I've had tons of knives over the years, but up until recently I didn't have any that I particularly liked and wanted to keep in great shape. I've heard that you should coat a knife with oil, or lubricant, etc. periodically...to prevent rust. What exactly should I use? How often? And does it differ with the various metal types? <br><br>Also, what type of resonably priced sharpener do you all recommend? Anything in the $20-$40 range would be great. <br><br>Thanks!<br><br>-John McIntire

I am a Sentry Solutions convert. Both their Tuf-Cloth and Tuf-Glide are exeptional products and are exclusively recommended by many of the top makers. They are also good values because that one cloth and one tiny bottle will take care of dozens of knives and a safe full of guns for a long, long time.<br>As far as sharpeners, I do most of my sharpening with a DMT folding diamond hone, fine, and a small Gatco ceramic triangle. There are so many good sharpeners, I would not recommend these two exclusively, they just work for me and are small enough to carry with my stuff.

I use mineral oil - the one you could get in tool stores. Nothing fancy, but does its job, even in the marine environment. However, I only use stainless steel knives - in good conditions, they don't rust even with no care.

I have stainless blades so I don't usually coat them with oil so I'll leave that to others.<br><br>I highly recommend that you get a DMT diamond stone. You can decide whether you want one just for home or a smaller one you can take with you. I am constantly impressed by how quickly they restore an edge. 've found that the finest "grit" is enough to maintain a solid edge on my blades. But you may want to get a coarser "grit" as well for initial sharpening.<br><br>The big at home stones don't fit your budget, but the smaller ones would.<br><br>Be sure to really shop around on the internet. I found my for 1/2 what my local hardware store charges.

I coat my carbon steel knives with BreakFree CLP or RIG grease for long term storage. I use mineral oil on carbon steel knives that I know I will use for food preparation. My stainless knives are usually left uncoated or at most wiped with a silicon gun rag.<br><br>I have several knife sharpeners but find myself using the Spyderco Sharpmaker most of the time. Once I have established the kind of angle I want on a blade I find a few strokes on the Sharpmaker with 2 different grits of ceramic rods adequate to maintain and restore a good working edge. If I really have to do a lot of work on an edge I use either a Razors Edge system or a DMT clamp and rod guide type device. The Sharpmaker uses triangular ceramic rods so you can sharpen serrated edges.

In addition to the good info above, I would not leave a carbon knife in a leather sheath. The acids, etc used in the tanning process can rust or stain the blade. Another good reason to get a Kydex sheath...

This is more "user" care than knife. Buy two if you have found one you really like ( assuming you can afford it.) Usually when I find something I truly like it A. gets stolen or lost B. has just gone out of production.

Judging by my signature line, how many of each do you think I buy?

Oops! I don't have a signature line!<br>Anyway, my signature line would be:<br><br>Two is one, one is none, that is why I carry three.

The overwhelming consensus at Bladeforums.com and Knifeforums.com recommends the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204. Diamond rods are now available for it for major reprofiling of blades. _________________________________________________ Proverbs 21:19