soaking horn handled kuks in mineral oil.

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uluapark

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Aug 10, 2013
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is soaking my horn handled kuk in mineral oil a good idea? what about my wood handled kuks? how long should it be done for normally? will it affect the glue any? how do i know when the horn/wood has absorbed all it can?

any help is greatly appreciated.
 
I usually don't soak as in leave the handle in a jar full of mineral oil. I just apply with my fingers heavily, rub and work it in good and let it set a few minutes or over night and then do the same thing again. I usually reach a point where the oil just wants to lay on the surface and not do much, then you know your there.

I do that a couple times a year or more if I'm fondling and they seem thirsty.

Wood may need it even more frequently depending on the wood and how dense it is.

I don't see soaking it doing any harm but on a good fitting handle I don't want to risk impacting the wood to metal fit or weaken the Laha any at all.
 
The best way I have found to apply mineral oil to anything is soak a paper towel in the oil, wrap the item, cover the soaked paper towel in masking tape, and then leave it sit over night.
 
I have soaked my horn handle khuk on a jar full of mineral oil for a month. (I forgot to take them out). No harm done. Horn to metal fit is still solid as before.

For the khuks with wood handle I left it soaking in a jar full of teak oil. Same results, no harm done.

The oil bath seems to work better for the wood handle. I have not seen any sign of shrinkage 4 months after the oil bath. For the horn handle, however, I still see a minute amount of shrinkage. So I use horse hoof conditioner (such as Hooflex) on the horn handle. I just applied it liberally on the handle, covered the handle with ziploc bag (to keep the oil in place), and let it sit for a few days. The conditioner I use is this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HHLJAG/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The brush makes it very convenient and less messy to apply it on khuk handles. The conditioner has a consistency of a gel, so it sticks to the handle very well. The main ingredient of this conditioner is .... mineral oil!

I normally don't store the blade in its sheath for long term storage. But doing so takes up more room in my storage cabinet. Now I am trying a different approach .... I use the hoof conditioner above to coat the blade before I insert it into the sheath for long term storage. The gel-like consistency should protect the blade well against moisture. But it is easy enough to clean (it wipes off easy with a rag and leaves a nice layer of oil on the blade).
 
I agree with everybody! especially this dude!

Bawanna said:
I usually don't soak as in leave the handle in a jar full of mineral oil. I just apply with my fingers heavily, rub and work it in good and let it set a few minutes or over night and then do the same thing again. I usually reach a point where the oil just wants to lay on the surface and not do much, then you know your there.

I do that a couple times a year or more if I'm fondling and they seem thirsty.

Wood may need it even more frequently depending on the wood and how dense it is.

I don't see soaking it doing any harm but on a good fitting handle I don't want to risk impacting the wood to metal fit or weaken the Laha any at all.
Click to expand...

Soaking may be overkill but not likely to hurt anything. I did a test on soaking an asare handle KLVUK ( http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ch-mineral-oil-can-a-KLVUK-asare-handle-drink ) to simply see how much oil and what rate it would soak up. I will say I wont do it again because after much hard use I cracked the handle and it needed repair. Now I have a handle totally saturated in mineral oil and the repair will be compromised because it is so saturated in oil. I repaired it anyway like I normally do and its holding fine but it may be something to consider. Also when soaking with mineral oil if its totally saturated it will have that oily surface coat all the time like Bawanna says. Leaving it a bit undersaturated seems to be the best plan to me. I still use mineral oil to wipe the blade and even wipe the wood or horn between conditioning but have found that Boiled Linseed Oil works better. The mineral oil doesnt polymerize like BLO. You can just rub on the BLO and repeat however many times you want and it is not oily on the surface after rubbed in and sits a few minutes. The denser Satisal wood doesnt need much to condition it and I wouldnt even bother soaking it. I have soaked in BLO and it worked out well but may be overkill as well? I do like the paper towel and masking tape idea. You do need to keep wood paper contact with the oil or it will be spotty and leave gel residues that are a pain to remove. BLO does darken the wood slightly so maybe True Oil would be worth a try if that is a concern. These is just my experiences but there are many wiser folk than I on this subject.
 
Interesting. I so far have just been wiping the blades with Rem-oil. I use museum wax on blades that I plan to store for a long time, I need to work out a good plan for the various levels of useage. Ways to prep a blade for long term storage, ways to prep a blade I intend to use fairly regularly and ones that are Always in use. Khuks are great tools they deserve to be maintained right so they can continue to serve well for decades.

I like the idea of the hoof conditioner for the horn handes. Great idea mousegun I need to order some of that for the horn blades I have.
 
ndoghouse said:
You do need to keep wood paper contact with the oil or it will be spotty and leave gel residues that are a pain to remove.
Click to expand...

This is the reason I wrap it tightly with masking tape, it makes sure the paper stays equally in contact with the wood. I also do not soak the paper towel in mineral oil I evenly apply enough to fully cover the paper towel but not enough for it to ooze out when I press it onto the wood with tape.
 
I have used Mineral oil from the start. When the khuks come to us the handles are very dry and need hydration especially the horn. I always soak my horn handles for at least 3 to 4 days and then pull them wipe them down really good and im good for at least a year or more. The Mineral oil will hydrate the horn and most times you will see some colors you could not see before, I have had nice white hues come through and sometimes a greenish hue as well. I have done this with my wood handles as well after I clean them up a bit, after the mineral oil soak the next day they go in a BLO bath for a day then wiped and left to dry, once dry a little roughing up with 4 O steel wool and back in the bath for a bit and repeat the process a few times and you will have a very nice wood handle. This of course is just my humble opinion.
 
