Ralph, thanks for the info. It looks like oil is a good cleaner and keeps the rust away. I just keep finding more and more uses for the ballistol and being non-toxic is a bonus.
Dan, I cannot say this is true for just any other oil/lubricant, but the key perhaps with Ballistol (IMO) is that it emulisfies with water and it seems to resist to allowing accumulation of grit/shavings (low gunk factor) from sharpening. Someone on this forum could probably give us a Chemistry lesson on this, but I am not qualified since I had 2 years of freshman chemistry. LOL
Ralph