154cm Rusting

T

totallynotalex

Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
1,095
How is the rust resistance on it? I got a mini grip with it yesterday and when I woke up this morning there was some rust by the thumb stud. I understand that it would rust if I didnt take care of it down the road, but the day after?! Yes I played with it yesterday and I would say I've got sme pretty sweaty hands lol. But is this normal?
 
154CM (and ATS-34, same steel by a different name) are usually pretty rust-resistant. But, any steel can rust. The frequently-touched area near the thumbstud probably accumulates more dirt/sweat/grime which, if left alone, can cause rust issues. Especially sweat, which contains salts, and will accelerate rusting. Just make sure to keep it clean & dry after handling it. Thumbstuds can sometimes get in the way of a rag or whatever's used to wipe the blade, so the seam area at the base of the stud might getted missed. Scrub that area with some WD-40, isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or even Windex, which will do a lot to wash away skin oils (again, salt) and anything else that might accumulate & trap moisture & salt there. You might even consider polishing that area a bit. Polishing can close up some of the pores in the steel, which might otherwise trap moisture & other corrosive stuff. Certain 'textured' blade finishes, like bead-blast in particular, are notorious for trapping moisture & causing rust on stainless blades.
 
It goes something like this in my experience, in order of decreasing corrosion resistance. H1/Stellite/Talonite/titanium > 17-4ph(better quality steel flatware) > 420j2/X15tn> AUS6/12c27/440a> Aus8a/440c> INFI/154CM/ATS34/S30V > ZDP189/D2 > 3v/A2> 1095/1075/etc
 
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I am willing to bet that in your case, your body chemistry is highly acidic. That is enough to rust almost any blade.
 
If you dont use it as a food preparation knife you might consider putting some metal polish on it, other than that try and keep a light coating of oil on the blade (mineral oil, rem oil, or whatever you want)
 
I prefer to use more biological oils such as chapstick or whatever, because the idea of cutting myself with a blade that has a bunch of non-biological chemicals just feels bad, although it probably doesn't matter.
 
stoffi said:
I prefer to use more biological oils such as chapstick or whatever, because the idea of cutting myself with a blade that has a bunch of non-biological chemicals just feels bad, although it probably doesn't matter.
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No offense but that is just silly. The water you drink, the processed foods you eat, the air you breathe, etc . All have some chemicals tha re non-biological. A small slice isn't going to create any more problems than the things you eat and drink do. You are right, it doesn't matter.
 
RevDevil said:
I am willing to bet that in your case, your body chemistry is highly acidic. That is enough to rust almost any blade.
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That is very true,I carried mail out in the 100+ heat for 35 years and I could destroy a watch in one year by total corrosion.After just one day in the heat my hat would have salt around it from sweating.
 
Yoda, The order you listed is interesting. Though some I don't have experience with I have to agree with most. DM
 
yoda4561 said:
It goes something like this in my experience, in order of decreasing corrosion resistance. H1/Stellite/Talonite/titanium > 17-4ph(better quality steel flatware) > 420j2/X15tn> AUS6/12c27/440a> Aus8a/440c> INFI/154CM/ATS34/S30V > ZDP189/D2 > 3v/A2> 1095/1075/etc
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I've never had enough rust problems with my blades to establish an order, but if asked my expectation, your sequence would be roughly what I'd guess. Within the stainless steel family, corrosion resistance decreases with increasing carbon content. Although I will note that 154CM is rated by Crucible as being more corrosion resistant than 440C.
 
My real world experience has been different on those two steels. DM
 
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I've not had a problem with my 154CM blades. I'm inclined to agree that body chemistry is the most likely culprit.
 
Body chemistry is definitely a thing. I do maintenance work and I work on computers, I see keyboards with the paint eaten of the keys by some and last the life of the keyboard on others. That said I have coated Mini Grip and have carried it for 2 years and have never had any rust on the blade edge but I also don't have any problems with my keyboard looking like it's been cleaned with Acetone
 
Some folks body chemistry is the issue,some body made a post about it somewhere a long time ago.This person suggested a change in diet,liquids &solids as to rusting issues with blued firearms.When I was younger my blued guns would rust at fingerprints in hours,overnight was unbelievable,Things change
 
In the 90s I was on a pistol team and one of our guys had sweat that was so corrosive he could handle a stainless steel gun for 10 seconds and it would be rusted in 30 minutes. No one believed until they saw it. This guy would eat HOT peppers like candy so I do believe diet and body chemistry are involved. I started carrying an oily rag in my shooting bag to wipe down any metal he touched. OP, I would remove that thumb stud, clean it and the threaded hole in the blade good and use Breakfree CLP or Breakfree Collector on it. That will stop the rust but you may have to do it every week or two. Your sweat is wicking down into the threaded hole in the blade. You could take a Q tip and apply a drop of oil around the stud and hole every few days. Birchwood Casey makes a product called "Barricade" that will chemically neutralize the acid and salt in your sweat. It works very well but is kind of smelly.This is one reason I like the Spyderco hole better than a threaded stud that will be exposed to and hold almost anything you cut or have on your hands. Griptilians are very nice knives especially in 154 CM. Personally I have used 154 CM blades for many years and never had any rust problems at all. My guns don't seem to ever rust either.
 
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