What kind of oil do you use for your blades?

[asomotif]

I rub my favourite Oceanic clubs across my bald head. Am I sick?

As long as you "rub" and don't "club" , you should not become sick

This weekend I saw someone rub his NOSE across an brass shield and than start to polish it for the warm glow. So you are not alone.

In the past I have used sewing machine oil, as it has hardly any smell and i easily spread over the surface.
Nowadays I use oil that they sell in bicycle shops to oil your bike and it does pretty much the same, except it smells like oil.

On keris blades that are stored I often apply some acid free vaseline, as oil tends to evaporate, causing you to find a rusty keris blade afte a year or so.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by asomotif

This weekend I saw someone rub his NOSE across an brass shield and than start to polish it for the warm glow. So you are not alone.

Scary.......I think from now on I first smell at a piece before buying, who knows with what bodypart they rubbed it...

I use ballistol, but it has a typical smell (which I find not disturbing btw).

[Dimasalang]

I use CLP "Collectors". It is thicker and has more rust inhibitors than regular CLP. It is made for long term storage use of collector firearms, but works well on my blades as well. Regular CLP, or any other lube for that matter, will run out or dry out within 2 months...CLP Collectors stays put well beyond 3 months.

I know WD40 is popular, but that stuff is just to stinky for me and attracts way to much dust for my liking.

[ariel]

Renaissance Wax

[ariel]

And, BTW, I just read on the Internet that a gang was arrested in Peru: they killed people to render human fat and sold it to cosmetic companies at a rate of $15,000 per liter.

Next time you buy Chanel #5 to your wife......

[Nathaniel]

Great post guys....good to hear what else people are using out there...

Here is the one web link on the Tuf Cloth...I got one as a freebie along with a modern Korean Jingnum http://www.sentrysolutions.com/ It's pretty slick if you have a smooth blade surface...but not so much if you have some corrosion.

[kino]

Originally Posted by ariel

And, BTW, I just read on the Internet that a gang was arrested in Peru: they killed people to render human fat and sold it to cosmetic companies at a rate of $15,000 per liter.

Next time you buy Chanel #5 to your wife......

No need to kill people to obtain human fat. Just hang around the back of a plastic surgeons medical clinic. They probably have bags of human fat just for the asking, it would save them hazzardous waste disposal fees. Think lipo.

[M ELEY]

Rendered animal fat or lard instead of lipo...still, would the fat go rancid over time? I've use WD or olive oil, just depending on my mood.

[Spunjer]

walgreen's mineral oil, once it's stripped off...
wood is Renaissance wax

[Tim Simmons]

[QUOTE=Maurice]Scary.......I think from now on I first smell at a piece before buying, who knows with what bodypart they rubbed it...

Rather you than me, not nice.

[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??

[ericlaude]

I agree, renaissance wax is the most for metal and wood

[Dimasalang]

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??

Which Linseed do you use? The linseed topic is something I always wanted to bring up here on this forum.
I use "RAW Linseed Oil" on a few of my rifle stocks, and now have started using it on some of my wood handles and scabbards...RLO is NOT the same as "Boiled Linseed Oil". Many frown upon RLO because it takes forever to dry and it darkens wood too much where it effects their color preference, but IMO it looks the best and it is the oil that keeps wood from drying out and cracking. RLO was the original ingredient by most gun manufactures pre-WWII to put on their rifle stocks(priority being to keep them from cracking)...which is also why they have the nicer looking aged stocks that are darker and have greater amount of patina on them compared to post-WWII rifle stocks. BLO on the other hand is popular because it dries fast...but they do contain other chemicals and "dryers", as well as sealers...so BLOs from different manufactures can give different looks and textures. Because of all these chemicals in BLO, some companies that make wood playsets for children went back to natural RLO because some of them felt BLO contained too many chemicals for children to be playing with. Aside from drying faster, the other positive thing about BLO is that it hardens and seals the wood better which holds up better to rain and the elements...which personally I feel can defeat the purpose of getting that aged patina to grow(were not taking these aged artifacts out in the rain or leaving them outside anyways). Sealing wood is something you want to do for outside wood decks that would last about 5-15 maybe 20 years...Im not looking to do this for my wood rifle stocks or scabbards. BLO does better at locking out air and moisture(rain), which also means the wood can still dry out and crack...one big negative for me to not use BLO or any sealer, the wood will take twice as long to develop a patina OR will never develop a patina because oxidation can no longer occur. There is always a great debate around the C&R gun community about what to rub on wood stocks...BLO, RLO, and Tung Oil. Some gun owners have reported to seeing their stocks turn darker and start developing a patina by the 6month of adding RLO to their brand new rifle stocks. None of them stand up well to outdoor environments, but I don't drag my stocks threw storms or assault beaches either...so for me personally, I am aiming for that old aged look, RLO makes the wood look more aged(in my eyes).
Everyone has their own preference to using linseed oil, tung oil, sealers, etc... This is just my own preference/opinion which I know isn't for every body, and Im still learning to take better care of my pieces(thanks to everyone on this forum).

