Reddit reviews KUROBARA 100% Pure Tsubaki Japanese Knife Maintenance Camellia Oil (3.5 oz)

If you want get all Gucci on your knives, camellia oil is traditional.

Man I'd be leery of unknown garage sale residue and just replace it with a known residue...

I got mine on Amazon.

Everyone likes to do different things with it, and they all do a decent job softening and wearing the rope.

My preferred method is to oil up my hands with tsubaki oil and run the rope through my hands multiple times. You don't need a ton of oil, just a little, enough to keep your hands just feeling oily. This is a good brand [Tsubaki Oil](http://www.Kurobara.com/ 100% Tsubaki Oil https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00362HBPQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5xmKAb9MYY23A). If your rope is still quite scratchy after an hour of running each hank through your hands, you can coil it and bake it at 225° Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Then repeat the hand oiling process, running the rope through your hands.

If you don't want to go that route, you can use a flame to burn the extra fuzz off. It's easy to char your rope, and definitely don't do this if you ever plan on using it for suspensions, as you can easily weaken the rope in spots without it being obvious. Don't use a candle, use a butane lighter of some kind at a distance, steadily moving the rope through it to burn off the rough fuzziness. You may get some char on the rope surface, it should easily brush off.

I know some people also like to wash their rope. I don't think that does a great job working the rope for until use, and I often don't love the feel of my rope after washing, so I usually retreat with oil after it dries. Note that you need to dry natural twisted rope under tension or it will curl and try to untwist.

I hope your experiences with your new rope go well! Have fun!

https://www.amazon.com/KUROBARA-Tsubaki-Japanese-Maintenance-Camellia/dp/B00362HBPQ

This has been a fantastic oil.

Just a minor detail: tsubaki oil is camellia oil, not a petroleum-based mineral oil.

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This is the one I use:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Korin-HA-1008-100-Tsubaki-Oil/dp/B00362HBPQ

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I apply a quick coat when I've finished producing a blade. In British environmental conditions I doubt you really 'need' it. Unless you plan to hang your knife in a greenhouse or something. That being said, the occasional oiling wouldn't hurt.Rust erasers are quite nice for dealing with rust mishaps, like if someone, god-forbid, leaves your knife in the kitchen sink or wet on the kitchen table.

Regarding stones, I would just opt for a decent 1000/3000 combination stone if you are just starting out. A 1000/3000 Naniwa or 1000/6000 king are both inexpensive options. I have a 1000/3000 Naniwa that I still use occasionally, and it works just fine. You should to pick something like that up for 25-35 GBP. Of course if you know what you want is shapton stones, then I'd get a 1000 + 3000.

That said, I'm pretty sure it is an inevitability that you'll start eyeing a second fancy knife, and you might want to have some money set aside for that express reason. It's easy to go overboard on maintenance supplies (I'm guilty of this myself), when you have a small collection and/or occasional user. A decent 1000 stone is probably all you need, and everything else is just extra. That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with extra.

This is the one I use - https://www.amazon.com/KUROBARA-Tsubaki-Japanese-Maintenance-Camellia/dp/B00362HBPQ