Basic Knifecare
Jun. 13th, 2024 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerI just realized I haven't made a post like this yet - but, hey, taking care of your knives is important, especially (but not only) if you're wearing carbon steel of the non-stainless kind. I'm going to cover...
1) Common sense
2) Knife storage
3) Blackening / patina
4) Knife oil
5) Sharpening
1) Common sense
So, uh, there are some things you should never do with knives if you want to keep them. This list is not going to be complete, because I'm sure there are stupid things to do with knives I have never even considered, so I'll limit this to dumb stuff I have actually seen people do.
- Do not use your knife to cut on rock. It will ruin the edge.
- Do not use your knife to pry anything. That includes canned food. If you have to open a food can with a knife, use a cheap knife where you won't be too sad if you snap the tip. (Better yet... If you bring canned food, pack a f*cking can opener as well.)
- Do not stab your knife into a table just to show others how strong you are. Bonus points: especially don't do this if your knife doesn't have a fingerguard, because you will slip and injure your hand in the process. No non-slippery surface will protect you from this level of idiocy. Unfortunately, while I have never done anything like this, I've seen it happen more than once. It's the kind of thing that happens if you combine a group of (mostly) men, beer, and knives. (Corollary: do not even touch a knife while drunk.)
- Avoid extreme temperature shocks to your knife. That's not only for the sake of your expensive tempered steel but also, cheap factory-made knives will just become brittle. You do not want this. (Corollary: do not take the very cheap hardware-store steel into very cold climates, because it will be worse than useless.)
- Before you do anything hard and potentially risky, check the state of your knife, especially if you have not used it in a while. If anything looks not okay, do not use that knife. (This is, again, more for your sake than for the knife's.)
- After use, please clean (and, if necessary, dry) your knife before putting it away. Acids (like fruit juice - or, for that matter, blood) need to be washed off. (If it's human blood, you may admittedly have other problems. This is not legal advice in any way, and I'd advise you to not get yourself into that situation at all, but if you are, you may want to get rid of that knife altogether - after rinsing it in a strong acid - and/or call a lawyer... Not speaking from experience, obviously. LOL) And anyone re-sheathing a wet knife ought to bestabbed arrested.
- In order to prevent nasty surprises, don't stab anything you can't see. Should be obvious... But also, this includes probing the earth for rocks when building a tent. You should do that with steady pushes, but not stabs. Never stabs. It will not only ruin the knife but also your hand...
- If you absolutely have to use your knife as a climbing aid, or to break a fall, and it has to hold your weight, sure, go ahead - I'm going to assume it's an emergency and you don't really have much of a choice about things. (Still better to lose a good knife than your life. Otherwise, for f*cks sake, don't treat your knives that way...) However, afterwards, replace that knife, even if it looks okay. The steel may have invisible hair cracks that only really break the next time - which means there can't be a next time, it's just not safe anymore. (Kind of like bicycle helmets, which you also have to replace after an accident even if you can't see any damage.) If you see any damage (I think I should show you guys a particularly appalling example sometime; yes I've had my own dumb accident, of course I did, I'm a magnet for freak accidents), definitely replace the knife.
2) Knife storage
I already mentioned this in the "common sense" section, but really, rule #1 is Keep Your Knives Protected From Water. By the way, that includes 'stainless' steel, which is merely a lot slower to rust/corrode, but will still do so if you absolutely insist on shitty storage.
- Keep your knives in the room with the lowest air humidity and the lowest variation in temperature. This is typically not the toolshed but a room in your apartment or house. (Not your bedroom, either, because your breath increases the air humidity.) Rule of thumb: choose a place where you'd also feel comfortable storing musical instruments.
- Do not let your knives touch leather. Leather draws humidity. Some people will tell you not to store your knives inside their sheaths at all, though I think that depends on the circumstances - well-made sheaths usually have wooden inlays that mean the leather doesn't actually touch the knife, so if you regularly check the state of the leather and it's not, like, soaking wet or anything, you should be fine. (When in doubt, just put some packets of silica gel inside your knife locker; it's not dark magic... Also, you can oil the leather, which is advisable anyway if you are an outdoors knife user.)
- Keep your knives in a safe place, especially if you have children and/or pets.
- Legal note: if any of your knives formally qualify as 'weapons', you may be not just morally but also legally obliged to store them under specific safety precautions (like, say, locking them away if there are kids under 18 in the household), though the laws will vary from place to place. (So, this is not legal advice. Just, if you have knives that may be counted as weapons, know your local laws.)