[Dom]

as oil, I used WD-40
and elbow grease

for cleaning, remove rust or spots
1) emery cloth
2) to smooth the emery marks, steel wool
3) application of metal polish "Briliant" as deep cleaner
4) application of wax polish "Renaissance" to allow manipulation without gloves, and prevent oxydation

I spread inside scabbards WD-40, that feed the wood, or prevent any metal oxydation

à +

Dom

[M ELEY]

I forgot about the raw linseed. I confess that I use the boiled linseed, but only on old, splintery stocks or damaged sheaths to seal their finish better. It works exceptionally well for this. Hmmm, will have to try the raw form sometime just to see the results.

[kahnjar1]

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??

Definately Raw Linseed Oil for wood, and although I have not tried it on leather, it should be OK there as well, as it is vegetable , and not chemical based.
As an aside, the old English gunmakers ALWAYS used linseed oil HAND RUBBED to polish up their gunstocks. What you see on those lovely old walnut gunstocks is entirely hand done!
Regards Stu

[M ELEY]

I knew I had read that somewhere (English gunsmiths using linseed). Thanks, Stu!
OK, so I used boiled, but should be using raw linseed. Now I just have to find some...

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

I knew I had read that somewhere (English gunsmiths using linseed). Thanks, Stu!
OK, so I used boiled, but should be using raw linseed. Now I just have to find some...

I don't know that it really matters if it is boiled or not. For Raw Linseed Oil
try a paint merchant (NON acrylic paint contains,or used to contain Linseed Oil) or good hardware shop.
Regards Stu

[Dimasalang]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Definately Raw Linseed Oil for wood, and although I have not tried it on leather, it should be OK there as well, as it is vegetable , and not chemical based.

One thing that is a negative for RLO, because it is vegetable, it can rot leather and it can mold. So you have to watch carefully for this.

[A. G. Maisey]

Leather is best treated with preparations intended for leather, such as dubbin, or lanoline based leather nourishers and cleansers, or neatsfoot oil. Shoe polish is not a good preparation to use on old leather because of the drying agents in it which can worsen any cracking.

Wood treated with raw linseed oil is subject to formation of mold, but occasional rubbing with a couple of drops in the hand takes care of this. It is the unrefined solids in raw linseed oil that provide the patina.

A good fake hand rubbed finish can be achieved by using a gunstock finish like Birchwood Casey Tru Oil, lowering the shine with 0000 steel wool , and then hand rubbing with raw linseed oil. A genuine hand rubbed oil finish takes weeks of repeated rubbing to bring to a satisfactory finish, a faked up hand rubbed finish can be done over a weekend.

Neatsfoot oil is also the best preparation I know of for preserving tool handles.

[Interested Party]

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??

Do you use boiled or raw linseed on the leather? To my understanding boiled has lead added to it as a drying agent and it seemed to have a long term negative effect on leather. I do like the boiled on wood as it doesn't gum due to the drying agent and you can use a finer abrasive.

Growing up in my grandfather's old school gun shop we used Rig on everything metal, but we dealt in European and American knives and fire arms. It did just fine on Damascus shotgun barrels and preserved case hardening colors nicely. That said I have been told that it would damage the temper lines on Japanese blades. I think the gentleman who told me that said he used magnolia oil. I live in the desert now and don't have to worry that much about rust. My preservation problem now is splitting wood.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by Interested Party

Do you use boiled or raw linseed on the leather? To my understanding boiled has lead added to it as a drying agent and it seemed to have a long term negative effect on leather. I do like the boiled on wood as it doesn't gum due to the drying agent and you can use a finer abrasive.

Linseed is the old standby for wood, not leather. For the latter, mink oil is highly recommended and I’ve followed that. advice for years with excellent results. It has a soft waxy texture not liquid.

Like you the presence of lead in boiled linseed oil is of some concern. If you cut raw linseed with gum turpentine that will help with absorption and drying. If you end up with a semi tacky film you can vigorously wipe with a piece of burlap to make a nice sheen that dries hard. Or you can later finish with your favorite wax.

