What kind of oil do you use for your blades?

[Will M]

Birchwood casey Gunstock finish works very well for wood and dries fairly quickly. You can have it as a dull to gloss finish depending on coats applied and whether you rub it in to a gloss. Very little odour once dry and can be handled without any transfer. Scratches etc. can be quickly touched up.

[A. G. Maisey]

When I mentioned commercial finishes in post 54(?) Birchwood Casey Truoil was what I had in mind. I prefer to build up a number of coats with this, then take the gloss down a bit by using 0000 steel wool, followed by wax. Once again, the preparation is the key.

[Richard G]

I find that if you have a wood that is already finished but just needs a bit of smartening up a vigorous polish with a good quality BEESWAX based furniture polish will do the job.
For metal work I prefer Renaissance Wax, and if it possible, 'warmed' so that it can penetrate any pits created by rust. You can lightly buff this to a nice sheen.
Regards
Richard

[A. G. Maisey]

All the traditional wood finishes require maintenance, dusting & a good quality furniture wax or furniture oil on a regular basis is all that is usually needed.

Beeswax is a good traditional wax, but it is even better if mixed with carnauba wax and gum turpentine, especially if you want a shiny finish.

[Interested Party]

My family refinished gunstocks for 60+ years (1930s-2000) beginning with my grandad. His brother worked on antique furniture next door. I started sanding for them at 8 or 9. I wish I could remember all I knew as a kid. In my lifetime certain looks were based on Truoil. Especially for people who wanted a quick turnaround. I can say that holds up well there are pieces that I know we did over 50 years ago with Truoil that still look nice. It also dries very quickly and a few shades lighter than boiled linseed. Sometimes we would finish with it to add extra shine.


Would beeswax or a beeswax mixture do well on horn?

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

...


Would beeswax or a beeswax mixture do well on horn?

I use hooflex, from the country store, designed to maintain your equine companions toenails. a tub will last almost forever.

[RobT]

Hi All,

I recently met a gun collector at an antique show and he said that he swears by Corrosion X to keep his old guns rust free. I had never heard of it so I went online for more info. From what I read, Corrosion X compares well with Ballistol. I have never used it and probably never will as I prefer to use automotive wax on my blades because it is less messy than oil. I carefully inspect all my blades every three months.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Dbelbey]

Hello all!

I'm a new member here. I personally use a light mixture of mineral oil and clove oil on most blades in my collection. Protection with a pleasant sent.

[Battara]

Well welcome to our little forum!

[Dbelbey]

Originally Posted by Battara

Well welcome to our little forum!

Why thank you! I hope to post some picture of a few items in my collection soon to start a discussion.

[Helleri]

For a blade itself (it's fittings, handles and such not considered here) I use mineral oil. It's not a fast drying, relatively low inclusion/grit, has low free acidity, and is food safe.

Originally Posted by M ELEY

For dry, damaged hide/leather or wood, like on hilts and scabbards, i find that linseed oil has an amazing way of re-lusturizing (is that even a word- ) the finish. Also works great on old gun stocks...
Anyone else try this product??

Linseed (raw or boiled) while good for wood, can be bad for leather. It's a drying oil. Which means it has relatively high reactivity with oxygen that polymerizes it. While all leather will embrittle over time, regardless of treatment, linseed will speed that up. Especially in top grain, eventually forming unsightly crazing, and undesirable hardening.

As a leather worker my two best friends for conditioning leather are neatsfoot oil and bee's wax. Neatsfoot re-hydrates leather in a lasting and beneficial manner given that it is rendered from the shin and feet bones of a cow. So it contains a lot of the lipids, fatty acids, and glycerol compounds that the lather would have had as a living skin, or fresh out of the tannery but without treatment looses over time to dehydration. So it's a true restorative treatment for leather.

That said thinner and more paper like animal skin products, such as reptile hides (hides being different from leather in that they are cured and cleaned but not tanned) dry faster and require something that retains moisture better. Which requires very high glycerol content. So rose water is far better for those. Especially since it won't darken much which is undesirable for reptile skins (most reptile skins have high contrasts in the pattern that one typically doesn't want to become more muted through darkening).

Like most oils neatsfoot eventually dries. But does so a lot more slowly (can take weeks or months as apposed to days or hours). It's slow enough that when leather is rubbed with hand warmed bee's wax after application that it won't dry at all. As the bee's wax seals the surface from contact with oxygen. Beeswax also gives the surface a nice luster. It makes a handle a bit better in the grip, has a nice to somewhat neutral odor, and leaves far less residue on the hand.

If one feels at any point that they need to apply more neatsfoot. They can use a damp steaming hot wash cloth to remove the film of bee's wax. Allow it to dry for about 10-15 minutes (to make sure all the water has evaporated off the surface). Apply a new coat of neatsfoot. Then re-apply hand warmed bee's wax (rub it vigorously between the palms until it almost lathers).