Whats your EDC blade care regimen for carbon steel folding knives?

Kragnut

Kragnut

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Messages
776
Do you wax the steel, just keep oil on it, or let it tarnish / age naturally? I tend to let them age naturally with an occasional wipedown with an oily rag except polished blades which I keep a light coat of oil on.
 
Blades that are in storage are oiled before being put away. Knives thar are in the current pile don't necessarily have anything special done to them just wipe them clean when I use them and oil the joints.
 
I really love natural tarnish and greying as long as surface rust isnt allowed to spread. Too many pictures of nice shiny knives that are kept in their tubes / boxes.
 
Last edited:
I use them and let them develop a patina. Wipe them down occasionally with a little mineral oil.
 
I wipe it off on my pant leg and throw it back in my pocket.
If it's really dirty, I'll wipe it off with a damp rag, and then wipe it on my pant leg.
I don't oil or wax the blade, ever. But I live in a pretty dry environment, so I don't have much of a problem with rust.
37819F91-C69E-4FDE-AF44-605F7C773393_1_105_c.jpeg
 
JohnDF said:
I wipe it off on my pant leg and throw it back in my pocket.
If it's really dirty, I'll wipe it off with a damp rag, and then wipe it on my pant leg.
I don't oil or wax the blade, ever. But I live in a pretty dry environment, so I don't have much of a problem with rust.
Click to expand...

Yeah as an engineer I tend to over analyze stuff.
 
I have an old 1 1/2"natural bristle paint brush that I lube my pocket knives with. The natural bristles are impregnated with oil now & I rarely need to add more than a drop of oil. It makes it easy to apply your oil of choice evenly & cleans out the crevices.
 
JohnDF said:
I wipe it off on my pant leg and throw it back in my pocket.
If it's really dirty, I'll wipe it off with a damp rag, and then wipe it on my pant leg.
I don't oil or wax the blade, ever. But I live in a pretty dry environment, so I don't have much of a problem with rust.
View attachment 1953277
Click to expand...
Same here in Colorado.

Zieg
 
Not much humidity here, so that’s not an issue. Wipe down after use and occasional swipe with some mineral oil. I like to keep my blades patina free.
 
nBMzuHx.jpeg


These five are regular users that show how a dry blade can just grey over time. I have tried to force a patina on one or two of them but with frequent use and stropping the lovely patterns fade. As for oiling the joints, I use the oft-maligned several drops of olive oil. (Don't get me started on defending the practice: Whatever objections you have, you're wrong! 😸)

Again, dry climate, though.

Zieg
 
Last edited:
I used to do nothing, but one day I thought "Why am I ignoring simple rules? Would I like my GECs, for example, to get some nasty pitting?" and applied Victorinox mineral multitool oil to every carbon steel blade.
 
Last edited:
Wipe them down after use oil the joints with mineral oil and let the patina form.I do the same with my carbon steel kitchen knives
 
Acf50 in the joint weekly, I let honest use patina the blade and an ocassionally a full dekrud with soap water/wd and oiling if gritty in the joint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top