Blade chipping/pitting on Paramilitary

C

cuttycut

Joined
Sep 25, 2013
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3
I used my paramilitary to gut a rabbit, deer and wild hog. After which the blade had developed pitting. Has anybody else experienced this? I'm surprised to see such wear after very little use. Perhaps it is a defect?





Thanks,
Sean
 
Hard to answer without knowing the steel. Certain steels do rust rather quickly when in contact with blood. I would be curious to know more details so the folks that know more than I do can help. :)
 
While its tough to tell from a single picture, I don't think it's pitting. I believe that you're seeing some micro chipping. Honestly, if you gutted and processed a rabbit, a deer and a hog with that, I think it did fantastic. I have shot a fair amount of wild pigs. (20+) and I know their hide is VERY tough on any edge. They are usually covered in mud. Couple that with their very coarse hair and super thick hide, that is an edge killer. Through in the deer and it's hollow hair hide, that knife did great. Another thing is the fact that while gutting and cleaning, you probably bumped into some decent sized bones. That bone is a notorious edge chipper. I'm betting in 10 minutes on a couple good stones you wouldn't see those micro chips.

Keep us posted on how it sharpens up.
 
The edge looks OK, nothing that you won't fix in a couple of minutes. Accute edges usually get some small damage when going through hogs. I worked ata hunting preserve and processed quite a few boars, like Vegas Blade said, their hide and hair are edge killers (especially if the animal was dirty).

About the rust, S30V isn't the most corrosion resistent stainless in my experience. All my Militaries and Paras developed a few superficial rust spots just by being carried in the Southamerican summer (very humid weather, lots of sweat), one of my Militaries even got some tiny pittying marks. Most of the times, rubbing some light oil on the blades would clean them up, on accasion I needed to add some Flitz.

If in doubt, call Spyderco before doing anything. They might help you out.
 
My para has both rusted and chipped, nothing some scotch bright and sharpening hasnt fixed...
 
Thanks for all of the comments. After looking at it again you've convinced me it's chipping from working the pig. It actually handled the pig good, but you can't avoid hitting bones...especially at night!
 
It doesn't look like chipping to me in the pictures. It looks like simple staining and a sharpening will take care of it. Make sure to rinse the blood off faster next time. It has lots of salt in it and can be pretty corrosive. S30V is a great steel and is well balanced but it does need care. It will rust faster than blades made of 420HC, 440A, 440C, 8C, 9C ( chinese steels), Aus 6 or 8, etc. It's more designed to give better wear resistance and toughness than corrosion resistance. It has lower amounts of chrome than 440A, 440C, etc., and more of that chrome is tied up in carbides ( for better wear resistance) and not free chrome, which helps give better corrosion resistance.

We get our share of people that come here and say things like "i had a $30 knife in XYZ steel for 10 years and I could do XZYR without rust/chip /whatever." Unfortunately that isn't how it always works. 440A is a cheaper, tougher, and more corrosion resistant steel than S30V ( especially at heat treats that bring out wear resistance and toughness at the expense of corrosion resistance to make higher performing slicers).

That isn't a defect, rather a design feature. :)

BY the way, I'd recommend a Silicone carbide or diamond sharpener to help cut the steel bevels easier on sharpening. It looks like you had some problems.
 
Joe - salt hurts...so does the iron and oxygen in blood...instant rusting agent. 1000% agree. Clean blood off asap. The whole "clean your sword on the fallen's tunic" probably isn't theatrical.

From that pic on an iPad mini, I see pitting on the edge and primary grind. Definitely would like more pictures.

I am wondering if the spots on the coating are rust or uncleared blood. If it's rusted....weird.
 
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