Beeswax on blades

R

roweac

Joined
Sep 9, 2017
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Trying to keep all my knives in a state where I can use them on food, so im using food grade mineral oil. On my folders just a drop on the hinge and a little on the sharpened part of the blade. On my fixed blades just the sharpened edge. On the upper parts of my blades I have been using raw beeswax. I just rub the blade with the wax and then rub it smooth with the heat of my thumb. It seems to keep water and crud off and I do it every time I sharpen or clean after use.

What do you guys think of this? I know that some blacksmiths use a mixture of beeswax, turpentine, and boiled linseed oil when finishing metals, but I obviously dont want the other two ingredients in things I eat.

Just curious.

Thanks
 
roweac said:
I will, I was just wondering what anyone who knows more about this thought?

Thanks
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I don't know more about it than you :-), but have tried a few different approaches for years and settled on the simplest, cheapest approach that works with the least amount of toxic solvents and work on my part. :-) And in the end, I do EXACTLY what you're doing, minus the wax on the upper part of the blade thing.
 
If it works for you, why not just continue what you have been doing :) ?
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This ^
BUT
In woodworking finishing, polishing, coating circles it is well known that raw wax is quite permeable to water and so wax is only used to get a certain LOOK to the finish and not really for protection other than maybe some slight scuff resistance.
YMMV
I think the best protection is to wash and DRY the blade and maybe mineral oil wipe.

PS: Wood, unless the pores are "filled" (not with wax), has pores and that may be some of the lack of protection where wax flakes in the pores, your blade obviously has a more homogeneous surface so maybe the wax is good.

PPS: The Japanese woodworking dudes use oil on their saws and chisels rather than wax for protection if that tells you anything. Top notch tools and results for over a thousand years so . . . I would go with what they do.
 
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I don’t want wax in my food just as much as I don’t want other stuff. Wipe the blade dry and you won’t have a problem with rust. I personally like the patina food gives carbon steel and while it only does it very slightly, it still helps to protect against rust. Wax adds friction and can make it harder to cut. That’s why you use oil over wax on saw blades because wax makes the saw bind more while cutting.
 
I don't think beeswax will harm the steel. But, I'd still not be inclined to use it, simply because it'll hold a lot of dust & lint. On a fixed blade, maybe not a big deal. On a folder, I can do without all that extra 'help' in collecting pocket lint in the pivot, or any other dust/dirt it may encounter.

I use Burt's Bees lip balm on a daily basis (it's beeswax-based), to keep my lips from chapping. I used to carry the tube of balm in my pocket all day, every day. But the darn thing has a 'blue ring' around the base of the cap on the tube, from all the denim lint it collects in-pocket. I don't carry it in my pocket anymore, unless I'm going out for a long while.

For protection from rust, I just keep my non-stainless blades clean and DRY, wiping the blade down with some Windex after each use. I almost never deliberately oil the blade itself. But on the occasions when I oil the pivot (2 or 3 times a year), I'll usually wipe some of the residual oil (I usually use some food-safe mineral oil) over the blades. That's an extremely light coat, and it's all I've needed.


David
 
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Guitarist7.62 said:
wax makes the saw bind more while cutting.
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I STRONGLY beg to differ on that one. The friction that will be there in any case serves to heat the wax, the wax flows and acts as a good, even better lube than the oil. In this case CANDLE WAX is preferable . . . bee's wax can have some slight stiction . . . for me this shows when put on drawer runners only.
But way off topic for this discussion.
 
I have been using a blend of food grade mineral oil and beeswax on my cutting boards for years. the mixture is a soft solid at room temperature and is easy to work and rub in. knives that i am not using get a coat on blade before being wrapped and put up. It wipes off easily. the small amount of oil and wax that could enter your food from a knife or cutting board probably weighs less than the allowable insect/rodent feces allowed in most flours and prepared foods.
 
Thanks to all for your thoughts. That is all I was looking for were some thoughts and comments.

Just a note, I am using very minimal amounts of beeswax. After it is rubbed in you cannot see it, so much of what I rub on, which is just the slightest of coatings, comes off in the process. From what I have read Beeswax is more permeable to water than some other waxes but less so than even some plastics, and it is edible. I broke my jaw when I was young and it was what they had me use to coat the metal that protruded in my mouth from the wiring. Some people even mix it with flavorings and chew it like gum. It does seem to attract a little more dust and lint than mineral oil alone but like I said with minimal amounts I am using that is not even that noticeable.

Thanks again.
 
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