# What Oil do you use on your Carbon Knives?



## betowess

I made the switch to carbon knives recently and have been occasionally wiping with my canola oil and a piece of cotton. I read somewhere some use walnut oil and beeswax at a 80% oil and 20% wax ratio to make a nice butter, which is good for cutting boards too.

I also know my seller says just use mineral oil (obviously food grade), but I really don't want to use a refined petroleum product which is left over from making gasoline, so can I just use my trusty canola oil with the beeswax, or what do ya think? Sorry if this is too dumb of a question...

I'm new here, this is a great forum. I just cook at home - love experimenting and learning more about foods and methods, and like holding a well crafted knife as well. I like to eat too, ha ha.../img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## ed buchanan

Mineral oil on the stone  not food oil  which gets sticky over time


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## franzb69

I use mineral oil. I buy mine from the drug store so I'm sure it's food safe since they're made to be used for medical purposes.


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## twyst

Betowess said:


> I made the switch to carbon knives recently and have been occasionally wiping with my canola oil and a piece of cotton. I read somewhere some use walnut oil and beeswax at a 80% oil and 20% wax ratio to make a nice butter, which is good for cutting boards too.


Are you talking about for oiling the handle of your knife, or are you putting this stuff on your blade?


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## kokopuffs

You can get a gallon of mineral oil at any tack and feed store for less than $20 a gallon.  Then, affix a label that says "NORTON SHARPENING OIL" to a pint can and you can sell it for around $7 or $8!


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## betowess

Twyst said:


> Are you talking about for oiling the handle of your knife, or are you putting this stuff on your blade?


For the blade. The handles are POM. But I have a DMT duo sharp diamond bench stone set - so you spray water on it with a mister. I was just wondering about the blade maintenance oil. Anyone ever use walnut oil? I kind a want to find an alternative to mineral oil, if posssible.

Thanks for the replies so far.


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## boar_d_laze

Any and all vegetable and/or nut oils which I can think of, including walnut and canola oils, are unsuitable for oiling knife handles.  As they age they get gummy and rancid.  Food grade mineral oil is the most practical and inexpensive choice, but there are others which are otherwise just as good -- certain tung oils, for instance.

Actually, commercial "honing oil," whether Norton or other brands, is a very, very light mineral oil and not the same viscosity as the food grade mineral oil sold in drug stores as baby laxative, etc.  If you want to make honing oil out of ordinary mineral oil, mix the mineral oil 50/50 with mineral spirits.  I prefer using my oil stones dry or with water rather than with honing oil; but it's something of a mixed bag.  We can get into the pluses and minuses if you're thinking about oil stones.


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## franzb69

i use mineral oil for both the handle and the steel.


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## brianshaw

I've never oiled the steel part of a knife, carbon steel or otherwise. I just keep them scrupulously dry when not in use. As for hte wood... similar, but if I were to oil it would be (or will be at some point in the future) either mineral oil or tung oil.

Here's an intersting articl;e:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/food-safe-finishes.aspx


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## ordo

BrianShaw said:


> I've never oiled the steel part of a knife, carbon steel or otherwise. I just keep them scrupulously dry when not in use. As for hte wood... similar, but if I were to oil it would be (or will be at some point in the future) either mineral oil or tung oil.
> 
> Here's an intersting articl;e:
> 
> http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/food-safe-finishes.aspx


+1 Sure. And if you use a carbon knife on a daily basis you just need to dry the blade WHILE USING it or it will rust. It will rust even if you have a nice, old patina on it.


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## ed buchanan

If you dont use often it is best to oil the steel part before storing. Humidity in air causes oxidation which is caused by moisture and oxygen(air)


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## kokopuffs

If it's the wooden handle that's to be oiled, the I use several applications of pure tung oil with the last coat being a mixture of 50-50 tung oil - mineral spirits.  It leaves somewhat of a hard, final coating.


