How to look after your knife

To get the most out of your knife, and to prolong its life, I recommend that you follow certain procedures in daily use, and also learn some basic sharpening techniques, as with any knife, this is an ongoing maintenance task. I have also outlined below both proper use and misuse/abuse, and it is important to acquaint yourself with this as it may affect a refund, should you request one (see my returns policy here) While by no means a comprehensive list, here are some basic tips!:

Cleaning oiling and storage

Clean your knife often, this should be obvious, but many people forget! Many household detergents should be fine and a cold water rinse. Most importantly though, be sure to dry your knife immediately, whether it’s stainless or high carbon, both can rust if given the chance, although this is much more of an issue with high carbon steels, and many people who are unfamiliar with carbon steel blades are surprised when they leave a wet knife on the table and return a few hours later to find it rusty and the finish ruined! It is therefore necessary with high carbon blades to dry immediately and coat with an oil of some sort, I`ll leave that up to you but my preference is a simple mineral oil as it is non toxic and generally considered food safe, making it suitable for those knives used in the kitchen. This oil is generally appropriate for coating handle materials as well, and although I nearly always use stabilized wood which will not really absorb any oil, a light coating of mineral oil can help prolong it and also bring out the woods natural figure a little. If a knife has other handle material, I will endevour to enclose information specific to its care when I send it.

Folding knives, whether slipjoint, lock or friction, should be cleaned inside wherever possible, especially around the pivot and connecting parts, as lint tends to gather in these places and can affect use over time. An air compressor is a great tool for blowing the knife out, and followed up with a piece of soft wire or something thin, along with a rag to clear any debris. Folding knives that are screwed/bolted together may be dismantled for this purpose, in the assumption that you know how to put it back together! (sometimes parts are under tension, and you may struggle with this- please get in touch if so at paul@nashwight.com)

If a knife is to be put in a drawer for any length of time, it is generally better to not put them in the sheath or case as leather can be a damp trap and can tarnish or rust your blade given half the chance- this applies to all knives, folding or sheath, stainless or carbon! I spritz mine with mineral oil if they’re going in the drawer for any length of time, and you may want to also consider some of those bags of silica gel too.

Also, for the above reasons, no knives should be left in water for very long, and it is also safe practice to not leave sharp kitchen knives in soapy water, I’m sure many of us have accidentally reached into the soapy washing up and caught a finger on a sharp edge! Its also worth mentioning that stabilized wood, whilst stabilized is still wood and may still be prone to swelling and such when exposed to water etc.

Sharpening

Sharpening (and sharpness!) is an extensive topic, and something which is a skill which needs to be acquired, through practice and experience. It is also part and parcel of knife maintenance, and should be carried out regularly, especially if prepping for a certain trip or task, as the saying goes, a dull knife is a dangerous knife!

Your knife should arrive freshly sharpened to a precise edge, and I will state the included angle in the literature that comes in the box, to re-sharpen, you will hold the knife at half that angle to preserve the “factory” edge. Again, I`m not going into sharpening in any length here as there are many useful methods that you can learn, so if you are not sure, I suggest a deep dive online into the subject. I also offer 1 free re-sharpen per knife bought from me (assuming an undamaged edge), and will be setting up a sharpening service on my site very soon.

Proper use (DO)

• Clean your knife
• Dry and oil your knife
• Sharpen your knife regularly
• Store it properly
• Use it for tasks appropriate to its design and intended purpose, which will usually be defined in the literature I include with the knife, for example a knife labelled “bushcraft” will be very sturdily built and intended for heavier duty tasks such as battoning firewood, carving, and so on, whereas I would not consider a slipjoint pocket knife appropriate for this! This is important as it may affect you right to a refund should it get damaged.

Misuse/Abuse (DO NOT)

• Leave your knife in water for any length of time, even stainless steel to prevent rust and warping of handle materials.
• Expose your knife to excessive heat, such as a camp fire or kitchen stove- high temperatures will ruin the knife steel temper, which will not be able to repaired, and can also damage adhesives and handle materials.
• Expose your knife to certain chemicals and solvents, while the steel will be fine, certain strong solvents can destroy adhesives and attack wood and the resin used for stabilizing
• Expose your knife to acids, these, even mild acids such as citric can attack the steel, although this will only result in flash rusting or what people refer to as patina!
• Hit or hammer your knife, this should be obvious, but if I inspect a returned knife and see hammer marks or similar, I will not refund. There may be exceptions to this, if the knife is intended for such tasks, in which case it will be made clear when you buy it.
• Throw your knife into trees etc, whilst it is fun, its also a great way to break a knife, so don’t do it, buy some actual throwing knives instead (or dont, they may be illegal)
• Most importantly, DO NOT use your knife in any way shape or form for criminal purposes, please acquaint yourself with the law where you live, I will not be held accountable if you use any of my knives for criminal purposes, and as stated elsewhere, will blacklist you, as well as tell others in the UK bladesmithing community not to serve you, and may also report you to the police.