OldSaw
The wife's investment
I bought an old Dexter chef knife over 20 years ago and it was well used when I got it. It always had a bit of a hollow spot ahead of the bolster, which has been really annoying. So today I took it to a rough grinding wheel to reduce some of the bolster, which was a step in the right direction.
It was a little rusty and stayed in our summer cottage for most of the past twenty years. I have oiled it and scrubbed it with a Scotch-Brite pad with fair results. Today I hit it with a Scotch-Brite bristle disk and a Scotch-Brite rotary disc pad in a drill motor, which cleaned it up much nicer except for some pitting. This procedure also removed all of the natural patina. After whetting it on a couple of stones I applied some olive oil and wiped it clean with a paper towel. I hope this helps retard the return of rust.
Here’s my questions:
1: What’s the best way to restore the natural shape? Because of the bolster it was badly out of shape for a long time. I’ve restored some of it on my Ken Onion belt sharpener and with whet stones. This was all free hand and it is difficult to reshape as all these efforts want to follow the current shape. I’ve marked the edges of the affected area with a marker and tried sharpening on either side of the marks, with some success. However, I feel like there must be a better way.
Here’s a picture of the area that I’m trying to restore. It’s way better than it was, but still leaves veggie skins uncut because it doesn’t touch the cutting board there.
2: What’s the best way to retard rust formation on a carbon steel knife? I’ve been using olive oil, but maybe something else works better? Avocado oil maybe?
It was a little rusty and stayed in our summer cottage for most of the past twenty years. I have oiled it and scrubbed it with a Scotch-Brite pad with fair results. Today I hit it with a Scotch-Brite bristle disk and a Scotch-Brite rotary disc pad in a drill motor, which cleaned it up much nicer except for some pitting. This procedure also removed all of the natural patina. After whetting it on a couple of stones I applied some olive oil and wiped it clean with a paper towel. I hope this helps retard the return of rust.
Here’s my questions:
1: What’s the best way to restore the natural shape? Because of the bolster it was badly out of shape for a long time. I’ve restored some of it on my Ken Onion belt sharpener and with whet stones. This was all free hand and it is difficult to reshape as all these efforts want to follow the current shape. I’ve marked the edges of the affected area with a marker and tried sharpening on either side of the marks, with some success. However, I feel like there must be a better way.
Here’s a picture of the area that I’m trying to restore. It’s way better than it was, but still leaves veggie skins uncut because it doesn’t touch the cutting board there.
2: What’s the best way to retard rust formation on a carbon steel knife? I’ve been using olive oil, but maybe something else works better? Avocado oil maybe?