Unscientific rust prevention test with common household oil

P

peak

Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
120
Test subject: 5160 steel
Test medium: salt water
Test objects (in order): Lithium grease, Mineral oil, olive oil, 10w30 engine oil, and bare metal
Test periods: 5 hour
Result: The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Contrary to my initial believe, mineral oil are actually pretty bad rust inhibitor.

Initial
IMG_3494.jpg


Testing
IMG_3495.jpg


Result
IMG_3501.jpg
 
That test looks about as thorough as any I've ever seen. Good work! It's funny how the two oils least commonly used on blades, (the engine oil and the lithium grease,) are the ones that performed the best.
 
Two of those won't make food taste disgusting, One of those two will oxidize and gum up over time :) I have been known to use synthetic motor oil and brake grease from time to time though.
 
Olive oil, from the result the mineral oil don't fair too well. There might be better alternative out there but for my intent purposes, it's olive oil for kitchen knife and grease for outdoor chopper.
 
Good test. Good to know that mineral oil doesn't work as well as one would think but works a bit and food safe.
 
Dan57 said:
Are you serious? Mineral or Olive oil :rolleyes:
Though I've heard some good stuff about Fluid Film, which is also food safe.
Click to expand...

I think i am going to do a test this winter with Fluid Film & take pictures. Salt will be used to make it a severe duty test. Fluid Film ROCKS !!! :D
 
Same as Fluid Film. Made from the same stuff that is in womens make-up, LANOLIN---made from sheeps wool oil, by pressing the sheered sheeps wool under very high pressure. Leaves a greasy waxy coating on the blade, only it can be spread thinner, more easily than ChapStick, if wanted or need be.


100_0506.jpg
 
Dan57 said:
Are you serious? Mineral or Olive oil :rolleyes:
Though I've heard some good stuff about Fluid Film, which is also food safe.
Click to expand...

I was being facetious. I use mineral oil. vegetable oils can turn rancid. when storing knives, I use Ren wax.
 
Of coarse grease works best. And the best grease is TW25B grease. Odorless, non-toxic, and no known shelf life.
 
Still like CLP and Eexoz for my users. For corrosion protection, there's nothing out there I've seen test better than Eezox.

Mineral oil isn't great, but to be honest, how often do you expose your kitchen knives to total lack of care and brutal field conditions? It's my choice for food-prep knives, and they just get lightly wiped down with a drop or two on a rag once every so often. Never had a rust issue at all. :)
 
I use silicone grease for my dive knives. I only dive salt water. One application lasts forever if I don't use the knife. I've never had any rust at all in all the years I've been coating them with this stuff. I buy small tubes at the dive shop to use on the O-rings of my camera housing. If I need to use the knife for something, I just rub a little more on. Silicone grease is non-toxic and tasteless, but I wouldn't want to spread it on a sandwich...



Stitchawl
 
Bit late to the party here... I've been an advocate of mineral oil for some time but I'm losing faith in it. There's nothing quite like cleaning and drying a brand new custom knife made of O1 steel, giving it a light coat of food-grade mineral oil, wrapping it in Saran, placing it in the sheath and shipping it to the customer... only to get back pictures of it with spots of black tarnish all over the blade.

Three things to keep in mind in this instance - that's the first time this happened to any of many, many knives I've shipped, O1 is one of the most tarnish-prone steels I know of, and I'm sure that I must have either left some residual moisture on the blade before oiling, or the wrap failed, somehow allowing contaminants to contact the blade. Luckily for me, the client didn't care - she choose carbon steel partly because she likes her knives to develop a patina. But still, it's alarming. People pay good money for my work and I feel they have a right to expect to receive their knife in mint condition and ready to use, without having to clean it.

I insist on a food-safe protectant; I see no reason to restrict a knife from being used on food. (in fact when we designed this example, the client specifically stated she wanted an EDC that she could whittle with, open mail and whatnot, and slice sausage and cheese for her lunch - which I think is almost the perfect definition of an EDC.)

Anyhow, looks like I'll be ordering some Fluid Film to try. I'm certainly open to other suggestions.
 
Has anyone ever used wax for shipping or long term storage. Was just thinking it'd be nice because you can just dip the blade in it and melt it off pretty easy.
 
james terrio said:
Bit late to the party here... I've been an advocate of mineral oil for some time but I'm losing faith in it. There's nothing quite like cleaning and drying a brand new custom knife made of O1 steel, giving it a light coat of food-grade mineral oil, wrapping it in Saran, placing it in the sheath and shipping it to the customer... only to get back pictures of it with spots of black tarnish all over the blade.

Three things to keep in mind in this instance - that's the first time this happened to any of many, many knives I've shipped, O1 is one of the most tarnish-prone steels I know of, and I'm sure that I must have either left some residual moisture on the blade before oiling, or the wrap failed, somehow allowing contaminants to contact the blade. Luckily for me, the client didn't care - she choose carbon steel partly because she likes her knives to develop a patina. But still, it's alarming. People pay good money for my work and I feel they have a right to expect to receive their knife in mint condition and ready to use, without having to clean it.

I insist on a food-safe protectant; I see no reason to restrict a knife from being used on food. (in fact when we designed this example, the client specifically stated she wanted an EDC that she could whittle with, open mail and whatnot, and slice sausage and cheese for her lunch - which I think is almost the perfect definition of an EDC.)

Anyhow, looks like I'll be ordering some Fluid Film to try. I'm certainly open to other suggestions.
Click to expand...

put a wrap of paper over the blade before the plastic, while plastic works great against an actual dunk in water or if the package somehow gets left out in a downpour, in any other situation it encourages condensation and moisture buildup under the wrap.
 
I never use any rust preventative, and never have any rust. So based on my data, using nothing works best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top