Spark striking with an oiled blade ?

K

Kevin the grey

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Aug 26, 2005
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Can anybody tell me if a well oiled blade would inhibit sparking ? I have a knife made from a file . Its a great knife . It also rusts at the drop of a hat . I have to keep it oiled night and day or thats it .
I already discovered that my becker neckers coating may inhibit sparks .
What do you guys think ?
 
Cliff I see what you are getting at . The rag used to wipe away the oil could even be a good flammable .Presuming I have a rag . This is a good Nicholson file . Things just seem to rust around me . If I were to leave the spine oil free it would soon rust .
 
If you clean the rust with a light abrasive, not sandpaper or steel wool, just something like a synthetic scouring pad, it will remove the orange rust and leave the black oxide which will over time form a semi-solid black coating which is decently stable. Oil has many uses, generally the amount on knives is fairly minimal though, you generally only need a small amount to coat even a large knife as there is little value in having a thick coating.

-Cliff
 
I,ll explore your advice about sanding rust off . I have to tell you . Wood rusts around me . Cliff This is such a neat knife . It is barely more than a shaped file . The handle area and part of the spine still has the teeth on it . It is almost scary sharp and I really have not done anything with it . I think a good stropping and it will be a hair popper . Its the kind of simple knife that I like the best .Its the knife that will be my E:D:C: for a while after I break the Becker in with Battoning . Oops maybe break isn,t the best word to use ! L:O:L I,ll let ya know how it does .
 
Files make good knives, generally W series steels which are designed to hold sharp edges for cutting tools. They do rust really easy which is why all the really old carbon steel knives are solid black, just give them 20-30 years of use and they are now tactical knives with non-reflective coatings, which tends to be more durable than powder coatings which is kind of ironic.

Alvin has a bunch of knives on his website, hosting pictures of hobby makers craft work, lots of really nice blades there :

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/hosting/Will4b.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/hosting/myal1.jpg

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/hosting/myal2.jpg

Some of them still have the teeth on the spine as well.

-Cliff
 
Cliff They look like good serviceable knives . One looks like a saw blade , The spine looks like it has saw teeth on it as opposed to file teeth . Reason I,m wondering is I have this huge hacksaw style blade that I would like to do the same thing with . Someone told me the only metal that was knife material was the teeth the rest of the blade is too mild .
 
Power hacksaw blades are usually full hard, the really thin ones you buy for handsaws can be bi-metal which means the spine isn't a cutting steel. It is easy to check by just running a file across the back. They make great knives, Alvin has been promoting them on rec.knives for years.

-Cliff
 
That must be what this is . Its about 30 inches long 1/8th inch wide and 2 inches deep . I guess a file wouldn,t bite much on carbon steel ?
 
That sounds more like a wood saw blade than a hacksaw blade, the teeth would be obvious. Bandsaws for wood are usually L6 or similar, also excellent knife steels. A file won't bite into the back of a hardened power hacksaw blade as it is about 65/66 HRC, but it will readily cut the backs of wood saw blades as they are much softer and usually the teeth are impulse hardened or similar. The steel however can be readily rehardened and can reach 66 HRC if desired. Just run a file across the back and see how easy it works.

-Cliff
 
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