Protecting O1 from rust

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JamesPEmmons

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Hello all,

I looking for some pointers on protectin O1 from rusting. I recently sold a knife and I arrived to the new owner with some rust on the blade. I have offered a full refund or to clean up the blade. The new owner is a fellow knife maker and did not make a big deal of this and said he was just going to clean it up himself. But this really bothers me.

How do you protect your HC blades during shipping? Are you waxxing them or oil? I think one of the problems is I sent the knife in the sheath. I will no longer be doing that, on the off chance there is some leftover moisture from forming the sheath.

Any help would be great thank you,

James

Here is the knife before shipping
Rosewood Hunter
Mortise tang construction
5” Drop point blade in O1 tool-steel heat treated to a RC58-59
4-1/2” cutting edges
9-3/4” Overall Length
Rosewood handle with black and white fibre spacers
416 Stainless steel guard and pins
Blade is hand rubbed to a 600 grit finish

RosewoodHunterComplete.jpg
 
Great looking knife!

Use a light coating of mineral oil and wrap the knife in bubble wrap - and yeah, don't ship it in the sheath, especially if it's leather.
 
You can also try Carnubba Car wax. A light coat on the blade works pretty good.
 
Gorgeous knife!

I've had good luck storing carbon steel blades with a light coat of oil and wrapped in Saran Wrap. Even in a leather sheath they stay nice and clean. I've been using mineral oil because it's "food-safe". I've even used PAM cooking spray but I'm concerned that might get rancid over time, so I don't use that anymore.
 
You definitely want your knife to arrive to its new owner without rust; however the new owner should know that carbon steel will rust. Personally I can hardly wait until the blade has developed a nice dark patina. I find it very attractive and one of the benefits of carbon steel. I usually put a thin coat of Break Free on the blade and set it aside to penetrate and dry. The next day prior to shipping I carefully mask the blade off with blue masking tape, slide it in the sheath and wrap the whole bit in bubble wrap. If I have had a problem with rust the buyers have not notified me.
 
I've had the same problem a couple of times. Now I keep and send the knife pretty liberally coated with mineral oil, and fore-warn the buyer about both the oil and the knife's proclivity to rust. I ship the knife in a cardboard sleeve outside of the sheath and ask the buyer not to store the knife in the sheath for the the first little while, as I've had problems with the leather retaining moisture after the wet-forming.
 
I had an incident recently where I had shipped a knife in the sheath and the dye wasn't fully dried. I have never experienced that before and it left a black smudge on the blade near the tip. The customer was fine with sending it back to me to clean it up. Valuable lesson learned not to ship in the sheath. I went and bought some tissue paper and wrapped the blade separate from the sheath when shipping back and from now on. I also use briwax or renaissance wax.
 
This is probably a dumb question, but is it OK to use a knife coated with wax for food? Any health or taste concerns? Just wondering.

Mr Emmons, I have to say again, the more I look at your knife the more I like it. That's a classic and elegant and very handy-looking design. :thumbup:
 
the only foodsafe oil I know of is mineral oil. And yes, I use it to protect my knives when shipping inside a sheath. Haven't had any problems so far.


For protecting blades (sheathed or not), I use Briwax....I actually use it for both the blade and the handle. Works great and lasts a long time!

Dan
 
the only oil safe for food is vaseline oil, certified for food.
Mineral oil is quite good of course, not the best for food IMO.
Alternatively you can use Boiled linseed oil that is also fine and gives a nice shine for food or not.

Cheers
 
Saran wrap and the bubble wrap stuff still has the ability to trap moisture between the blade and wrap . I use plain old newspaper and wax the blade , the paper will absorb the small amount of moisture 1st.
 
I've been told that the firearms product, Rig2 Oil/Lubricant is excellent...anyone with experience using it?
 
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