Preventing rust on forged blades

[Iceman_713]

I have been looking through all the wonderful blades that you guys make and I keep asking myself, how does one prevent rust from forming on a forged blade after it is a finished product?

[Geoff Keyes]

If you're talking about carbon steels, there are all of the usual things.  Oil or wax as a first defense.  You can blue them, or use one of the hard finishes, Gunkote or Parkerizing.  On my kitchen knives I tell people that they are like Grandmas kitchen knives and to learn to like the dark surface.  You pretty much can't stop them from rusting if you're going to use them.  I think it's part of the charm of carbon steel.

 

Geoff

[Iceman_713]

soo cook it in bacon grease? :D  lol. thanks for the info I always wondered about it

[VaughnT]

Unless it's a stainless steel, rust is a constant battle.  

 

On two recent blades, I used the cold blue/bleach technique to patinate the blades, but they still wanted to rust quickly.  So, I gave them a wipe down with Kiwi's shoe polish.  

[Steve Sells]

oil is a tried and true method, it has been standard practice for centuries.

[Frosty]

TreeWax is my personal favorite of the more "traditional" finishes, it's carnuba wax, the same wax they use to armor bowling alleys. Apply warm enough it liquifies wipe excess lightly and let it cool. It's not only really tough stuff it's non-toxic.

 

Still it's not going to survive infinite trips through a dish washer, scouring pads and such. Oil is easy to renew after every wash and is my preference for kitchen utensils. Olive oil polymerizes so is tougher than some oils and heck bacon grease is a time honored finish, my camp toasting fork sport it in good health.

 

Rust is going to happen though unless the end user is diligent in prevention.

 

Frosty The Lucky.