Food Grade Protectant for Tool Steels

[Bolster]

"Butcher Block Conditioner" is a food-safe combination of mineral oil, bee wax and carnauba wax. I've just started using it on my M4 knives which didn't, and still don't, have patina. It's too soon for me to know the long-term effectiveness but in theory this should be a better food-grade rust inhibitor than mineral oil alone.

[skeeg11]

I use Boo's brand butcher block conditioner. Good stuff. Pretty much the same thing. Food safe and good for all the wood handled 1095 still in my kitchen knife blocks as well as endgrain butcher blocks.

[Doc Dan]

I've used the Butcher Block because I use it on my cutting boards and counters and it is handy. However, I more often use Vaseline. Interestingly, the wonderful Thiers Issard straight razor company in Thiers, France, recommends Vaseline by name for protecting their delicate carbon steel razors.

[fixall]

I’ve tried a LOT of food grade protectants over the years, and tsubaki (camellia seed) oil is still the best I’ve used on blades. It’s been for hundreds of years as a cooking oil, and steel protectant in Japan.

If you want to try a more long-term, harder wearing, wax based protectant…. I’d recommend giving Axe Wax a try. I’m not the biggest fan of using waxes on blades personally though. Axe Wax is a true hardening wax, so it’s more like a finish, than a coating like bees wax, and most other waxes. For instance, when you use it on a knife handle, you can wash the handle several times with soap and water, and the protection remains. .

[alphaneuron9]

Do you guys know about EDCI? It's what Shawn Houston from BBB uses.
https://edciformula.com/
Anyone else have experience with it?

[standy99]

Have a butchers block as an island in the kitchen (and was a butcher for 20 years.)


Funny when visitors ask for a bread board because they are too scared to cut on it


Just good old cheap mineral oil on knives and timber.
I keep an old square of a T-shirt soaked in it in a snap lock bag handy for application.

[WilliamMunny]

No idea if it works well on knives but it does work well on cutting boards I make.

[ladybug93]

that looks like it smells good.

i use frog lube paste. i have two little tubs of it and they will likely be used by my grandkids' grandkids with how little it takes to coat a blade and how infrequently i need to.

[RustyIron]

it does work well on cutting boards I make.

Yeow! That's gorgeous. It reminds me of Frankenstrat. The difficult part about your cutting board would be using it the first time and making that first cut.

[blues]

Inexpensive pharmaceutical grade mineral oil is all that you need.

[Coastal]

Frog Lube for me.

[Stas]

Do you guys know about EDCI? It's what Shawn Houston from BBB uses.
https://edciformula.com/
Anyone else have experience with it?

I use EDCi almost exclusively. Forgot about sticky oily blades long ago.

Also have KPL Knife Shield which should clean and protect in the mean time, but haven’t tested it yet. Someone here told it it not that effective at corrosion resistance.

[p_atrick]

that looks like it smells good.

i use frog lube paste. i have two little tubs of it and they will likely be used by my grandkids' grandkids with how little it takes to coat a blade and how infrequently i need to.

I use the same. Got a container of it that will easily outlive me. I even used it to lube my Delica instead of nano oil. With a lock back you really can’t tell the difference.

[Brock O Lee]

Thanks for the butchers block conditioner idea.

I use Vaseline, and find it convenient because it is a solid in the jar and does not leak/spill. Cheap and easy to find too.

[wrdwrght]

I’ve moved back from all the supposedly better stuff to mineral oil and petroleum jelly because they work and because keeping up with US Navy Seals is too exhausting.

[alphaneuron9]

Do you guys know about EDCI? It's what Shawn Houston from BBB uses.
https://edciformula.com/
Anyone else have experience with it?

I use EDCi almost exclusively. Forgot about sticky oily blades long ago.

Also have KPL Knife Shield which should clean and protect in the mean time, but haven’t tested it yet. Someone here told it it not that effective at corrosion resistance.

Tell me more about EDCi;
do you use it like the same amount as oil?
zero rust? zero patina? how often? rub it it with finger like oil or swab? does it function as lubricant as well? you say not sticky like oil... I don't particularly find oil as sticky, more like luricant - slippery... do you mean its more like watery? I don't know, just take the microphone for a bit...