- Treat your blades properly, either by blackening (covered in section 3) or oiling (covered in section 4). There are some other modern types of blade coatings as well, but I haven't used those or seen them in use, so I can't really comment on those.
3) Blackening / patina
The key idea here is that, in order to avoid rust (that is, the reddish-brown iron oxide stuff), you create a protective layer of the other iron oxide (the dark grey / black stuff), because that will stay on the surface and not eat into the metal like rust. In fact, carbon steel blades will typically form this type of black patina after some time without you doing anything about it, and, that's fine. If you want to create such a layer, the traditional method is to simply wrap the blade overnight in tissue paper wet with apple vinegar. (No, I have no idea why it has to be apple vinegar and not other vinegar, or other acids for that matter, but my grandfather said other vinegar will not get the desired result. I should test this on some cheap blades sometime...) I've seen the 'advice' online to use boiling apple vinegar, but I doubt this is is a good idea: sure, it will get faster results, but also, if your knife has any kind of heat treatment, this is going to ruin it. So, uh, I'd only use hot vinegar on cheap blades from the hardware store.
In practice, though... I don't do that with my blades at all, and the reason is mostly social: blackening a blade also, um, significantly decreases its visibility. Legally, this is not actually a weapon criterion in Germany - yes, I checked - but in practice... Well. I suppose blackened blades are disproportionately likely to end up at crime scenes, so, uh, if you're talking to the cops about whatever you're wearing (which will happen on a more or less regular basis if you everyday carry) they're more likely to discount you as harmless if your knife is properly visible. It's perfectly legal to own a blade with homemade patina - but also, in practice, the cops (who are typically clueless about the fine print of knife law as applied to old-fashioned knives - puukkot and similar are simply not what they deal with on a daily basis) are disproportionately more likely to open a case to make sure it was, in fact, legal to wear that thing, which means it will take half a year or so until you get your knife back, which is annoying. Better avoid the hassle altogether.
Also, there's a practical consideration: if you do the artistic kind of woodcarving, you likely don't want traces of that black stuff to end up on whatever you're working on. It's not toxic and won't damage the wood, either, but some people may care about aesthetics. XD
4) Knife oil
You have seen some of my knives already, and you know I don't buy 'stainless', but they're all very shiny - so, you know I oil my knives to hell and back. (I mean, I'm hardly going to use some modern chemical coating on knives forged with Iron Age methods, that's just poor form. XD) In theory, for this, any fat will work, because - again - the main purpose is to repel water, and fat will do that. (Actually, according to my grandfather, "just cut a good piece of bacon once in a while", though I doubt that's the best idea, what with food acids and all. Probably still better than no fat, though.) In practice, there are some other considerations.
For example, I've seen the advice online that mineral oil will work best. In terms of coating properties, that may be correct - however, it also means you won't ever be able to cut food with that knife again. (I've seen this advice mainly from Americans, so I can only conclude Americans tend to strictly separate their working knives and their eating knives. That... um... won't work in rural Germany, is what I'm saying.) Personally, I would always use something that's food-safe. (I can use silverware, no worries. I just don't bother with that in the field.) I'm currently using camellia oil, which is also kind of nontraditional in Northern Europe (because the plant is not native here; North Europeans typically use linseed oil for the same purpose) but is apparently a common way of blade treatment in China. I've found it works perfectly well, the oil is acid-free, non-toxic and not very smelly, either. I know some people are very picky about what they'll treat their knives with, but I'm kind of generous, really: as long as it a) does the job, b) doesn't ruin the knife, and c) doesn't ruin my food, it's fine. XDD
5) Sharpening
As rarely as possible, but as often as necessary. XD I don't believe in sharpening a knife after every single use (that's just a waste of material and will wear your knife down so much faster), and really, it should not be necessary if your knife is steel that holds an edge reasonably well. (And my philosophy is, if the stone even looms as a possibility, something has gone seriously wrong - it should never be needed after normal knife use, unless you're working with really hard wood, because otherwise, it means your technique sucks.) I know some people enjoy knife-sharpening because it's relaxing and meditative, or even because it's a (yes, sexual) fetish thing for some, but really, you're not doing your knives a favor. (Chances are, if you're any good with blades, you'll end up doing all your friends' and neighbors' knives as well anyway, so you won't get bored in the meantime.)
Of course, if you feel your knife getting dull, a few passes on the leather are a must... Dull knives are sooo much more dangerous than sharp ones! I'm not going into sharpening technique here, though; that would have to be an extra post (with pictures) because, hey, it's a science.
