Thread: Oiling The Blade

I put Camellia oil on the razors that are not in my rotation about a month ago. I have kept my eye on them since then; however, I am not sure when I need to clean and reapply. Some are still fairly oily; however, others are becoming a little sticky. Should I be reapplying the oil on a monthly basis?


I have also noticed that some of the oil has got onto a few of the scales. Can this do any damage? I was thinking that with Camellia oil being a natural product it will not do them any harm, but I am not really sure.


I should mention that this stuff is the real deal; I purchased it from a sword maker in Japan. I’m told that it is good quality stuff.

Did you clean the blade after applying oil? I do as follow: put one drop of almond oil on the blade, spread the drop with my finger, clean excess of oil with soft paper. I feel that a very thin layer of oil is enough, but.. just my opinion.

The problem is when putting oil on horn scales: I feel that much more oil is good for them, but also think that this could leave some bad marks on the blade during weeks of storage.

If your oil seems to gum-up, harden, or otherwise "lose coverage" on it's own; then it's time to try a new oil or reapply the old. I've settled on Ballistol after testing several different "skin-friendly" oils; including mineral, olive, and camellia. I've been using it for months now. It hasn't damaged any of my natural or synthetic scales yet.

First up swords are kept in scabbards which somewhat seal the blade from air but even so the oil is replaced at certain intervals depending on when the blade was last polished. My swords have not been oiled in a few months but I digress.

Camellia oil is 'friendly to scales but not an ideal long term storage oil for steel as it does oxidise.
I use it on my rotation as it gets constantly refreshed but I have seen a woodwork forum where someone had rust problems as soon as 2 weeks after applying Camellia to chisels. It's fine to use it, just refresh it relative to your location. eg in high humidity, sea air etc. maybe once a week or fortnightly.

I like to use a strop treated with 3in1 to oil my blades. After shaving I strop on this strop and it leaves a light residue of oil that I finger wipe over the surface of the blade. It works for me.

Charlie

Like Sticky, I've gone from camellia to ballistol. The camellia does tend to oxidise, and apart from that I find it a little too thick and it doesn't "creep" as much as the much thinner ballistol oil.

Regards,
Neil.

I use mineral oil and have never noticed a problem.

X

I've been using a silicone gun cloth for a few months now and it works well on a day to day basis. I haven't really used it for long enough to know how it works for long term. But, it doesn't leave too much of anything on the blade that might get on the scales.

Another +1 for ballistol. It doesn't seem to thicken or go sticky, is skin friendly. I like the smell, although it isn't to everyone's taste!

I also use tuf-glide, which works well and persists for some time. It isn't cheap, but you only need a little and it lasts. However, it sometimes seem to "colour" the steel, giving it a darker look, but it doesn't seem to be permanent.

I just like the smell of it.

Charlie