I havent tried that Pugs but it does make perfect sense! I think the mineral oil is thin and soaks in well and if you soak in BLO afterwards you would get the polymerization and sealing you want without the surface oil! Brilliant man! Thats what makes this place so Khul! I just happen to have a new Mini AKB to try it on:thumbup:
 
Shavru said:
Interesting. I so far have just been wiping the blades with Rem-oil. I use museum wax on blades that I plan to store for a long time, I need to work out a good plan for the various levels of useage. Ways to prep a blade for long term storage, ways to prep a blade I intend to use fairly regularly and ones that are Always in use. Khuks are great tools they deserve to be maintained right so they can continue to serve well for decades....
Click to expand...

If by "museum wax" you mean Renaissance Wax, I'd keep an eye on those blades. I was using it for awhile, figuring that if museums use it, it must be the best. Then one of my most highly polished blades developed tarnish and some pitting, which took a lot of work to remove. I was storing it in a leather sheath, which I now realize is a no-no. However, it also occurred to me that museums keep their blades, guns and armor under controlled conditions (temperature and humidity), so the fact that Renaissance Wax works well for them doesn't necessarily mean it will be adequate for us mortals.

Later on I found an article in the "Fine Woodworking" magazine which did some torture tests on twenty commonly used rust protectants. The tests involved cast iron and A2 tool steel. Renaissance Wax (and waxes in general) did not do well in their tests. They also tested the products to see if they discolor wood, since a woodworking tool or machine isn't much good if it is coated with a product that will spoil the raw materials. I don't want to try to summarize their results, and of course they did not test everything that people here use. For those who are interested, try to find Issue Number 227 (August 2012).

I personally have been using mineral oil on my blades, Hooflex on horn handles, and tung oil on wood handles. I don't have any bone handles, so I can't speak to that. A bigger problem than what to use is making some kind of annual schedule to make sure that everything gets inspected and recoated in a reasonable time-frame. I have not been good about that.
 
ndoghouse said:
I havent tried that Pugs but it does make perfect sense! I think the mineral oil is thin and soaks in well and if you soak in BLO afterwards you would get the polymerization and sealing you want without the surface oil! Brilliant man! Thats what makes this place so Khul! I just happen to have a new Mini AKB to try it on:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Give it a try, I think you will like the results.
 
OOPS! you are correct Davidf999 Renaissance Wax is what I meant for this. The Museum Wax is the stuff I use UNDER display pieces of crystal ect. to keep them from falling off shelves in an earth quake. A clear version of Museum putty, I got confused sorry.

I read a bit of the article you refer to at Fine Woodworking however I noticed that they left the materials exposed for only 10 days. I was rather surprised to see that they claimed WD-40 was almost the equal of their top choice. Then I realized that over that short a time it actually will stay pretty effective however WD-40 in long term dries up and becomes a gummy mess that won't effectively prevent rust.

As I mentioned I am just starting to put together a new plan for various lengths of storage. So far no rust, but that is as much the fact that almost every item in the collection is in use on a semi regular schedule so they get handled then cleaned and re-waxed/oiled at least a few times a year. But as the collection continues to grow, more of these won't see regular usage so I need to be better about planning out my maintenance. I will probably discontinue the use of Rem-oil on my metals as many of the articles I have recently read indicate that in thicker quantities it is effective but in the thinner layers it becomes much less so than CLP break-free which is one of the choices I am considering or LPS hardcoat/LPS 3 which seem to be in the top results in multiple studies. Here are a couple of the other studies I have read:
A published study by Duke U. That worked with the FAA on corrosion inhibition testing for aircraft ect. Here is the link to the study.
http://www.tc.faa.gov/logistics/grants/pdf/1996/96-g-001.pdf In it they used aluminum coupons for the testing, however the corrosion resistence of the products should be similar against ferrous metals.

A study performed by accurate shooter that can be read here. http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/corrosion-protection-products/

And A study performed by Practical Sailor for those of us who live near salt water. http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/33_4/features/5431-1.html

All in all everything I read basically agrees wth Davidf999's assessment that regardless of the product used "A bigger problem than what to use is making some kind of annual schedule to make sure that everything gets inspected and recoated in a reasonable time-frame."
 
After custom commercially finishing wood & horn for 40 years, for pieces that get handled a lot and in all weathers, I prefer a commercial linseed oil with japan driers in it. This can be purchased economically from places like Track of the Wolf or Dixie Gun Works. For horn, a good paste wax stops the hair from splitting apart (horn is hair) and moths from boring into it. You can witness moth damage on horn handled Khuks on evil bay. With one powder horn on hand, made in 1783, and waxed regularly, the horn has yellowed, but it is still sound and hasn't shrank. It's still water tight. Just my two cents.
 
thanks for all the input guys/gals.your experience is greatly appreciated. I decided to go the mineral oil route.
 
There is very little downside to mineral oil, but remember to check regularly. I didn't check some of my horn handled khuks for like 3 years in storage and I did get some cracking. Now I check a couple times a year. Also, it can soften and discolor leather, but it is fine for the black leather over wood scabbards that you get with most of the khuks. It stops the leather from drying out too much too.
 
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