[A. G. Maisey]

Boiled linseed dries more quickly, true, but raw oil seems to be a better filler, a lot slower to dry, sometimes finishes up a bit tacky --- which is not really a problem --- but the finished job, and I'm talking two years, not two weeks, looks pretty much the same. When I say that "tacky" is not a problem, I mean it can be easily fixed, it is not something that you need to live with.

The mildew problem is a characteristic of linseed finished wood. Yes, overall damp conditions certainly do generate mildew, but in premises which are not subject to a moist environment, a poorly maintained linseed finished gunstock can still produce mildew. I used to know of a lot of recipes for a hand-rubbed oil finish, and they can contain tung oil, mineral turps, gum turps, vinegar --- and other stuff I've forgotten. The preparation stage can get a bit mystical for some people. I've known people to use stuff like egg-white in the prep stage, and a lot of people swear by lemon juice and isopropyl alcohol in the prep, rather than steam whiskering.

The main thing with a hand rubbed oil finish is the way it is done, thorough preparation, warm wood, warm oil, tiny quantities of oil, completely dry between coats, rub back with 0000 steel wool between coats, spread the job over months, not days, buff the finish, wax over the oil finish. Some people prefer to use a cloth or hessian pad, others prefer no pad, others just use bare hand, you can generate more heat with a pad, and heat helps both drying and penetration.

I did a lot of stock work in my late teens and twenties, and have continued with spasmodic bouts of playing with firearm wood since then. I was taught how to do a hand rubbed finish by somebody who had a very solid background in this art, using boiled oil, what I was told was " a coat a day for a week, a coat a week for a month, a coat a month for a year, a coat a year forever" . I don't know that we can take that literally, but it is certainly the idea behind a decent hand rubbed finish. The thing with any oil finish is that it penetrates the wood, it doesn't sit on top of the wood like shellac, it goes into the wood and bonds with it, this means that if you have dings and dents in your stock it is a whole lot easier to get them out and bring the finish back than it ever is with something that just sits on top of the wood.

Oil finishes are never just a matter of slapping a bit of oil onto something, it is an art, and there are a number of ways to do the job. About 20 years ago there was a good article on oil finishing in one of the gun journals, I forget which one, but it was most likely Gun Digest because that's the only one I regularly buy.

[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).

[Philip]

Originally Posted by asomotif

As long as you "rub" and don't "club" , you should not become sick

This weekend I saw someone rub his NOSE across an brass shield and than start to polish it for the warm glow. So you are not alone.

One of my old hunting buddies in Hawaii used to squeeze some body oil from the outside of his nose and rub it on his carbon steel knife blades to prevent rust. I'm not making this up. In the pidgin English we grew up speaking in the Islands, we had the term "hanabata" which was coined by Japanese immigrant field hands on the plantations, literally meaning nose-butter, but most folks took that as meaning the stuff inside the nostrils. Eeeesh.

Personally, I vote for Japanese camellia oil on blades in any sort of polish or exhibiting watered patterns.
On old European blades with normal wear and weathering, wax (Renaissance, or even the old standby Johnson's), works beautifully.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, micro-crystalline wax is great for blades with a smooth surface, in fact, it would be great for Balinese finish blades too --- except for the cultural dictates.

[Neil]

Hopps gun oil for me generally speaking on my metal antique weapons.

I have used linseed oil on wood shields I have sealed and it definitely polymerizes over time creating a notable layer.

[A. G. Maisey]

Hoppes solvent & gun oil has been my preferred firearms treatment for more than 50 years. I've tried a few others, but always come back to Hoppes.

Hand rubbed linseed will give a pretty nice finish to a rifle stock. I've used both boiled oil and raw oil for this, and in my opinion there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between them. Preparation of the surface, plus repeated rubbings over a long period is the key. However, nothing I've ever done has matched a proper London hand rubbed oil finish. I believe that they probably incorporated genuine tung oil (NOT the stuff they call "tung oil" these days) into whatever they used --- plus probably a few "secret" ingedients.

One problem with an oil finish is that if maintenance is not kept up to it, it will deteriorate and can grow mildew. Not pretty to see.

Personally, these days I much prefer some of the commercial stock finishes rather than linseed.

[drac2k]

The mildew may not be from the oil, but rather a high concentration of humidity in your house in certain areas. I had stored some items in a closet and had a reoccurring problem with mildew and nothing that I did would stop the problem.
Finally, I placed a couple of "Moisture Eliminators, "that I got from the Dollar Store and the problem was solved. You would be surprised at the amount of water collected; I change them every 45 to 60 days.