Traditional issue - rust!

I have collected knives for at least 40 years. Some of these are relatively costly antiques with sensitive finishes. I have also gathered up several hundred slipjoints, so maintenance has become an issue. I have tried oil in the early years and found it less than ideal. It evaporates and leaves a film. When wet, it attracts dust. Dust combined with oil can form an acid, causing corrosion. Oil will also soak into the natural materials used for covers, and can cause discolouration and other problems.
I now store my knives in glass topped storage boxes lined with archival padding. All knives are coated with Renwax. It leaves a a dry, invisible and protective film. This has worked very well for several decades on the antiques, and I am confident it will work well on my carbon steel slipjoints.

Here are a couple of the antiques, they receive a coat of Renwax on a yearly basis. The finishes, and carbon steel blades have not changed in any way in many years of storage:






Here is an example of the display boxes I use. They have hinged glass lids, and protect from dust. I have a number of these stored in my safe. I rotate one box out for display on my coffee table every week. It allows me to enjoy the knives, but also regular inspection for rust or corrosion.

 
I wipe my blades, springs, and bolsters down with a soft cloth and a little Remington gun oil, and keep them in a small display case with lots of dessicant packs in there. So far so good, over 6 years.
 
Impressive testimony Wolfe, with intricate and complex work on those items, wax certainly makes a strong case. Since you have actually been using it on antique items for a long time it sounds to be the right approach.

Your knife display box speaks for itself.:thumbup:

I've long had reservations about the reverence for mineral oil. OK it's cheap and food safe but it and other oils will attract dust, has certainly promoted verdigris on some of my stag knives, oils will stain up cloth linings and don't seem to be the total answer. Certainly you need them on users but wax appears to offer superior protection.

Regards, Will
 
Henry Beige said:
Two words: Scotchbrite
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Scotchbrite pads? that would completely ruin and give a scotchbrite finish on the blades.

I would recommend "Sack Ups" as another user has to prevent rust during storage if you actually use your knives but as Wolfe has shown, ren wax works wonders for long term storage.

Even if for a sizable collection, I would keep all the tubes in a separate box and the knives elsewhere as I do for mine. No need to keep on opening the tubes for maintenance when the time comes/keeping track of all the correct wax papers and tube lids.
 
Camillus, what part of the world do you live in? I live on the west coast of Canada, 20 minutes from the USA.
It's considered moderate rain forest, but surprisingly, our humidity is generally low. A light breeze may account for that. I have several hundred old and new carbon steel folders, and never have the problems you describe. I wipe a blade after handling it - usually, and use a cloth with a very slight amount of oil on it to wipe, but not often. I generally follow Levine's advice that Jake posted, but am not religious about it.
If I am looking at knives, I wash my hands, first, making sure there is no food, salty stuff or excess sweat on me, which is killer to knives.
CC
 
Cigar box and a packet of dry desiccant.

NJ coast with tidal salt water on three sides of my neighborhood. At a minimum of two blocks away and a maximum of five blocks.

No rust issues to be found. I carry at least one carbon steel knife a day, and have 5-7 that I rotate through. So today's knife may sit uncarried for 6+ days.
 
The American Military Edged Weaponry Museum uses Butcher brand bowling alley wax. They have hundreds of carbon steel knives and no evidence of rust. I used to use mineral oil, but now have switched to Ren wax, seems to work better when you actually carry the knife. I treat it before storage. I have one "experiment" knife, a winchester in 1095. It's kept the mirror polish, even though being used, with only Flitz to remove stains from usage and Ren wax for protection.

You've discovered one of the odd things about the current GEC collecting craze. If you collect knives, want to keep them pretty and want to resell, stainless is a lot friendlier than 1095. It's one of the reasons Case uses Tru-Sharp Stainless and Queen used 440, 420 and ATS34.
 
You guys are scaring me now. I have only purchased a couple of GEC 1095 pocket knives in the last few weeks to add to my modest collection of about a dozen traditional and modern folders. Not a big investment but I was hoping I could leave them sit in a tray in the open and cycle them through the rotation from time to time. I did buy some heavy mineral oil and I have used that on my new Coyote's blade. The new Little Jack I left as is with the factory oil as I have not carried it yet so it is basically unhandled. I do have a leather GEC pocket sheath I will use when carrying them.

Perhaps I will throw them in a re-sealable lunch bag or back in their tubes when they are resting quietly.

Still thanks for the heads up and all the advice provided to the initial enquirer.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
I too use plain mineral oil on the blades- if I use anything. I leave all but a select few to spot and patina as they wish because I will use them anyways. I used to keep my carbon blades shiny with lots of effort, I gave that up and just enjoy them now:)

The ones that I work to keep shiny are in a pelican case with humidity indicater cards and silica gel packs.
 
Duper said:
You guys are scaring me now. I have only purchased a couple of GEC 1095 pocket knives in the last few weeks to add to my modest collection of about a dozen traditional and modern folders. Not a big investment but I was hoping I could leave them sit in a tray in the open and cycle them through the rotation from time to time. I did buy some heavy mineral oil and I have used that on my new Coyote's blade. The new Little Jack I left as is with the factory oil as I have not carried it yet so it is basically unhandled. I do have a leather GEC pocket sheath I will use when carrying them.

Perhaps I will throw them in a re-sealable lunch bag or back in their tubes when they are resting quietly.

