What to use to protect tool steel blades

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

Does anyone have experience with a product called Axe Wax?

[Fireman]

I use chapstick. It’s food grade and works well.

[Wallach]

Only thing I've ever used is ye olde Ballistol. You'll never catch me without a couple cans of the stuff.

[Fireman]

I live by the ocean in a place known for fog so tool steel needs to be coated and I even put my folders in zip lock bags. I should also put in desicant packs to get rid of any unwanted moisture too like the ones you get in Amazon packages. I notice that tool steel that sits too long unprotected here goes slightly dull too due to the corrosive nature of the ocean air. First world problems.

[toml4185]

I use mineral oil most often but have also been known to use frog lube and ballistol.

[Manixguy@1994]

I use Renaissance or Walkers wax on tool steels . Others mentioned also work well too . MG2

[Danke]

Break Free, Boeshield T-9, or Fireclean. Whichever one I grab first.

[Evil D]

This is a good read.

https://dayattherange.com/gun-care-product-evaluation/

Soiler alert, but you really should give that page a read it's a really thorough test.

[Fireman]

Awesome info! I need that chart but with non toxic solutions.

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

Well, thanks for all the answers. I’m still interested if anyone has experience with this stuff from Oregon called Axe Wax. I’ve been using Carnauba wax, but it either doesn’t really harden, or takes its own sweet time to do so. Axe Wax is supposed to definitely harden.

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

What’s the name of that purple stuff Shawn Houston or Deadboxhero recommends?

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

Found it - it’s called EDCI formula.

[Jesla]

Renaissance wax on coated blades, makes them look great. Nothing on the uncoated blades because I only carry stainless steel. Tuf-glide for mechanical lubrication. In my use S110V and H1/2, are all I carry these days, and they don’t rust.

[Ow!Icutmyself!]

So… no real experience with Axe Wax?
I’ll just get some and try it.

[LorenzoL]

This is a good read.

https://dayattherange.com/gun-care-product-evaluation/

Soiler alert, but you really should give that page a read it's a really thorough test.

Nice info, thanks.
I recently switched from Tuf-Cloth to Tsubaki (Camelia seed oil) because of the fact that it is food-safe, I wonder how it would rank in that test…

[Evil D]

This is a good read.

https://dayattherange.com/gun-care-product-evaluation/

Soiler alert, but you really should give that page a read it's a really thorough test.

Nice info, thanks.
I recently switched from Tuf-Cloth to Tsubaki (Camelia seed oil) because of the fact that it is food-safe, I wonder how it would rank in that test…

The reality of this topic is our forefathers got by with far less and did just fine, and they didn't have crazy steels like we have either. You can coat your blade with lard and it'll probably be ok in all but the most extreme situations.

[endura3]

This is a good read.

https://dayattherange.com/gun-care-product-evaluation/

Soiler alert, but you really should give that page a read it's a really thorough test.

Nice info, thanks.
I recently switched from Tuf-Cloth to Tsubaki (Camelia seed oil) because of the fact that it is food-safe, I wonder how it would rank in that test…

The reality of this topic is our forefathers got by with far less and did just fine, and they didn't have crazy steels like we have either. You can coat your blade with lard and it'll probably be ok in all but the most extreme situations.

For years I used Crisco for this and it worked fine. I only cared about the edge so I'd just slice lightly into a glob to coat the whole edge in one motion which probably took less than a second each time. I almost never had any edge corrosion or loss of sharpness from the knife getting wet, sweat in my pocket, etc, plus it was cheap, foodsafe, and easy to find. And that was mostly for basic carbon steel knives

[JayHenMac]

I have found that I use a couple. If the knife might be in contact with food, I use beeswax. For knives that are going into storage for a long time, they get Eezox. When they come out of storage, they either get another eezox treatment or i strip the eezox and use a beeswax.

I do have a couple that that don't get any special treatment. They just age with grace. Any rust spots get a BKF scrub.

[Paul Ardbeg]

I live close to the coast and we see quite some rain, but I never put something on my tool steels as protection. Why not use food grade mineral oil? It's cheap and you can still cut food with the blade.

[Stuart Ackerman]

I have a few carbon steel blades in the kitchen. They have developed a light grey patina from use. They are washed each time after use and then dried. I tried this with O1 blades I made and the same result. No oil or grease ever. In the last few days I have seen three friends edc folders. All dirty with whatever they were cutting, like insulation tape and salami. And of course, rust in places. And these were stainless type blades. No Spydercos. Ed Fowler and the like, would use sheep fat on carbon blades, and the PC folk would wet their underwear about possible contamination! Sometimes simple is best.