How to Take Care of Your Knife Media
Published: 2 days ago
Learn how to take care of your knives. The video is divided into pre-emptive care, rust removal, and sharpening. By following these instructions, you will keep your Varusteleka Jääkäripuukko, Varusteleka Skrama, and other military and outdoor knives razor sharp and rust-free.
1. Pre-emptive care.
The first part of knife maintenance is pre-emptive care. Neglect is the enemy of knives. If you leave your knife wet and dirty, it will rust. Even stainless steel can rust if neglected or exposed to corrosive elements, such as seawater.
Clean and dry your knife after each use. If it requires washing, do it by hand. Never put your knife in a dishwasher. Oil the carbon steel knives before storing them. Use a non-toxic, non-reactive, neutral oil, such as mineral oil, MCT oil, or Canola oil.
2. Rust removal
The second chapter in your knife care saga is rust removal. Rust on your knife is not the end of the world, and it is easy to clean. However, the better you take care of your blade, the less time you need to spend on cleaning it. There are various rust-removal methods, such as chemical treatments, fine-grit sandpaper, and steel wool. In this video, we use sandpaper because it is easy to use, readily available, and can reach tight spots.
Rub the blade thoroughly with sandpaper until no rust remains. Remember that rubbing the edge with the paper will dull the blade and lead to a blood pact with the knife. Adding water may make the process easier, but then you should use a specific “wet sandpaper”. Dry sandpaper will quickly turn to mush. Be thorough and check your progress. Pay special attention to small nooks and crannies.
3. Knife sharpening
The final part of the video answers the question: how to sharpen your knife. There are many knife-sharpening methods from cheap, easy, and adequate, to more expensive and better. Carbide pull-through sharpeners do it quick and dirty. The end result isn’t the best. It is fine when you have a cheap knife made from cheap steel. However, you shouldn’t use them with high-quality knives. Free-hand sharpening is at the other end of the spectrum. You get the best results and you have the most control, but it requires a lot of practice. This video concentrates on sharpening the knife using various sharpening stones.
When using several stones, start with the coarsest and work your way up to the finest. There are two kinds of sharpening stones: water stones and oil stones. Basically, the difference is the liquid medium they use. The main thing to remember is to use the correct liquid for the stone at hand because using water on an oil stone or vice versa can damage the stone.
Lubricate the stone according to the instructions provided with the stone.
The next step is to ensure you have the right sharpening angle and keep it consistent. You can help this process by using specific angle guides.
The video shows you a single, efficient technique to sharpen your knife with sharpening stones. There are other ways as well. Check other videos and choose the one that works best for you. Remember to keep your stone lubricated. Pay special attention to the last strokes, as they will determine the final result.
Once you are finished, clean the blade of the gunk, dry it, and oil it. Now your varusteleka knife is ready to make feather sticks, skin a deer, or slice a tomato.
We make our own fixed-blade full-tang knives here in Finland under the Varusteleka brand. We also sell both fixed-blade and folding knives made by other companies at our webstore.
You can find our knife selection here
https://varusteleka.com/en/collections/knives-and-tools
1. Pre-emptive care.
The first part of knife maintenance is pre-emptive care. Neglect is the enemy of knives. If you leave your knife wet and dirty, it will rust. Even stainless steel can rust if neglected or exposed to corrosive elements, such as seawater.
Clean and dry your knife after each use. If it requires washing, do it by hand. Never put your knife in a dishwasher. Oil the carbon steel knives before storing them. Use a non-toxic, non-reactive, neutral oil, such as mineral oil, MCT oil, or Canola oil.
2. Rust removal
The second chapter in your knife care saga is rust removal. Rust on your knife is not the end of the world, and it is easy to clean. However, the better you take care of your blade, the less time you need to spend on cleaning it. There are various rust-removal methods, such as chemical treatments, fine-grit sandpaper, and steel wool. In this video, we use sandpaper because it is easy to use, readily available, and can reach tight spots.
Rub the blade thoroughly with sandpaper until no rust remains. Remember that rubbing the edge with the paper will dull the blade and lead to a blood pact with the knife. Adding water may make the process easier, but then you should use a specific “wet sandpaper”. Dry sandpaper will quickly turn to mush. Be thorough and check your progress. Pay special attention to small nooks and crannies.
3. Knife sharpening
The final part of the video answers the question: how to sharpen your knife. There are many knife-sharpening methods from cheap, easy, and adequate, to more expensive and better. Carbide pull-through sharpeners do it quick and dirty. The end result isn’t the best. It is fine when you have a cheap knife made from cheap steel. However, you shouldn’t use them with high-quality knives. Free-hand sharpening is at the other end of the spectrum. You get the best results and you have the most control, but it requires a lot of practice. This video concentrates on sharpening the knife using various sharpening stones.
When using several stones, start with the coarsest and work your way up to the finest. There are two kinds of sharpening stones: water stones and oil stones. Basically, the difference is the liquid medium they use. The main thing to remember is to use the correct liquid for the stone at hand because using water on an oil stone or vice versa can damage the stone.
Lubricate the stone according to the instructions provided with the stone.
The next step is to ensure you have the right sharpening angle and keep it consistent. You can help this process by using specific angle guides.
The video shows you a single, efficient technique to sharpen your knife with sharpening stones. There are other ways as well. Check other videos and choose the one that works best for you. Remember to keep your stone lubricated. Pay special attention to the last strokes, as they will determine the final result.
Once you are finished, clean the blade of the gunk, dry it, and oil it. Now your varusteleka knife is ready to make feather sticks, skin a deer, or slice a tomato.
We make our own fixed-blade full-tang knives here in Finland under the Varusteleka brand. We also sell both fixed-blade and folding knives made by other companies at our webstore.
You can find our knife selection here
https://varusteleka.com/en/collections/knives-and-tools