From: "Gene Smith" <SmithFrow@worldnet.att.net>
To: "Baidarka List" <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: [baidarka] Oil
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 10:22:21 -0000
Any of youse guys ever use walnut oil? I looked at a whole bunch of tool
pages and find people slathering the damnedest things on their tools! Why
walnut oil? 'Tis a drying oil - like linseed - but, very much UN-like
linseed and tung oil, it is edible. The French fancy it as a salad oil,
hence, you will find it in health food stores and also in import stores
(usually cheaper than the health food stores). I have had really good
results with walnut oil on steel. I use it on my Chinese cleaver, and since
I started, I can now be casual about washing/drying it off. With other
edible oil wipes if I left it unwashed and dried - instant rust. Same with
my wok - used to be, if I put on the lid after cooking and left it for 10
minutes, a ring of rust formed just above the food...mmmmm, tasty! What the
hell has this got to do with tools, you say? I have some steel tools that
have been sitting outdoors, inside a loose lidded wooden box for almost a
year now with no sign of rust - just wiped down with walnut oil. Houston is
about as close as you can get to being underwater without actually needing a
boat - very high humidity - I've had tools rust inside toolchests inside
un-airconditioned buildings here. Anyhow, it is a lovely oil. Don't use it
on a surface that needs to slide - like the sole of a plane - because, like
linseed oil, you get a "paint" film rather than lubrication. It is a nice
oil for some things, and absolutely champion at anything in the kitchen.
Give it a try.
Gene Smith
currently in semi-underwater instead of drought mode in Houston