patina:
1. Clean the blade with dish soap to remove all oily substances. (if the blade has any oil or fingerprints on it, it will not be even)
2. use windex or ammonia to clean futher (rinse and dry with paper towel)
3. Brew a strong pot of coffee.
4. Dunk the blade in a cup of coffee up to the point where you want the patina. (If you stab the blade thru cardboard, the card can lay across the top of the cup and keep the blade upright.
5. Let sit for 15-20 minutes for light or 1-8 hours for dark.
6. The temperature of the coffee seems to help..
7. Enjoy the rest of the coffee and sharpen another knife while u wait. :)
8. Clean up with dish soap, windex and then dry and oil.

I've tried this on 1095 blades and it's fast. On Case's CV steel it takes longer.
The patina will help protect from the "bad" rust, but as others said, you probably don't need to do this as long as you keep the blade dry or oiled or if you like a patina.
 
You can treat the edge by a light slicing stroke into the side of candle. This will not tend to pick up dirt like a an oil or jelly.
 
I have a rolled up T-shirt stuffed in a smallish tin can so that it protrudes a bit over the rim, which I have soaked (after it was in the tin can) with mineral oil. Actually the T-shirt feels almost dry as the oil sinks down. I just run the knife over the cloth and it leave a very fine oil film. Works great for me.
 
kenk said:
What should I use to protect a carbon blade (Becker BK10) from rust, assuming it may be used for food preparation?

I noticed that the blade, when new, had some kind of grease on the non-coated edge of the blade.

Would using petroleum jelly (Vaseline) be appropriate? It can't be too toxic since many use if as a lip balm. Would it damage the Kydex sheath liner?

I would usually have some along anyway in the form of cotton firestarters.

I've read someone mention mineral oil, but that seems very messy.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Ken K.
Click to expand...

Do not use petroleum jelly on a knife that is going to be used for food preparation. It has nothing to do with the kydex sheath - it has to do with the food. Petroleum jelly is not edible and introducing even a small amount of it into food should be avoided. Use one of the other methods.

I bought an Opinel #8 this past summer and I used it primarily to cut fruit. I just rinsed and dried the blade after use. It developed a nice, although uneven, patina and there is no sign of rust.
 
Wipe the edge down with a lime for about 20 min. This will aslo etch like a potato but faster and you cann see when you want to stop if your looking for a certain color. It will be a dull gray.....
 
Once at a Renaissance Faire, I had asked a character what was used to keep the steel weapons from rusting in medival times. No one seemed to know. I had assumed that animal fat was used, you know, like something greasy. Later while talking to a sword maker, he did state that pigs fat and wax (pig fat and other ingredients) were used as a rust inhibitor. Pigs fat, not very glmourous. :D
 
my bk 9 was used to chop down some small trees
i washed the sap down with mild soap, dried the blade and kept it in the sheath
when i got home, i saw black dots on the exposed edge where the coating didn't cover
i thought, meh, it'll happen again
i just oiled it and am waiting for another excuse to use it again :D
 
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