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## wubu

this http://www.japaneseknifesharpeningstore.com/Camellia-Oil-anti-rust-p/camoil2.htm (also available at CKTG, camellia/tea *SEED* oil) comes to mind.


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## betowess

ED BUCHANAN said:


> If you dont use often it is best to oil the steel part before storing. Humidity in air causes oxidation which is caused by moisture and oxygen(air)


Yeah, I practically live in a temperate rain forest here in Washington state on the west side, and my wall magnet is not too far from the sink, so that is why I want to oil up the steel fairly often. Like I said before, the handles are POM so that isn't the question / issue. Thanks for all the opinions. I guess I'll keep using my canola oil for now.


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## kokopuffs

you wont go wrong with tung oil


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## Iceman

I use _5W30_ in the winter and _20W50_ in the summer. I also use the following products regularly with high regards; *Rislone*, *Marvel Mystery Oil* and either *Dura Lube* or *Slick 50*, whichever is on sale at the time.


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## betowess

IceMan said:


> I use _5W30_ in the winter and _20W50_ in the summer. I also use the following products regularly with high regards; *Rislone*, *Marvel Mystery Oil* and either *Dura Lube* or *Slick 50*, whichever is on sale at the time.


Its not for my car!! But I guess you're joking anyways. ha ha... I don't really want to pull any petro product through a nice ripe tomato and then put it in my salad. As I mentioned at the first of the thread I was trying to find an alternatives to mineral oil / petroleum jells. I'll just continue to use food oils as I use most of the knives daily...


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## scott livesey

the medicinal grade mineral oil you get at the drugstore is perfectly safe, it will not thicken or go rancid.  i will be testing a beeswax and mineral oil mix in the morning on cutting boards, will try some on blades and see how it works.  

scott


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## boar_d_laze

Current price for mineral oil at the local feed store (it's an animal laxative as well as everything else) is around $12/gal. Yes, that's a gallon.

Camellia Oil is good stuff, but ridiculously expensive; running around $15 per 4 oz bottle ($480/gal) at knife store prices. If you already have it, use it by all means. I see its superiority over mineral oil as being the magic that its Japanese, really good knives come from Japan, and so on; but if you don't believe in magic don't waste your money. Using it won't make your knife an ancient katana, nor you a samurai.

Tung oil can be expensive too, depending where you get it. Some commercial tung oils aren't safe to have around food prep surfaces and some are -- but I don't know how to tell which is which. While I wouldn't put anything on a handle which wasn't "food-safe," a handle isn't a food prep surface. Up to you. You can also use Danish wood oil, teak oil, rosewood oil, etc.

Adding beeswax to mineral oil helps to make the oil last longer. Some people think that it makes the wood more resistant to water penetration, but I don't know. Either way, as long as you keep your handles and boards oiled enough to not dry out, it _probably_ doesn't matter. Beeswax helps give a richer color, if you care.

You should oil your handles and boards regularly to keep them stable. I find it aids my memory to oil them whenever I do a full sharpening, which is five or six times a year. If you let your handles dry out, you'll have to oil them several days in a row in order to make sure the oil has fully penetrated and the wood has stabilized. Stability is the goal, not appearance.

If you're going to oil your carbon knife blades before storing them to prevent rust, individually wrap each knife in newspaper, old rags, or something similar as well. That will not only help prevent the oil from drying out, but protect the knives from other sorts of damage. Make sure you the handles are well-oiled before storing too.

BDL


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## betowess

BrianShaw said:


> I've never oiled the steel part of a knife, carbon steel or otherwise. I just keep them scrupulously dry when not in use. As for hte wood... similar, but if I were to oil it would be (or will be at some point in the future) either mineral oil or tung oil.
> 
> Here's an intersting articl;e:
> 
> http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/food-safe-finishes.aspx


That is an interesting article in Fine Woodworking. And its author says walnut oil won't go rancid. So there are differing opinions on that. The article was primarily about protecting cutting boards. I might just try the walnut oil / beeswax butter method... Thanks for sharing that one.

