How do I take care of my horseman knives?!

[new2knives1568]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and new to knives in general. For starters I guess, I am a teenager who shows and rides horses on a regular basis I am always searching for a hoof pick at shows and had seen knives with such a tool included and saw some old horseman knives on ebay, they appealed to me more than the newer ones I thought they were more useful and honestly better quality even though they were very old. I am reaching out with a few questions about one of my horseman knives(I have 3). The one I am worried about is the first one I bought and carried about two years ago, a Venture Slater Brothers 5 blade horseman knife. It is still the most complete example of a horseman knife I have and works well but I retired it some time ago when I bought a few others. I don't know what product to use on this knife to keep it in decent shape, I obviously want something I can apply to the blades but I am also interested in something to help preserve the scales as they are wood with some sort of design (not a ns shield) inlayed, it is some sort of dye in a honeycomb manner after having this knife for some time I have learned that this dye/design is rather delicate and would love for some advice on how to keep this knife in good shape both back spring and blades as well as the scales. I tried adding a picture of it please let me know if you can or cannot see the picture.

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. A lightweight oil applied into the joints (just a drop in each joint is all that’s needed). There are many good oils, 3-in-1 being probably the most common, Latama Quick Release is generally lauded as the best oil for knives.

Those same oils can also be lightly applied to the blades with a soft cotton, or microfiber cloth, and will retard tarnish and rust. Best to try to keep from applying oil to the handle covers. My personal preference for protecting metals from tarnish and rust is a product called Tuf-Glide which I have used for years. It will not harm the handle covers. It’s big advantage as a protectant is it leaves an invisible dry protectant film which will not attract and hold dirt, dust, lint, etc. Read and follow the directions for use.

The best product for preserving the handle covers is Renaissance Wax, aka RenWax. It’s also a good protectant for metal. You can do an internet search for it (and the other products mentioned). RenWax is particularly interesting.

You have a nice old horeseman knife. Good to see you regard it highly and are interested in preserving it. You can do a keyword search here on AAPK (search function can be found under Quicklinks on the upper left of this thread) and find hundreds of posts with recommendations for “cleaning”, “oil”, “lube”, “preserving”, etc and find recommendations.

Ken

[new2knives1568]

Thank you so much for the advice and compliment. I know this isn't the greatest knife in the world but I hold it in high regard. I will look into these products. I am assuming the wax doesn't change the color and won't affect the scales themselves but rather just add a protective coating? Would the wax work on stag handles as my EDC is a 7 blade horseman knife with stag handles and it tends to see a lot of dirt and debris as well as some occasional water. I will add that I open up all 3 of my horseman knives on a weekly basis, wipe them down and treat any rust very lightly and carefully as I find it.

[Mumbleypeg]

The wax when applied as directed will provide a protective layer and shouldn't change the color. Might make it a little more shiny though. Look it up and see it's background development and uses.

Ken

[new2knives1568]

Would renwax also work on a Brookes and Crooked mop file worked and I'm assuming gold washed knife I have? It would be like the horseman knife and just be preserved and in storage. And I would probably use tufglide on it as well if you think it's safe for it.

[bighomer]

Ken's advice is top notch. If you keep them in a drawer or box you could try these to help keep moisture at at bay, I get most of mine in medicine bottles but a lot are packing boxes. They are also available for sale.

[Mumbleypeg]

Beautiful knife! You can learn all about RenWax here: https://restorationproduct.com/about/

Ken

[1967redrider]

I picked up a rusted but complete Wostenholm IXL horseman/farrier knife Friday at the Shenandoah Valley Knife Collector's show for $85. It has stag scales, so Herb recommended soaking it in WD-40, which I did for 5 days, monitoring the situation. About Day 3, I added some lubricating and cleaning bike chain oil too.

Both blade wells had a ¼" of gunk in them. Since then, I have been giving it the #2 pencil spa treatment. Thinking about using a dremel with a wire wheel on the punch and corkscrew, maybe the back of the hoof pick too. But I'm just looking to stop the rust and not removing the patina as I like how that looks.

It has excellent snap on all springs and each tool.moves freely now.

