Basic Knife Care Part 1 - "Stain - LESS" Steels

So, at the request of a friend and follower of the blog, I am doing a post on basic care for knives and multitools.  This post on knife care comes from my own perspective and experience, individual readers' mileage may vary.  Also, please use care and caution when cleaning and sharpening knives and tools.  They are not toys and all safety precautions should be followed, such as never pointing or drawing the blade towards yourself (or others), wear protective gloves, and eye protection, and follow all instructions and precautions that come with knives, tools, and sharpeners.

Before going into ways to care for and maintain knives and multitools, it is important to talk about blade steels.  Since this post is intended to be a basic care guide, I'm not going to get too specific or technical on different types of steel and composition.  For simplicity sake, I am going to use two categories of blade steel: (1) stainless steel and (2) high carbon and alloy steels.  Of the two categories, stainless steels are (generally) easier to maintain and are also the most common category found in folding knives (pocket knives) and multitools.

First, stainless steels, should be thought of as "stain-LESS", because without any care and total neglect, even stainless steels can stain and corrode.  They just "stain - less" and are more resistant to corrosion than high carbon and alloy steels, due to the higher content of chromium in stainless steels.

So stainless steels resist corrosion more than carbon and alloy steels, but they still need some care.  In general, it's good to keep a light (very light) coating of oil on a stainless blade or tool.  It is not necessary, especially if you keep the blade dry and away from moisture and corrosives, like salt.  One thing to avoid using, especially on knives that are carried, is WD-40.  I prefer to use a good gun oil, like Hoppe's Elite or Sentry Tuff-Glide.  Even mineral spirits will work.

So what happens if your blade gets wet?  A stainless blade, especially one with a very light coat of oil can simply be wiped off and dried.  If the blade is immersed in saltwater, simply wash with soap and fresh water, thoroughly, dry (thoroughly), and reapply light coat of oil.

The above holds with fixed blades and folding knives / tools.  However, folders require a little more maintenance.  First, folders will tend to get pocket lint in them.  Periodically inspect your pocket knives and tools for lint.  If you see it, either use canned air to blow it out or a toothpick.  This is especially important for locking folders, as pocket lint can get into the locking mechanism, causing it to fail.  If canned air doesn't remove all the lint, wash the folder entirely with soap, water, and toothpick.  Then dry thoroughly and apply very light coat of oil.

Folders should also have their pivots lubricated, but not overly lubricated.  Again, use a good gun oil or light oil (not WD-40) on the pivots periodically, especially if you notice a "grinding" feel or if the folding is overly "tight".

Also, avoid all temptations to take a folder apart.  That should only be done in the most extreme cases and then very carefully.  The above tips should be able to handle and prevent most instances of corrosion.

However, the above will not do anything for keeping your blade sharp, that is an entirely separate procedure.  It is important to keep your blade sharp at all times.  The sharpness and retention of edge on a blade is determined by a variety of factors such as type of steel, blade grind, and angle.  So to keep things simple, I suggest obtaining a user-friendly sharpening system and follow its directions.  Carbide sharpeners, like the Smith's Pocket Pal, are easy and can put a pretty good edge on most blades. However, if you have a premium steel or knife, you may want to avoid carbide sharpeners - they can scratch the blade.  I prefer the Spyderco Sharpmaker, as it can sharpen multiple types of blades, including serrated edges, scissors, kitchen cutlery, and knives.  It is also a very easy system to learn to use effectively.  There are several sources for knife sharpening tips on the Internet so I encourage anyone to that wants more detailed information on knife sharpening to do a simple Internet search.

As stated above, please use care and caution when cleaning and sharpening knives and tools.  They are not toys and all safety precautions should be followed, such as never pointing or drawing the blade towards yourself (or others), wear protective gloves, eye protection, and follow all instructions and precautions that come with knives, tools, and sharpeners.

I will follow this with a post on carbon and alloy steels.

I hope this is useful and please post comments and questions.