Knife care question

[Hammock Hamster]

Hi guys,

I have a ray mears bushcraft knife which I've had for about two years.

I'm happy keeping the edge maintained to shaving sharp but I have trouble keeping the blade completely clean.

The edge itself is fine but the rest of the blade has got some small areas of what i can only describe as pitting, it's surface ony and doesn't appear to be rust.
Nothing seems to shift it though I've only gone as far as cloths and slurry from a water stone (nothing abrasive).
Any ideas on the best way of cleaning this off without damaging the blade?

I tend to clean it each times use it but don't oil the blade as often as perhaps I should.

The other issue is that the tang through the handle has turned almost black, it looks more of a patina than anything to be concerned about and I'm almost certain this is from the sweat on my hands but though I'd see if anyone here can confirm or has any thoughts on it.

Cheers, Hamster

 

[Mesquite]

Pictures would help so we can see what you're referring to

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Hi mesquite,

First ones didn't load for some reason.

Here u go, first shows the spine dark on handle and normal at blade end.

Second is the "pitting" on the blade.

Cheers, Hamster


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shewie]

I quite like a bit of patina, you could try something like Autosol to shift it

 

[Hammock Hamster]

I quite like a bit of patina, you could try something like Autosol to shift it

Hi shewie,

I'm not too worried about the look side of things just wanting to make sure it won't do any damage if left unchecked.


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[udamiano]

do you store you knife inside the sheath?
If so this could be the tannin from the leather reacting with the metal. When not out in my woods, or on exped. I tend to oil the blade up and use a knife rest I made from an old card box with notched cut in to rest the hilt on, and then mink oil the sheaths and store them away separately. many many many moons ago I was told it was always a bad idea to store a knife in its sheath for extended periods of time without it being used, and that how I've always done it.
It could also be a reaction to something it has cut, that was on the blade until it was cleaned

 

[Hammock Hamster]

do you store you knife inside the sheath?
If so this could be the tannin from the leather reacting with the metal. When not out in my woods, or on exped. I tend to oil the blade up and use a knife rest I made from an old card box with notched cut in to rest the hilt on, and then mink oil the sheaths and store them away separately. many many many moons ago I was told it was always a bad idea to store a knife in its sheath for extended periods of time without it being used, and that how I've always done it.
It could also be a reaction to something it has cut, that was on the blade until it was cleaned

I do indeed store it n the sheath, I never though about the possibility of the tannin reacting with the metal.
I may try storing it out of the sheath in the future.

Only other thing I can think of is it's the sweat from my hands, I am a bit of a sweaty palm carver, I take it that could effect the metal in a similar way?

 

[udamiano]

I do indeed store it n the sheath, I never though about the possibility of the tannin reacting with the metal.
I may try storing it out of the sheath in the future.

Only other thing I can think of is it's the sweat from my hands, I am a bit of a sweaty palm carver, I take it that could effect the metal in a similar way?

Yes sweaty hand can do the same, we used to call that 'Rusty hands' when I was in engineering

 

[SimonM]

To keep my knives clean I:

• Fold a t towel 3 or 4 times to make a nice thick surface.
• Smear a little Autosol onto the blade
• Bury the edge into the t towel
• Use a fine wire wool, and keeping the edge buried, clean the blade
• Use the t towel to buff the blade, removing all the Autosol
• Put a thin coat of cooking oil on the blade

Simon

 

[Lister]

equal parts WD40 and 3-in-1 oil is normally pretty good at shifting stuff and keeping the blade in nice nick

 

[Lupin Rider]

Earlier today i followed a link posted here by JF to alan woods article on the wood lore knife. it is also o1 carbon steel and he talks about protecting it.

the bit that jumped out to me is "..would recommend allowing the steel to gain a patina which tends to offer some protection from rust. Trying to keep the flats of the blade bright will eventually destroy the etched logo and it is extremely difficult to redo this with the handle fitted. Really, the only part of the knife that needs to be bright is the edge bevel which can be achieved by stropping after sharpening"

as we all know alan w knows his stuff so leave the patina on.

wife and kids are away this week and i spent some quality time with my Iroko handled RM SWC and was googling what to do with the sheath. hence the spot.
rgds

john

 

[Goingnative]

If you want it shiny again I would suggest using a polishing buff in an electric drill. Good cheap polishing sets can be had from Toolstation. After it is shiny again I use gun oil. this tends to go sticky after a while but can be cleaned off. This oil remains on the steel so does not lift off and trap moisture beneath like most oils. Springfields does suitable gun oil.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Polishing+Set+/p58727

http://www.springfields.co.uk/abbey-gun-rifle-oil.html

 

[Silverback 1]

If that was my blade and i wanted to restore it and remove the patina i would use micromesh cloth and work down the grades until you achieved the desired finish, if you are careful it won't affect the makers mark/blade etching, it would refurb the tang in exactly the same way, be careful if using cooking oil on the blade when in storage as some cooking oils will deteriorate over a period of time and react with the leather and stain the blade,Camellia oil is good for blade protection and is 100% food safe, it has been used by the Japanese for centuries to protect their priceless and cherished Samurai swords and we can assume that they know a bit about these matters.If you need a link to purchase some micromesh thread there is a guy on British Blades who supplies the quality stuff, let me know and i will post a link, no connections etc, just a happy customer.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Earlier today i followed a link posted here by JF to alan woods article on the wood lore knife. it is also o1 carbon steel and he talks about protecting it.

the bit that jumped out to me is "..would recommend allowing the steel to gain a patina which tends to offer some protection from rust. Trying to keep the flats of the blade bright will eventually destroy the etched logo and it is extremely difficult to redo this with the handle fitted. Really, the only part of the knife that needs to be bright is the edge bevel which can be achieved by stropping after sharpening"

as we all know alan w knows his stuff so leave the patina on.

wife and kids are away this week and i spent some quality time with my Iroko handled RM SWC and was googling what to do with the sheath. hence the spot.
rgds

john

Cheers John, a very interesting article I may leave this a while longer and see if the patina develops further.
I was concerned about damaging the blade with anything abrasive but can always try to buff it out as suggested by others here if anything untoward develops.

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Hamster