re: How To Recondition Knives

Ziggy,
Congrats on the heirloom knives.

As far as rust prevention, I once did a science fair project w/ my son on corrosion prevention. We tested a number of products around the house, but it was obviously not an all inclusive test. Of the products we tested, we found the following:
Really good: Eezox=Breakfree CLP=Shooter's Choice Rust Prevention=Corrosion X
Pretty good: 3 in One Oil=Kroil>WD 40
Really bad: Reel Magic.

Didn't have to do a science fair project the next year. If we had, we were going to test: Ballistol, Clenz Oil, FP 10, motor oil and a few others.

Of course, for the ultimate protection, especially long-term, you should use Cosmoline. It's thick, kinda nasty and the knives won't look as nice w/ the Cosmoline applied, but it's great for rust prevention of rust susceptible metals in long term storage.