How To Take Care Of Your Knife

"A well-trained person needs only a knife to survive."

Mors Kochanski

Morning, everybody, it's been some time since we last did a blog post, so we figured we would kick them back off again.

I am sure that everyone has their own tricks of the trade for cleaning and maintaining their knives, but we figured we would just talk about what has worked for us here at SharpQuarters.com

Cutting surfaces

Always be mindful of what you are cutting on or through, the harder the object the more abuse the knife will endure.

Cleaning

For most of your knives, a routine simple cleaning of warm soapy water and a gentle sponge will be all that is needed to keep your best friend gleaming. Of course, I am guilty of not always keeping it routine, so if you are like me , you may have to bust out the tools to carefully take your friend apart and put some elbow grease into getting off the aftermath of your recent adventure or adventures. Just make sure you stay away from abrasive chemicals and steel wool; as tempting as it may be to make the chore go faster, in the long run, you will appreciate not taking quick fixes. I have heard of people using ultrasonic baths to help, but I haven’t done it yet, and make sure if you do go that route to verify it isn’t going to do more damage than good.

(update - We tried simple ultrasonic bath for glasses and it worked very well!)

Make certain that you dry your knife or knives completely; continual exposure to moisture will wreak havoc on them and cause them to deteriorate or rust. Furthermore, keep in mind the amount of carbon in the steel, more carbon= more likely to rust.

Sharpening

After you have all the debris and gunk off your knives it is time for the maintenance sharpening, this is all personal preference but here are the ranges we have received requests for, for the kitchen knives between 15-20 degrees and for pocket knives between 36-40 degrees.

The Rub

Following the cleaning sharpening, you knife warrants a good rub down, apply a protective layer of food safe oil or wax to make it last.

Storage

Unless you are part of the minority, you will have more than one knife, so it will be good to rotate your stock. Again, you will want to keep your knives away from moisture. Keep them from smashing into each other, use a knife roll or a case with partitions. If your fixed blades have a leather sheath, remove them from the sheath and put them in a knife roll or cardboard sheaths; the leather will promote rusting.

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Well I think that I got out what I wanted said. Be safe and keep on the adventure.