I live on an island and really go for the rust resistant steels. However... 15V has my attention. Looking how to protect it before getting it.

[Stas]

Do you guys know about EDCI? It's what Shawn Houston from BBB uses.
https://edciformula.com/
Anyone else have experience with it?

I use EDCi almost exclusively. Forgot about sticky oily blades long ago.

Also have KPL Knife Shield which should clean and protect in the mean time, but haven’t tested it yet. Someone here told it it not that effective at corrosion resistance.

Tell me more about EDCi;
do you use it like the same amount as oil?
zero rust? zero patina? how often? rub it it with finger like oil or swab? does it function as lubricant as well? you say not sticky like oil... I don't particularly find oil as sticky, more like luricant - slippery... do you mean its more like watery? I don't know, just take the microphone for a bit...

I live on an island and really go for the rust resistant steels. However... 15V has my attention. Looking how to protect it before getting it.

Hello everyone, Stas here on the stage. Nice to see you this evening! :) I mean oil makes the blade sticky to collect lint and anythig. EDCi dries completely. Not patina or rust so far. I use FLITZ microfiber cloth for the application. How often, it depends on your use. I would say, yes, like oil: you can reapply after cutting something or just every few months for stored knives.

Not sure about EDCi as a lubricant, I use KPL and Nano oil for this. But where I spray my blades, the part of the floor is dry but more slippery indeed, so probably it may work as a dry lubricant as well :)

And now I give a microphone to the EDCi owner: “A note to those watching that haven’t used EDCi before: spray directly onto the surface you want to protect. Rub in well with a microfiber cloth. Wipe dry with the same microfiber cloth. That’s it. If you cut something, reapply to the edge since cutting removes material, so anything on the surface will be removed as well. If using outdoors in wet conditions, wipe dry when done and reapply. EDCi is for all metals, stainless steels (stainless can still rust), carbon steels, etc and slows down patina greatly on brass, nickel, copper and bronze so they’ll look new longer.”

Hope that helps:) cheers

[WilliamMunny]

I use KPL knife shield and so far no rust or patina on Maxamet, 15V, 10V or Cruwear. This has been a hot humid summer in the mid Atlantic so it seems to be working.

I do try to dry them off when needed but I don’t baby them either.

[Big_Tex]

Been using Ballistol for years and it has worked well for my tool steel blades…

[alphaneuron9]

Do you guys know about EDCI? It's what Shawn Houston from BBB uses.
https://edciformula.com/
Anyone else have experience with it?

I use EDCi almost exclusively. Forgot about sticky oily blades long ago.

Also have KPL Knife Shield which should clean and protect in the mean time, but haven’t tested it yet. Someone here told it it not that effective at corrosion resistance.

Tell me more about EDCi;
do you use it like the same amount as oil?
zero rust? zero patina? how often? rub it it with finger like oil or swab? does it function as lubricant as well? you say not sticky like oil... I don't particularly find oil as sticky, more like luricant - slippery... do you mean its more like watery? I don't know, just take the microphone for a bit...

I live on an island and really go for the rust resistant steels. However... 15V has my attention. Looking how to protect it before getting it.

Hello everyone, Stas here on the stage. Nice to see you this evening! :) I mean oil makes the blade sticky to collect lint and anythig. EDCi dries completely. Not patina or rust so far. I use FLITZ microfiber cloth for the application. How often, it depends on your use. I would say, yes, like oil: you can reapply after cutting something or just every few months for stored knives.

Not sure about EDCi as a lubricant, I use KPL and Nano oil for this. But where I spray my blades, the part of the floor is dry but more slippery indeed, so probably it may work as a dry lubricant as well :)

And now I give a microphone to the EDCi owner: “A note to those watching that haven’t used EDCi before: spray directly onto the surface you want to protect. Rub in well with a microfiber cloth. Wipe dry with the same microfiber cloth. That’s it. If you cut something, reapply to the edge since cutting removes material, so anything on the surface will be removed as well. If using outdoors in wet conditions, wipe dry when done and reapply. EDCi is for all metals, stainless steels (stainless can still rust), carbon steels, etc and slows down patina greatly on brass, nickel, copper and bronze so they’ll look new longer.”

Hope that helps:) cheers

very much. thank you