What's with CLOVE OIL?

Rusty

Rusty

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I've heard of it being used on japanese knives/swords. Bought some at a pharmacy for a toothache, later wiped down a khukuri with it. Next day, the wooden scabbard's stain had bled/leached spots onto the blade. This was a fairly old, dry piece of wood, yet the clove oil was able to draw the stain out of it. Does this suggest that it is a penetrant? Would the stuff sold at pharmacies be adulturated?

So can anybody tell me what the story is on clove oil, it's proreties, so on?
 
No presonal experience with it myself, but, I believe it's just used on the blade for corrosion protection.

RJ Martin
 
Thank you RJ.

I think that if I were a maker and wanted my knives to sell, or at least be remembered, I'd wipe them down with clove oil to add a third dimension to the impact my work made. Not just visual and tactile, but the sense of smell too.

Ahhh... Chanel no. 21 on women, Hoppe's no. 9 on guns, and clove oil on knives.
 
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....Hoppes....I'd use it as aftershave if the Fiance would let me......

YeK
 
I use clove oil on all my real-steel knives, and there is no rust, no stain, and they all smell very nice.
However, it is very agressive and usually disolves the paint from sheath.
CS' baked black epoxy coating smelted on my Recon Tanto. I used the clove oil on supposed-to-be-the-same-coating, (CS LTC Kukri) with no problems.
I'm still protecting my mirror-polished Recon Tanto with clove oil. I use it to cut lemon and pickles, and there is no stain or bad smell after that.

ZoxX
 
I use clove oil on all my real-steel knives, and there is no rust, no stain, and they all smell very nice.
However, it is very agressive and usually disolves the paint from sheath.
CS' baked black epoxy coating smelted on my Recon Tanto. I used the clove oil on supposed-to-be-the-same-coating, (CS LTC Kukri) with no problems.
I'm still protecting my mirror-polished Recon Tanto with clove oil. I use it to cut lemon and pickles, and there is no stain or bad smell after that.

ZoxX

P.S. Sorry if this is a double post.
 
I use clove oil on all my real-steel knives, and there is no rust, no stain, and they all smell very nice.
However, it is very agressive and usually disolves the paint from sheath.
CS' baked black epoxy coating smelted on my Recon Tanto. I used the clove oil on supposed-to-be-the-same-coating, (CS LTC Kukri) with no problems.
I'm still protecting my mirror-polished Recon Tanto with clove oil. I use it to cut lemon and pickles, and there is no stain or bad smell after that.

ZoxX
 
I think what you're looking for is "Choji" oil. It's used on Japanese swords and is made from Camellias and Scented with cloves. I use it on my swords as well as my delicate antique knives and it's great stuff. You can get it from Fred Lohman at:

www.involved.com/katana/

Look in the price list for the bottle size you need. (4oz. is around $10)

Actual Clove oil is not for use as a metal protectant as far as I know.




[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 01 May 1999).]
 
Thanks for the information, Rick. I checked out the location.

I'm into Nepali khukuris that are hand forged and finished traditionally, and they seem to have something extra to them, call it a spirit if you like, call it centuries of ergonomics, whatever. They seem to teach me how they should be used in a zen sense (thanks for explaining that to me Ghostsix).
Somehow, it feels like they should be given some extra respect and using clove or choji oil is one way.

Any more information on this? Clove, choji oil, related traditions, properties? This is fun to learn about to me.
 
Rusty: You might have fun with a Japanese sword care kit. It contains choji oil, an uchiko applicator (uchiko is finely powdered polishing stone, sort of like talc. It removes old oil and fine rust, and lightly polishes steel), special cleaning paper, and a tiny sword peg hammer. You don't need this stuff for knife care but you might enjoy the "ritual" maintenance steps involved in its use. Look in the above-mentioned site for care and maintenance instructions. It's all rather Zen like, even specifying how you sit and which hand to use for a particular task.

The choji oil is a great metal protectant and will even help loosen fine rust and remove discoloration. Keep it away from fittings that have a patina as it could shine 'em up when you want them to remain dark. The oil is light and clear and leaves a cloudy film on steel.


 
Back to clove oil for a sec. It was suggested to me as salve for a burn that I recieved from flying embers at the forge. I gave it a try, and it seemed that the burn healed quicker than others that I'd had before.
-Jim
 
Jim, that makes sense. Clove oil is both a local anaesthetic and an antiseptic.
 
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