Still thanks for the heads up and all the advice provided to the initial enquirer.

,,,Mike in Canada
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I wouldn't worry about it... There's a couple different views here and it comes down to use. If you're going to let them sit for months or years I'd put oil or wax on them and store them in something versus sitting them out in the open. If they're sitting out on a tray to be used then you really shouldn't have any problem. Just wipe them off with a paper towel or cloth after use and you're good to go. If you use the knife to cut an apple or food you need to wipe it off. If you're opening an envelope or cutting some other inert material it's not an issue.. in my opinion.
 
I use two methods of corrosion protection in hopes that one will prevail if the other one fails. The first thing I do is put a coat of Renaissance Wax on the blades and backsprings. This is probably sufficient as demonstrated by wolfknives' post above.

I also use VCI (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor) technology in the form of an oil. I don't put the oil on the knives. Instead, I soak the wick on these little 12 ga. plugs that were designed to be used in the barrels of shotguns for corrosion protection. I think this VCI technology is the same principle used in the gun paper that Steven suggested in post #5 in this thread. It puts off a vapor that blocks the chemical reaction that forms corrosion. I put the freshly soaked plug into the same container I keep my knives in. The container doesn't need to be air tight but it does need to be enclosed. I use display cases with hinged glass tops but I reckon a cigar box would work just fine. The plugs dry out after a year or so at which time I simply moisten them up again with the VCI oil. One could probably just toss a soaked rag in there instead of the plug but I've got the plugs so I use them.



Using these two methods my knives stay clean and dry and fully protected. So far so good after about 8-9 years of using these methods. Not so much as a speckle on any of my safe queens, carbon or stainless.

 
I've collected knives for 50 years--most were carbon steel--I still manage to keep about 1000 knives rust free-- when I started collecting I bought XX knives that were on the boards and rust free-I even bought some tested that were not rusted---I asked Jim Parker what they used and he told me a good quality machine oil. I think the real secret is not to touch the knives- when some people touch knives they cause them to rust quicker than others. I have used several different products to revent rust--all were thick and billed as long term rust preventor---the one I use currently is wd-40 long term corrosion inhibitor--not to be confused with plain wd-40. I've used this with success on older case--case classics-gec-and randalls. As soon as I get a knife I sray a micro-cloth and clean the knife---then I spray a heavy coat on and let it dry--there is a heavy film but your knife is protected.Sometime my knives stay in a knife pack for years and I have no problems. I also kee celuloid classics with no problem--some I've had for 25 years--if interested I have a unique way to preserve them. Wax has not worked very well for me..The main secret is to keep your fingers off of them. Many of the case classic displays that I made for parker have been untouched and unrusted since they were mounted 15-20 years ago. Hoe this helps nd it works for me







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On all the metal I can reach (with cotton patch, Q-tip or toothpick):
1. Clean with microfiber cloth dampened with "Cleaner & Degreaser." Removes all old oils, finger smudges, etc..
2. Immediately treat alll cleaned metal surfaces with Eezox. Two treatments.

Non-metal surfaces get Renwax.

Store indoors (as I have no safe) in a gasketed plastic ammo box - has handle - with a few homemade bags of dessicant. Keep the bags from actually touching the knives - the ammo boxes have a top shelf which vents into the main chamber.

Dessicant bags: At most gift/hobby shops, they carry cheap mesh gift pouches (in varying sizes), with tie strings. Pour a reasonable amount of the new, light (dust free) cat litter into the bag. Presto: Cheap, reusable, size adjustable dessicant bags.

So far, it works!
 
I was once told by a collector that even talking around carbon knives can cause corrosion if they are not otherwise maintained. Micro particles of saliva, and goodness knows what else, exit the mouth when talking and can land on your blades.

When he told me that I thought it was a bit extreme but I suppose it could happen.:eek:
 
CLP gun oil. Break-free name brand is my personal favorite. One of those corrosion inhibitors would be great too, as mentioned above.
 
Railsplitter said:
I was once told by a collector that even talking around carbon knives can cause corrosion if they are not otherwise maintained. Micro particles of saliva, and goodness knows what else, exit the mouth when talking and can land on your blades.

When he told me that I thought it was a bit extreme but I suppose it could happen.:eek:
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I would agree with that statement. People do spit and spray a lot when they talk


Duper said:
You guys are scaring me now. I have only purchased a couple of GEC 1095 pocket knives in the last few weeks to add to my modest collection of about a dozen traditional and modern folders. Not a big investment but I was hoping I could leave them sit in a tray in the open and cycle them through the rotation from time to time. I did buy some heavy mineral oil and I have used that on my new Coyote's blade.

,,,Mike in Canada
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I just use harsh words, and angry trearment.

I don't have any pristine knives. Nothing that would be a collector. I use them, occasionally oil the pivots, and drop them in a pocket. Both with and without leather slips.
 
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Thanks for everyone's help! I live in Canberra, central Australia, with very low humidity. The main issue is touching the knives, as I can't seem to avoid handling these little beauties! It sounds like I need to be more disciplined with my wiping down routine and use one of the mentioned products more regularly.

On a cold morning, I do notice condensation can appear on a knife when you breathe on it, but I would expect that to evaporate before it causes rust. I think some people's sweat is more rust-inducing than others as well- I read that when I collected old tools. Some of us need to take a bit more care in knife handling than others.
 
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