Battle Grade FSH rusting under scales

Battle Grade blades are SR101 if I am not mistaken. Being SR101 is a steel that is prone to rusting if mistreated, and it was not Cerakote'd under the scales was the root cause. looks like it took a bath and water went under the scales and corroded from the scales out.

Me personally, i had my cerakote guy do a knife for me that held a lot of sentimental value I oped to have it cerakoted. I had my guy do a low temp cure at 150F so there was no risk to the temper of the steel, it took longer to cure but good for the blade. That knife is 1040 High Carbon Steel and the Cerakote was awesome. i like a unified coating that's durable and hydrophobic.

my .02 would be to cerakote it with a solid color then wax it good and put the handles back on with removable fasteners for future maintenance. make sure to clean the back sides of those scales :)

Its a good knife, my NMFSH is my hands down favorite camp knife.
 
Andy the Aussie Andy the Aussie she got dunked somewhere along the way! Now it's time for some love.

propbuildervash propbuildervash I'll look into the cerakote process and also the handle hardware. Also, yep this is 3/16" sr101 steel.

I'm leaning on cerakote coating the steel and then some sort of wax on the scales before I re-install them.

I'm also going to check out the flaring copper tubing path. I already found the right tubing in my scrap bin and I have a flaring die that will work.
 
I love the Cerakote Busse's.
Especially the Kryptek Camo Series
The Blacked Out Scales on my AFBM are killer. And that Cerakote is slick as a ribbon. It's like a Satin Blade almost. So different from the regular coatings.
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willmtn1 said:
I'd like to arrest/remove the rust and then re-coat to prevent it from returning.

I may drill out the handles and see what's underneath this weekend.
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Wow that girl was a mess! When two dissimilar meatal come in contact you will get what is called a galvanic reaction but in your case you would have no problem with such little contact.
 
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tinfoil hat timmy said:
if you dodnt contact Jerry Busse Jerry Busse first you did it wrong
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If I don't do it wrong, how will I know what is right? LOL

MacLaren1 MacLaren1 I like the cerakote coatings and have had a few! I have sandblasted a couple knives so far and I really like doing that also. It's like unwrapping a christmas present! I did that Galley Rat because I want to use it in my kitchen and don't want to look at the night camo cerakote every day. This FSH had some obvious problems underneath the coating that couldn't be ignored though. If not showing rust I would have left it alone and just used it!
 
Night Rider said:
Wow that girl was a mess! When two dissimilar meatal come in contact you will get what is called a galvanic reaction but in your case you would have no problem with such little contact.
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Yeah I was considering galvanic corrosion between the copper and steel but am hoping that the cerakote will delay/minimize any reaction.
 
willmtn1 said:
If I don't do it wrong, how will I know what is right? LOL

MacLaren1 MacLaren1 I like the cerakote coatings and have had a few! I have sandblasted a couple knives so far and I really like doing that also. It's like unwrapping a christmas present! I did that Galley Rat because I want to use it in my kitchen and don't want to look at the night camo cerakote every day. This FSH had some obvious problems underneath the coating that couldn't be ignored though. If not showing rust I would have left it alone and just used it!
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Oh, I hear ya bro 😎
Your doin great!
 
If it were me, I'd probably do a permanent scale install. Get the bolts from McMaster like someone else said. But I personally would epoxy the scales to the tang. Especially since the tang is roughed up anyway. The scales would probably stick even better becase of the pitting.


And then beat the living he** out of it.

But that's just me.... and I'm probably wrong.
 
Ok so it turns out what I thought could flare out the tubing isn't going to work.

I ordered the right flaring kit for my arbor press.

I reached out to 1 of 2 cerakote outfits in town but haven't heard back. It's been a long weekend so hopefully tomorrow I can get some answers about the potential for some cerakote action.

While I'm waiting for these shoes to drop, I'm exploring my other options for tubing materials. Even though the copper is free and at hand, the other materials are very inexpensive and readily available.

I'm giving this two weeks until it's wrapped up!

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I cut a 2x4 down to the same thickness as the handle and drilled/tapered a hole to imitate the FSH. I tried setting one of my copper tubes in it and quickly realized that .9 is not long enough. I've rounded up some brass tubing and my buddy has some stainless I'll be grabbing tomorrow hopefully. Maybe this weekend I'll get around to testing all three metals in a 2x4 and find a length that looks perfect.

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willmtn1 said:
I measured between everything .9" so I cut some 1/4" tubing down. Seems like the natural way to proceed considering it's free and at hand. I cut them down at .9" - maybe I could have gone a little longer.

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Your work is looking good.

I have to say, that's likely not some galvanic corrosion. I think it was dumped in ocean water. Also, I am surprised they no longer coat under the handles. My old blades were all coated under the handles. I would have thought it would be easier to coat with handles off. I would definitely go to bolts though. Why put brass tubes when you can put bolts on that let you remove the scales any time.

As for coatings, most don't know that cerakote is not a vapor barrier. What that means is that if corrosion gets under the coating it will spread as oxygen can get through the coating(which is the bubbling of paint you see when rust is under it). Rustoleum anti corrosion paint is a vapor barrier which removes oxygen from the equation and slows rust spread dramatically. Teflon coatings do the same but aren't durable.
 
I agree it probably went under some salt water. Luckily I live in the high and dry.

I have an arbor press and a drill press. Once I sort out tube length and material with my 2x4 tester, re-setting the handle should be quick and painless. Then I can have a cool self-handled blade that I'll enjoy beating on. If my press skills prove to be lacking I can always go the hardware route.

Basically, if I dont try to re-press the handles I'll always wonder if I could have. It's better for me to let curiousity run it's course.

I can spray the handle with some clear coat over the cerakote. Would that be a sensible water proofing step before I re-handle it?
 
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