...but really, most of this can be summarized as "use common sense".
1) Common sense
2) Knife storage
3) Blackening / patina
4) Knife oil
5) Sharpening
1) Common sense
So, uh, there are some things you should never do with knives if you want to keep them. This list is not going to be complete, because I'm sure there are stupid things to do with knives I have never even considered, so I'll limit this to dumb stuff I have actually seen people do.
- Do not use your knife to cut on rock. It will ruin the edge.
- Do not use your knife to pry anything. That includes canned food. If you have to open a food can with a knife, use a cheap knife where you won't be too sad if you snap the tip. (Better yet... If you bring canned food, pack a f*cking can opener as well.)
- Do not stab your knife into a table just to show others how strong you are. Bonus points: especially don't do this if your knife doesn't have a fingerguard, because you will slip and injure your hand in the process. No non-slippery surface will protect you from this level of idiocy. Unfortunately, while I have never done anything like this, I've seen it happen more than once. It's the kind of thing that happens if you combine a group of (mostly) men, beer, and knives. (Corollary: do not even touch a knife while drunk.)
- Avoid extreme temperature shocks to your knife. That's not only for the sake of your expensive tempered steel but also, cheap factory-made knives will just become brittle. You do not want this. (Corollary: do not take the very cheap hardware-store steel into very cold climates, because it will be worse than useless.)
- Before you do anything hard and potentially risky, check the state of your knife, especially if you have not used it in a while. If anything looks not okay, do not use that knife. (This is, again, more for your sake than for the knife's.)
- After use, please clean (and, if necessary, dry) your knife before putting it away. Acids (like fruit juice - or, for that matter, blood) need to be washed off. (If it's human blood, you may admittedly have other problems. This is not legal advice in any way, and I'd advise you to not get yourself into that situation at all, but if you are, you may want to get rid of that knife altogether - after rinsing it in a strong acid - and/or call a lawyer... Not speaking from experience, obviously. LOL) And anyone re-sheathing a wet knife ought to be
- In order to prevent nasty surprises, don't stab anything you can't see. Should be obvious... But also, this includes probing the earth for rocks when building a tent. You should do that with steady pushes, but not stabs. Never stabs. It will not only ruin the knife but also your hand...
- If you absolutely have to use your knife as a climbing aid, or to break a fall, and it has to hold your weight, sure, go ahead - I'm going to assume it's an emergency and you don't really have much of a choice about things. (Still better to lose a good knife than your life. Otherwise, for f*cks sake, don't treat your knives that way...) However, afterwards, replace that knife, even if it looks okay. The steel may have invisible hair cracks that only really break the next time - which means there can't be a next time, it's just not safe anymore. (Kind of like bicycle helmets, which you also have to replace after an accident even if you can't see any damage.) If you see any damage (I think I should show you guys a particularly appalling example sometime; yes I've had my own dumb accident, of course I did, I'm a magnet for freak accidents), definitely replace the knife.
2) Knife storage
I already mentioned this in the "common sense" section, but really, rule #1 is Keep Your Knives Protected From Water. By the way, that includes 'stainless' steel, which is merely a lot slower to rust/corrode, but will still do so if you absolutely insist on shitty storage.
- Keep your knives in the room with the lowest air humidity and the lowest variation in temperature. This is typically not the toolshed but a room in your apartment or house. (Not your bedroom, either, because your breath increases the air humidity.) Rule of thumb: choose a place where you'd also feel comfortable storing musical instruments.
- Do not let your knives touch leather. Leather draws humidity. Some people will tell you not to store your knives inside their sheaths at all, though I think that depends on the circumstances - well-made sheaths usually have wooden inlays that mean the leather doesn't actually touch the knife, so if you regularly check the state of the leather and it's not, like, soaking wet or anything, you should be fine. (When in doubt, just put some packets of silica gel inside your knife locker; it's not dark magic... Also, you can oil the leather, which is advisable anyway if you are an outdoors knife user.)
- Keep your knives in a safe place, especially if you have children and/or pets.
- Legal note: if any of your knives formally qualify as 'weapons', you may be not just morally but also legally obliged to store them under specific safety precautions (like, say, locking them away if there are kids under 18 in the household), though the laws will vary from place to place. (So, this is not legal advice. Just, if you have knives that may be counted as weapons, know your local laws.)
- Treat your blades properly, either by blackening (covered in section 3) or oiling (covered in section 4). There are some other modern types of blade coatings as well, but I haven't used those or seen them in use, so I can't really comment on those.
