bead blasting my sebbie

[sevenedges]

I have had my large plain seb now for almost two years.
It has been through the mill, and still functions as good as the day I bought it. Well, the action is much smoother now so I guess it works better than new. Anyway the thing has been neglected on many occasions, and has been wet for days at a time with no cleaning or drying. This has led to staining, rusting, and yes even pitting of the blade (S30V). This knife being a workhorse, I decided to sand the rust off after failing to remove it with rust removers and steel wool. The plan was to sand it it a fairly high polish and leave it be. However, I have decided to take it to work tomorrow and bead blast the blade, handles, and clip all in one shot. I'll try to post pics if I can after I'm done with it. I am curious to see how it turns out.

Later, Jeff

 

[archieblue]

Just a short response to the rusting/pitting... I have been guiding river trips (Rio Grande in TX and Arkansas River in CO) as a major source of income for about a year and a half now... I have had my Large Seb clipped inside my PFD (personal Flotation Device-Life Jacket) pocket through the whole adventure. I used Tuff Cloth at first with negative results. Normally I am a Clean/lube Nazi when it comes to my knives, and upon daily checking, I found Tuff CLoth to NOT WORK! I did find some surface rust which easily rubbed off. I decided to try my bottle of "MILTEC 1" for the purpose labeled on it... "Metal Conditioner" This stuff is AWESOME!!! Eventually, I changed my Seb checkup to probably every three-four days... Some days I was tired enough to FORGET my beloved LgSeb! I left it in my PFD pocket which was VERY WET. NO RUST WHATSOEVER!!! My application process is simple... Take the blade pivot pin out... remove blade... clean everything. apply a few drops of MILTEC 1 to a paper towel and rub it into the blade... Use the rest of the (not oily part) paper towel to wipe off most of the MILTEC 1. Lube washers/pin/detent with CRK grease... reassemble... sharpen if needed... cut stuff... Enjoy a rust free Sebenza!

One further note is the toxicicity of the MILTEC 1. It says "Harmful or fatal if swallowed!" Personally I take this seriously and thoroughly clean it with dish soap before using my knife to cut something I'll be putting in my mouth. If I'm not guiding for a while (Like now since I tore my ACL and am recovering from ACL reconstruction) I do not cover the blade... just the pivot area because it has to be dissasembled to be cleaned.

 

[FK]

In my experience, bead blasting a blade allows countless small pockets for moisture to start corrosion and rust. The bead blasted blade will rust much faster than if polished to a mirror finish.

Regards,
FK