Should you oil or grease a rusty blade?

[Query]

Some of the people in this forum have claimed they can't completely prevent rust. E.g., that they actually pick up rust during a single skating session.

It is often claimed that rust helps attract more rust. I wonder if those are cases where there already was some rust. Perhaps if it was completely removed, the problem wouldn't happen??

When I am not going to use skates for a few days or more, I routinely apply oil to keep out moisture, which I believe helps prevent rust. Grease might be even better.

But what if there already was rust on the blade? Would applying oil (or grease) fail to help, or actually make it worse?

I'm basing this on claims (which I don't have the expertise to confirm) that underbody treatments on cars that are already rusted actually accelerate rust, by sealing it in where it somehow does more harm. I'm not sure how that can be, since you need oxygen to create rust, but there are a lot of sources that claim this. (There are also some sources that say if you remove the existing rust first, underbody coatings can still help. I'm not sure whether it is right.)

I still think oiling a blade makes sense. But maybe one should first remove all existing rust.

And would that apply to the screws too - i.e., that one must also remove all rust from screws, because they are in contact with the blade, which could spread to the blade?

Would the answer to these questions be any different for stainless steel? (To be honest, I don't see any rust on my stainless steel blades at this time. But when I had non-stainless blades, I sometimes did.)

BTW I have been unsuccessful in completely preventing rust on the underbody of my vehicles. The closest I came was a truck that I bought new, that had a "skid plate". The skid plate eventually itself rusted away, but when it did so, there was initially very little rust underneath the skid plate - perhaps because the skid plate mostly didn't touch what was underneath. But there is no practical way to do something similar to skate blades - the blade has to touch the ice.

[Kaitsu]

Would the answer to these questions be any different for stainless steel?

Yep, you have introduced solution also for this problem!

Of course, I'm sure we all agree that rust prevention is better than rust removal. But prevention is a separate topic, which has been covered many times in these forums.

If your blades are already rusted, you should use angle grinder to remove it. Buy also Zink anodes. After the grinding, use Zink anodes like you would do deburring with the honing stone. This if first step to create protective layer to nice and clean grind areas of your blades. Depending type of your anodes you have, drill hole or two to both of your blades. Bolt one Zink anode to both sides of the blades. Bigger the anodes, better the result you will achieve. When you are skating, friction causes water layer between the ice and blade and creates static electricity. These all will lead to electrical pair and you will have lifetime Zink rust protection for your blades.
No wiping or oiling needed anymore! 

It's recommended to drill holes for the anodes close to the sweet spot. This helps you to find the sweet spot. Also on this, bigger the anodes are better results you will achieve. Two flies at the same time, what could be better?

If your cooking pan is rusted, I can recommend modern aluminum pan with Teflon coating or just ensure that your cast iron pan will not rust. For the cars rust protection we can perhaps open a new thread. However the car engine which is leaking oil is handy way to arrange constant rust prevention for underbody of your vehicle. You just need to ensure that oil leak is sufficient. If you already have electric car, this is not so easy to arrange.

[sampaguita]

Anecdotal, but when I was skating in the tropics, my skates rust less (even if previously damaged with rust) when I put Vaseline on them after drying than if I don't.

[Query]

Buy also Zink anodes. After the grinding, use Zink anodes like you would do deburring with the honing stone. This if first step to create protective layer to nice and clean grind areas of your blades. Depending type of your anodes you have, drill hole or two to both of your blades. Bolt one Zink anode to both sides of the blades. Bigger the anodes, better the result you will achieve. When you are skating, friction causes water layer between the ice and blade and creates static electricity. These all will lead to electrical pair and you will have lifetime Zink rust protection for your blades.

No wiping or oiling needed anymore! 

I assume you haven't tried this, but are just having fun.

If https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/4326/zinc-anode is correct, zinc and other sacrificial anodes only work if immersed in salt water. Most of us don't skate on salt water ice.

[tstop4me]

I assume you haven't tried this, but are just having fun.

If https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/4326/zinc-anode is correct, zinc and other sacrificial anodes only work if immersed in salt water. Most of us don't skate on salt water ice.

My, my.  Couldn't help burst out laughing.  In previous discussions of corrosion, it was you who would always bring up your kayaking experiences and discuss corrosion due to salt water.  And it was I who would always quip, "I don't skate on salty ice or near salt water.  And I don't strap my skates on the roof of my car and drive along the coast in salt-laden air."

[Query]

Of course there is "sea ice", that sometimes forms in salt water seas. The ice crystallization process mostly excludes salt, but the ice contains pockets of concentrated brine, especially if the sea ice is only a few years old. And presumably there could still be salt breezes off the water. (Sea ice, BTW, is different from ice over land, ice shelves and icebergs, because the latter 3 form from precipitation, which is almost completely fresh water. But I haven't skated on them either, because I haven't lived in or visited the right places.)

I've skied on one of the great lakes, and skated and skied on small ponds, but I've never been in a location where I could skate on real sea ice. Have any of you?

If I did, I might rinse the salt off the blade afterwards. I have a 1980's era expensive high carbon steel Techna dive knife that came with instructions that it should be rinsed off after every use.

At one point I tried to look up sacrificial anodes, and wondered whether they make any sense for skating, but I couldn't find anything on it, and gave up. They are common in marine use, and they have been used on cars and trucks - but those are sometimes exposed to salt.

For the most part, on ice skating blades, a combination of using stainless steel blades and taking reasonable care (including, sometimes oil) has eliminated the problem for me. But there are still people on these forums who report problems with rust. So I still find my original question interesting.

And I also wonder whether scratches and rough spots attract rust - and whether that means you should avoid scratching skate blades, but should keep them smooth. Someone said Pennsylvania cars have just as many problems with rust, though they use cinder instead of salt.

I've still somewhere got a bunch of old skates I got when I was thinking about teaching a class on using hand tools to sharpen skates. Maybe I could take a pair, if I can find one that fits, and experiment.