3) Blackening / patina
The key idea here is that, in order to avoid rust (that is, the reddish-brown iron oxide stuff), you create a protective layer of the other iron oxide (the dark grey / black stuff), because that will stay on the surface and not eat into the metal like rust. In fact, carbon steel blades will typically form this type of black patina after some time without you doing anything about it, and, that's fine. If you want to create such a layer, the traditional method is to simply wrap the blade overnight in tissue paper wet with apple vinegar. (No, I have no idea why it has to be apple vinegar and not other vinegar, or other acids for that matter, but my grandfather said other vinegar will not get the desired result. I should test this on some cheap blades sometime...) I've seen the 'advice' online to use boiling apple vinegar, but I doubt this is is a good idea: sure, it will get faster results, but also, if your knife has any kind of heat treatment, this is going to ruin it. So, uh, I'd only use hot vinegar on cheap blades from the hardware store.
In practice, though... I don't do that with my blades at all, and the reason is mostly social: blackening a blade also, um, significantly decreases its visibility. Legally, this is not actually a weapon criterion in Germany - yes, I checked - but in practice... Well. I suppose blackened blades are disproportionately likely to end up at crime scenes, so, uh, if you're talking to the cops about whatever you're wearing (which will happen on a more or less regular basis if you everyday carry) they're more likely to discount you as harmless if your knife is properly visible. It's perfectly legal to own a blade with homemade patina - but also, in practice, the cops (who are typically clueless about the fine print of knife law as applied to old-fashioned knives - puukkot and similar are simply not what they deal with on a daily basis) are disproportionately more likely to open a case to make sure it was, in fact, legal to wear that thing, which means it will take half a year or so until you get your knife back, which is annoying. Better avoid the hassle altogether.
Also, there's a practical consideration: if you do the artistic kind of woodcarving, you likely don't want traces of that black stuff to end up on whatever you're working on. It's not toxic and won't damage the wood, either, but some people may care about aesthetics. XD
4) Knife oil
You have seen some of my knives already, and you know I don't buy 'stainless', but they're all very shiny - so, you know I oil my knives to hell and back. (I mean, I'm hardly going to use some modern chemical coating on knives forged with Iron Age methods, that's just poor form. XD) In theory, for this, any fat will work, because - again - the main purpose is to repel water, and fat will do that. (Actually, according to my grandfather, "just cut a good piece of bacon once in a while", though I doubt that's the best idea, what with food acids and all. Probably still better than no fat, though.) In practice, there are some other considerations.
For example, I've seen the advice online that mineral oil will work best. In terms of coating properties, that may be correct - however, it also means you won't ever be able to cut food with that knife again. (I've seen this advice mainly from Americans, so I can only conclude Americans tend to strictly separate their working knives and their eating knives. That... um... won't work in rural Germany, is what I'm saying.) Personally, I would always use something that's food-safe. (I can use silverware, no worries. I just don't bother with that in the field.) I'm currently using camellia oil, which is also kind of nontraditional in Northern Europe (because the plant is not native here; North Europeans typically use linseed oil for the same purpose) but is apparently a common way of blade treatment in China. I've found it works perfectly well, the oil is acid-free, non-toxic and not very smelly, either. I know some people are very picky about what they'll treat their knives with, but I'm kind of generous, really: as long as it a) does the job, b) doesn't ruin the knife, and c) doesn't ruin my food, it's fine. XDD
5) Sharpening
As rarely as possible, but as often as necessary. XD I don't believe in sharpening a knife after every single use (that's just a waste of material and will wear your knife down so much faster), and really, it should not be necessary if your knife is steel that holds an edge reasonably well. (And my philosophy is, if the stone even looms as a possibility, something has gone seriously wrong - it should never be needed after normal knife use, unless you're working with really hard wood, because otherwise, it means your technique sucks.) I know some people enjoy knife-sharpening because it's relaxing and meditative, or even because it's a (yes, sexual) fetish thing for some, but really, you're not doing your knives a favor. (Chances are, if you're any good with blades, you'll end up doing all your friends' and neighbors' knives as well anyway, so you won't get bored in the meantime.)
Of course, if you feel your knife getting dull, a few passes on the leather are a must... Dull knives are sooo much more dangerous than sharp ones! I'm not going into sharpening technique here, though; that would have to be an extra post (with pictures) because, hey, it's a science.
...but really, most of this can be summarized as "use common sense".
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Date: 2024-06-14 08:34 am (UTC)