What’s your go to sword oil?

[Cookie4Monstah]

Hello,

 

I wanted to ask what your go to oil for swords is? I use a variant of a G96 product. I drench the blade with oil, let it sit for 15 minutes (amount of time needed for the oil to bind) then dry the excess. I’ve used many oils on blued firearms in the past, most tend to discolor and/or even evaporate rather quickly leaving red rust behind.

 

Best,

Khalid

[John C]

I use a food grade mineral oil. It's cheap, readily available, and can be used on kitchen knife handles and other wood products that require a food safe product. It is also preservative free and won't stain the blade.

 

John C.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Kurobara Tsubaki or a good Choji oil. While Kurobara is perhaps the better oil in many ways, the smell of Choji is an integral part of Nihonto in my estimation. 

[David Flynn]

Getting good quality Choji oil, is hard to find.  Most choji oils on the market are scented mineral oil.   I go with Tsubaki.

[PhoenixDude]

Fujishiro's sword oil.

[GeorgeLuucas]

I use this Tsubaki oil:

https://www.amazon.c...ps%2C137&sr=8-1&th=1

[Lewis B]

+1 Tsubaki oil. Although to be honest my climate isn't humid enough to worry about oxidation. Just give the blade a wipe with a lens microfibre cloth before putting it away. 

[raynor]

2 hours ago, GeorgeLuucas said:

I use this Tsubaki oil:

https://www.amazon.c...ps%2C137&sr=8-1&th=1

Same oil I use. If you can see droplets on the blade or the rainbow sheen you're using too much.

[Tohagi]

Togishi choji oil... but it's expensive.

 

I often cut myself and choji is perfect to cicatrice...

[DirkO]

I use Heibei Okamura choji oil - they've been making it for centuries, so seems like a safe bet!

[Benjamin]

May I remind this impressive post

 

and the follow-up

 

 

By the way, @PhoenixDude, have you got a way to buy Fujishiro's sword oil? I once send a mail to Fujishiro San and I didn't had an answer. I supposed he don't send to my country.

 

Benjamin

[Emil]

Interesting instructions from Aoi Art:

 

"Generally, Choji oil has been used to treat Japanese swords. This is a sticky vegetable oil traditionally used in cleaning swords. It promotes oxidization of the blade that will result in rust in the future. In our opinion, and based on our experience, we do not advise you to use Chyoji oil. We suggest that you use high-quality machine oil on your sword. This is the same type used when maintaining guns or sewing machines, and it is the only oil that we use with our swords at Aoi Art."

 

The only problem with this advice is that there are so many different kind of oils out there, and other people warned that the wrong oil could cause oxidation. In the end it's not clear to me what oil is optimal

[GeorgeLuucas]

32 minutes ago, Emilll said:

Interesting instructions from Aoi Art:

 

"Generally, Choji oil has been used to treat Japanese swords. This is a sticky vegetable oil traditionally used in cleaning swords. It promotes oxidization of the blade that will result in rust in the future. In our opinion, and based on our experience, we do not advise you to use Chyoji oil. We suggest that you use high-quality machine oil on your sword. This is the same type used when maintaining guns or sewing machines, and it is the only oil that we use with our swords at Aoi Art."

 

The only problem with this advice is that there are so many different kind of oils out there, and other people warned that the wrong oil could cause oxidation. In the end it's not clear to me what oil is optimal

AOI art knows their stuff, and you won't regret taking their advice. 

In the end, the optimal oil is the product that does the job, and to your liking. Personally I like the tsubaki spray bottle. I've tried many others, but I always go back to that one. Truth is, I can't really tell which one is doing "BEST", so I use the one's that are recommended and are easy to source/use. 

I think the argument for modern machine oils is a pretty good one. We've developed the best-of-the-best over the years, so why not use it? Personally, I don't like the smell 
https://www.amazon.com/Singer-Sewing-Machine-Oil

Best of luck,
-Sam

[lonely panet]

Singer sewing machine oil? Or am i just the only 1?

[PNSSHOGUN]

Extraordinarily comprehensive test of gun oils:

 

https://www.shooters...ct-evaluation.91566/

[robinalexander]

Love the smell of Choji but Camellia is my go to.

[PhoenixDude]

Don't use gun oil on swords. A lot of them have cleaning elements meant to dissolve powder residue, lead, copper fouling etc in them, as well as lubricants that may or may not come off with isopropyl. This applies to things like wd40 and 3 in 1, break free, etc as well. Stick with sword oil or mineral oil.

[Shugyosha]

It depends on where you live: if your climate isn’t humid or otherwise damp and you don’t live by the sea then you may not need to oil. For example in the middle of the UK…
 

Choji oil can stain a blade so I would only oil if nervous of moisture. I’ve not used other types of oil other than this. 

[Andi B.]

I use white mineral oil (DIY-fragranced with clove buds). Only a few drops once or twice a year is sufficient for me - no need to marinate the blades.

[Alex A]

Express gun oil.

 

Been using it many years without an issue.