Our 6 Top Tips For Ongoing Blade Maintenance
Lubricating The Blade
After the sharpening process it is important to lubricate your washers or bearings in order to maintain a smooth folding action in your knife, Products like Gunny Glide , KPL and Nano Oil are among the leading types on the market.
Ongoing Lubrication will assist in minimising wear on your blade.
Cleaning
Generally it is sufficient to clean most knives with some warm water and dish soap. Even if there is some debris stuck hard onto the surface from use or sharpening, do not turn to abrasive methods like steel wool or cutting compound. Just keep working the debris from all parts of the knife with an old toothbrush or small paint brush and dishwashing liquid.
Make sure to dry all parts thoroughly to avoid any rust or water marks on the blade, applying a knife protectant like EDCi spray or Gunny Glide are great ways to add a protective coating to the surface.
Sharpening
Sharpening can be an intimidating process at first, but with some practice either free hand sharpening or using a guided sharpening system, you can achieve incredible results.
In your sharpening kit it is best to include stones to Shape or reprofile, Sharpen and hone the edge, having a good selection of sharpening stones can greatly increase the quality of the edge you produce.
Learn how to create a burr on the bevel and identify when is the correct time to sharpen the opposite side, Learn how to sharpen HERE
Knife Storage
An overlooked aspect of ongoing knife maintenance is correct storage. Keeping knives stacked together in a box, drawer or bag can lead to damage from the blades banging against each other.
For long-term storage, a knife should be kept outside of its sheath, don’t store the knife anywhere it will be exposed to moisture as this can lead to rust spots and irreversible damage.
Professional Help
If you have tried to sharpen your knife but it it in need of extra work, then seek out a professional sharpener who can assist in sharpening the blade.
Some professionals may use systems like the Wicked Edge and the TSPROF sharpening systems to achieve high end results.
Intended Purpose
Make sure to use the correct blade for the correct job, often the incorrect blade can be used for the wrong task, which can result in premature wear of that knife and possible damage.
Often you can see knifes with snapped tips, this can be because the user has tried to pry something open instead of using a pry bar or correct tool.
read our blog on Knife 101 types of knives here.