I had previously read about making that oiling butter in a Food 52 thread.


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## wubu

All organic vegetable and nut based oils will go rancid eventually (there are exceptions, to come later), the only question is when. Coconut, walnut and tung oils are among those I know that take longer to go rancid compared to regular cooking oils (if stored properly, of course, heat and sunlight breaks down the antioxidants protecting the oil). Though coconut oils I have experience with all carry a strong smell/fragrance.

However, under certain conditions, oils like tung and linseed can oxidize and cure/polymerize (which is why you should never throw linseed oil rags in a bundle, the oxidation can release a lot of heat). However, since you need the right conditions, the curing time can take too long, which is why tung and linseed oil (like boiled linseed oil) finishes normally have chemical additives to reduce the cure time (and make it easier to handle). I know the Boardsmith says on his site that tung oil never dries unless a chemical drying agent is added.

But since you are using your knife frequently (everyday), I doubt even most vegetable-based oils will have time to get (too) gunky. And if you are going to store it for any longer, just use mineral oil and wash it off before you use it, and it'll never come in contact with your food.

edit: removed organic since technically mineral oil is derived from organic compounds. Actually, mineral oils could go rancid (via oxidation) eventually, but method of rancidification takes a while and almost all food-grade mineral oil has antioxidants (vitamin E is common) added to prevent this.


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## himself

I guess I don't really understand why mineral oil freaks you out so.

I will add my (insignificant) voice to the chorus pointing that "natural" oils are not the best choice, for the above mentioned reasons.

They turn rancid, polymerize, and just go "nasty" in general.


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## kokopuffs

I use tung oil with the last coat being a mixture of mineral spirits and tung.  It cures like a hard coat.  I like the deep yellow appearance of tung especially rubbed into a light colored wood with dark grains: nice and contrasty.  And once cured, the feel is slightly sticky and I notice no rancid odor even years after I've tung'd my handles.


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## wubu

kokopuffs said:


> I use tung oil with the last coat being a mixture of mineral spirits and tung. It cures like a hard coat. I like the deep yellow appearance of tung especially rubbed into a light colored wood with dark grains: nice and contrasty. And once cured, the feel is slightly sticky and I notice no rancid odor even years after I've tung'd my handles.


the sticky feeling probably means it hasn't fully cured yet.


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## eiron

How do you feel about sheep grease?

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/products/products.cfm?categoryID=7230

It's natural (animal), USP grade, & a well-known rust inhibitor.

It's used extensively in cosmetics, & I've never heard anyone complain that it ever goes rancid.


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## kokopuffs

Eiron said:


> How do you feel about sheep grease?
> 
> http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/products/products.cfm?categoryID=7230
> 
> It's natural (animal), USP grade, & a well-known rust inhibitor.
> 
> It's used extensively in cosmetics, & I've never heard anyone complain that it ever goes rancid.


 Ahh, you're thinking lanolin that comes from the wool and not the greasy exudate offshoot of sheep's meat. Just trying to clarify, that's all.


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## betowess

Himself said:


> I guess I don't really understand why mineral oil freaks you out so.
> 
> I will add my (insignificant) voice to the chorus pointing that "natural" oils are not the best choice, for the above mentioned reasons.
> 
> They turn rancid, polymerize, and just go "nasty" in general.


Well, honestly it takes a lot more than mineral oil to freak me out. I'm just looking into alternatives. Veg oil will work in my application just fine, or walnut oil since I use most of the knives daily or at least weekly. I might go for mineral oil in a cutting board butter. I just don't want to have to clean a carbon knife every time I pull it down to slice something. Personally I'm not really keen any "safe" petroleum product derivative no matter who says they are safe, seeing how one teaspoon can pollute 1300 gallons of groundwater, and I drink well water where I live. But its not a big deal.


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