Anyone else have a major rust problem with their carbon steel knives?

S

SBaker34

Joined
Jun 16, 2010
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I keep reading on here that rust shouldn't be an issue unless you really abuse your knives and leave them wet for days. But all my carbon steel rusts within about a week of getting it after I only ran a cloth along the edge of my BK-9 once, it developed a solid coat of rust over night. My machete is pretty much a chunk of rust from spending a couple years in the shed even though its never been put away wet. And finally I have a mirror polished katana that even though its been wiped down obsessively and oiled with mineral oil 5 or 6 times after I used it and wiped it off but forgot to apply mineral oil within a week it was sprinkled with rust.


Does everyone else have carbon steel rust on them that fast? I cannot imagine having a rust free carbon steel knife that was not regularly oiled after each use and that would pretty much mean food prep is out of the question. I'm looking for a midsized multipurpose knife and because I will probably use it for food prep once in a while I am leaning towards an SRK as opposed to an ESEE RC-6 even though I would prefer the toughness.
 
I don't have much of an issue with rust on my blades. I've got several Mora's with high carbon blades that just kind of hand out in a box full of gear in my garage, ready for whenever I need one. I hardly ever wipe them down with any treatment. I do wipe them after using them, but shoot, sometimes it might be months between uses or wipe downs.

I don't care for the epoxy coating on blades for the most part. They look cool and "tactical" for sure. I think that I'm going to cold blue my carbon knives, I've thought about it in the past, but wasn't sure about it. I've seen pictures on here of it, and I like the finish quite a bit.
 
No, not here and I live on the coast. Are you in Florida? That's a pretty rusty place for carbon steel to live.

My machete is mottled after years of abuse but my carbon folders stay just fine with only mild attention and an occasional coat if oil. I'd give that a try..
 
fionafa said:
No, not here and I live on the coast. Are you in Florida? That's a pretty rusty place for carbon steel to live.

My machete is mottled after years of abuse but my carbon folders stay just fine with only mild attention and an occasional coat if oil. I'd give that a try..
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Kentucky actually, oil works except its all gone after one use meaning I have to apply a new coat of oil every couple days on my folders and I cannot touch food with them.
 
I live in Hawaii, and none of my blades ever rust. I have CPM-M4, ZDP-189, and my katana is 5160 spring steel. I don't have any hard core carbon steels like 1095.

Though I did have this one badly made Damascus knife that rusted on me after I left it in the leather sheathe for too long. After putting a smooth(not quite mirror) finish on it however, that seems to have crippled the rusting. After leaving it in a leather sheathe for the better part of 3 months, you really have to look closely to see any rust. I'm guessing with a perfect mirror finish, it would take about a year to even build up a patina in the sheathe.
 
Fluid Film Yes, it is food safe.

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No, because I maintain them. They get sharpened, they get coated, they get whiped off after a rainy day on the trail, and repeat. Never had an issue, it's never been a big deal. L6, 15N20, 1055, 1060, 1075, 1084 and 1095, 5160...
 
I work on the waterfront and my preferred blade is CPM M4. To be fair it's not very humid here so rust should not be as much of an issue.
Even the knife maker himself told me M4 had a problem with pitting.
I have no problems to report.
 
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SBaker34 said:
I have to apply a new coat of oil every couple days on my folders and I cannot touch food with them.
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If you use olive, veggie, or mineral oil you'll get the protection and still be able to slice your apple and cheese safely.

Petroleum based oils can offer better longevity but thats not an issue if you're oiling regularly.
 
SBaker34 said:
Kentucky actually, oil works except its all gone after one use meaning I have to apply a new coat of oil every couple days on my folders and I cannot touch food with them.
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Do you live in a hot, high humidity area in Kentucky? Or do you store your knives in a leather sheath? Either of those might explain your rust problems.

I live in southern Indiana and while summers here can be unsufferably hot and humid; this summer has been insufferably hot and dry for a change. Even when we have a humid summer, I almost never have problems with my carbon steel bladed knives rusting. Right now I am sharpening a Cold Steel SRK with a Carbon V blade that has a spot of corrosion at the tip about 2mm in length, which is a rare event. This knife has been sitting around in its sheath for a long while (maybe 2 years since I used or sharpened it last).

I remember reading in a knife magazine about a SPECOPS gent (Green Beret) who carried an O1 carbon steel Randall in Vietnam for three one year tours of duty. He said that every day, he would wipe the blade down once a day with an oiled cloth and never had any rust in three years in the steamroom climate of Vietnam, even with his knife being carried in the Randall leather sheath all the time. Apparently a little oil goes a long way.

I would say clean up your carbon steel knives and keep them coated with a good oil and you should be rust free. For the knife/knives that you use, I'd say follow the same procedure that the Green Beret gent in the magazine article followed and you should be good to go.
 
It gets VERY hot and humid here during the summer I walk out and I can actually feel the dampness my shirt ends up sticking to me in a few minutes.
 
I just came across these products the other day at Lee Valley. Not sure how new the technology is, but check it out:

Anti-Corrosion Emitters
Corrosion-Inhibiting Storage Bags

The foam seems like a convenient, neat and versatile way to combat corrosion in enclosed spaces, like drawers, tool boxes, tackle boxes, etc.
The bags would be nice for long term storage protection.

Also, I've used these rust erasers before with great success on knives, axes, tools etc. The coarser ones can actually scratch the metal you're trying to clean up, so be careful with them.

I don't want to turn this into one of those "Which rust inhibitor/lube is best?" threads, as they are legion in the archives here, but I feel I need to speak up on one particular product. Tuf-Glide, for me, is not the be-all and end-all of rust prevention slicks. My ESEE Junglas' edge is rusting as I type despite regular an judicious applications of Tuf-Glide after use and sharpening. The Tuf seems to work okay on my other carbon steels (e.g. 1080C, O1), but for some reason it's not getting along with this particular piece of 1095.
 
I tend to use my knives on produce quite a bit(no shock given it's my day job), and so I really can't risk using coatings, waxes, or oils(even if it's not toxic, it'll leave a taste).

I prefer the "natural" protection of completely smoothing down the metal and putting a mirror finish on the blade.

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My 5160 steel katana.

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Endura 4 "Kreined" FFG in ZDP-189.

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Spyderco Gayle Bradley in CPM-M4.
 
After I stripped the coating off my Scrapyard Regulator I found out that 52-100 indeed rusts very easily. So easily in fact, that patches of orange would show up underneath a thick layer of petroleum jelly in under a week!

After a two hour soaking in vinegar, there has been no rust for over a month.

Even after slicing mangoes there's no rust (you sure can taste the knife though).
 
SBaker34 said:
Does it need to be reapplied every time the knife is used for batoning or chopping?
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All I do is to just recoat by smearing some FF from the hilt. A very thin film is all that is necessary. I have been using it on my Gayle Bradley (CPM-M4) for months now without a hint of patina or rust.
 
everything rusts in pr. its just the way it is.......yes i tried vaseline and it ,they still rust. i gave up and concentrate on that shiny spot called the edge.:confused:
fried
 
Yes, I deal with serious rust issues myself, but I live in south Louisiana where its hot, and very humid, humidity has been running over 85% now for about 30 days straight everything is rusting. I don't even entertain buying carbon steel anything don't need the maintenance everything has to be cleaned and oiled constantly so the more stuff I can find that doesn't the better.

I've got stainless steel knives sitting on my desk in a coffer cup that are about 3 years old and haven't left my office nor been used expect to play with at my desk and their rusting in the cup.
 
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