Unused collector knife maintenance

[Buzzluxx]

Hello everyone, new to the forum here and was hoping some of the more experienced knife people here could help answer a question I have. My Grandfather passed away a couple years ago and left me his collection of pocket knives, there are many different kinds, manufacturers and blade steels. I am just now starting to become concerned with maintenance of the blades, originally I did not think unused blades had to be oiled or maintained if they were stored in cases where dust and moisture could not reach them. But after reading around a little more I can see this is not necessarily true. My question to you all is should I oil these knives? are there any blade steels I should be concerned about oiling? such as damascus or other special steel? I just don't want to damage the value or collect ability of these knives by oiling them. Sorry if this is a stupid question, I just don't have anyone with real experience in this kind of thing.

Thanks for the help,
Nick

 

[EyeDog]

Welcome Nick. Little hard to tell without photos and better descriptions. Older stainless steal knives will probably look better.

The 1095 carbon steals may have patina on them or even rust. The patina is often desirable the rust is not. You will get various opinions about oiling blades. None are necessarily wrong. For me, if I am storing knives for any length of time...I'll put a LITE coat of oil on the blade.

Mike