[wlf]

I picked up a rusted but complete Wostenholm IXL horseman/farrier knife Friday at the Shenandoah Valley Knife Collector's show for $85. It has stag scales, so Herb recommended soaking it in WD-40, which I did for 5 days, monitoring the situation. About Day 3, I added some lubricating and cleaning bike chain oil too.

Both blade wells had a ¼" of gunk in them. Since then, I have been giving it the #2 pencil spa treatment. Thinking about using a dremel with a wire wheel on the punch and corkscrew, maybe the back of the hoof pick too. But I'm just looking to stop the rust and not removing the patina as I like how that looks.

It has excellent snap on all springs and each tool.moves freely now.

Congratulations, one of my favorite makers.
I can't believe ; no pictures. Maybe you are holding out until the before AND after are available?

[FRJ]

I have been giving it the #2 pencil spa treatment.
It has excellent snap on all springs and each tool.moves freely now.

Pencils can be had in different hardness of lead. Hard lead makes a better tool.

[new2knives1568]

Luckily I've been able to come by all my knives for about 45$ or less. But I still want to keep them in good condition. Here is all I have so far. From left to right in the picture is venture Slater Brothers, Irving cutlery co, Wostenholm, then Brookes and crooked.

[new2knives1568]

I have some torque cb laying around does anyone know if that is good for knives. I will be trying to find some renwax at some point today as well, I will also research other options for cpl.

[1967redrider]

Congratulations, one of my favorite makers.
I can't believe ; no pictures. Maybe you are holding out until the before AND after are available?

Sorry, Lyle, I was halfway into my 4 mile coffee walk when I saw this thread and decided to post.

Here's where I'm at so far, still some work to do. The soaking pictures are just in WD-40, the soaking bowl picture is the aftermath along with a chunk of gunk that was in the blade well. I'm pleased with the progress so far.

[1967redrider]

Initial WD-40 soak. I put her back in for a little more soaking.

[wlf]

Sorry. I know it takes time and effort to do that. Thanks for yours.

[1967redrider]

Sorry. I know it takes time and effort to do that. Thanks for yours.

No worries, thanks for your interest.

[Reverand]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and new to knives in general. For starters I guess, I am a teenager who shows and rides horses on a regular basis I am always searching for a hoof pick at shows and had seen knives with such a tool included and saw some old horseman knives on ebay, they appealed to me more than the newer ones I thought they were more useful and honestly better quality even though they were very old. I am reaching out with a few questions about one of my horseman knives(I have 3). The one I am worried about is the first one I bought and carried about two years ago, a Venture Slater Brothers 5 blade horseman knife. It is still the most complete example of a horseman knife I have and works well but I retired it some time ago when I bought a few others. I don't know what product to use on this knife to keep it in decent shape, I obviously want something I can apply to the blades but I am also interested in something to help preserve the scales as they are wood with some sort of design (not a ns shield) inlayed, it is some sort of dye in a honeycomb manner after having this knife for some time I have learned that this dye/design is rather delicate and would love for some advice on how to keep this knife in good shape both back spring and blades as well as the scales. I tried adding a picture of it please let me know if you can or cannot see the picture.

Congratulations on having a good eye for knives! So many people want something shiny and flashy, but you seem to want quality and history. I admire that in you.
The advice given to you is good. Nothing beats a little dab of oil and normal use. Those old carbon steel blades hold a wicked edge, and those knives will outlast you if they are cared for.
Also, Welcome to AAPK! We are proud to have you here!
Please stay and keep showing pictures of your beautiful knives!

[new2knives1568]

Thanks so much for all the compliments and support. I have plenty of questions and will continue to post. I ordered a few products mentioned earlier and put them on some knives laying around I don't care about just to get a feel for how to use them and see how effective they are, if I like the way they work they will be used on my vintage knives. Oh and about the flashy thing, I got so sick of seeing pink knives with a hoof pick on them as well and bought that Slater knife knowing it would definitely outlast the pretty pink knife on the market.

[new2knives1568]

The history thing you mentioned also was a big part of why I bought those knives, I wondered how many horse stories those knives could tell.