Blue Delica ATS-55 update

The General

The General

Joined
Jun 6, 2000
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After previous rust problems with this and other ATS-55 blades, I cleaned them up with a good abrasive cleaner and oil. I then removed the oil so I could put on 2 thick aplications of Marine Sentry Tuf Cloth.

At the time (8 months ago) I was moving to my new flat, so I was making special efforts to keep all my blades protected before putting them in dry boxes for storage.

Well the last couple of weeks in Wales it has been quite damp and cold, so I thought I better have another look at some of my blades to make sure they were ok.

My Blue Delica and small Sebenza were stored in seperate boxes in the same place. The Benza is a small wood Double High carbon Damascus steel blade (spiral patten non stainless), both put away with a double thick coating of MSTC.

The Sebi was 100% rust free, the Delica had several rust spots and a section near the tip that has pitted and corroded quite badly (3-4mm long):confused: :barf:

All I can say is if possible avoid this steel. How a stain- LESS steel can rust more redily than a High carbon steel with no rust resitant elements in the same situation is beyond my understanding.:grumpy:

Otherwise I LOVE the knife, fit and finish are very good for a FRN folder. Anyone want to swap for a VG-10 model?:(
 
All these stories of rusting ATS55 are quite at odds with my experience with it. I live in south Louisiana, about a humid as the USA gets, and rather hot most of the year, and I have never had any of my Spydercos with ATS55 blades do anything worse than discolor a little. No rust, no pits. ATS34, especially when bead blasted, has been much worse down here about rusting than ATS55.

Looks like Spyderco discontinued the blue Delicas again, so hang on to that one even if you do have to keep it oiled up.
 
I mailed Spyderco about this and some other probs I have had with a Starmate, Military amd Martriarch.

As much as I love the blue, the rust is a niggle.:(
 
I also have had only great luck with ATS-55 as far as rust is concerned.
I live in North Carolina and own quite a few ATS-55 Spydercos (Rescue, Delica, Mini-Dyad) and I have never had any of them rust.
And I don't even coat the blades with anything.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
bummmer..

same here. i got gooey crap all over my blade, i think from cutting tape, so i let my delica sit in hot, hot water. it came out with tiny rust spots, and i am havng a hell of a time buffing them out.

i use hoppe's9 oil and tufglide.


any suggestions?
 
Yep! Get some Flitz. Best stuff in the world for making the blade bright and shiny again. Scrub the blade with Flitz on a paper towel, and then polish it with a couple of Kleenex.
 
I have an ATS-55 Endura. I live on the coast in humid South Florida and have carried it to the beach many times, even cutting up a pineapple there once. The acidic fruit juice and salt air have got to be murder on a knife, right? I also take it bass fishing with me, clipping it to my shorts while I wade chest deep into ponds. I never clean the knife with much more than a quick rinse under the faucet and a wipe or two with a towel ... yet I've never had a single hint of rust or staining. None! I couldn't be happier with the steel, in fact. And I've never treated it with any sort of rust-proofing or Tuf Cloth.

I wouldn't write off ATS-55 in general, it's a good steel in my experience. But I do suspect that Spyderco may have let a bum batch get through, as I've read a number of complaints like this before. And if I were buying a <i>new</i> Spydie and had the choice, I'd definitely chose a VG10 model instead. Just curious, anyone with a rusted ATS-55 blade ever send the knife back to Spyderco HQ with a complaint? What did they say?
 
I read recently where, if the heat treating is not done exactly right this can cause some steels to be very prone to rusting. Like many others here, I have had no problems with ATS-55 rusting at all; in 5 different knives.

Jeff/1911.
 
Air hardening steels do gain a good bit of corrosion resistance from heat treat.
I carried an ATS55 delica for 2 years as an EDC. The only time it ever gave me any trouble was on a vacation at the gulf coast in alabama when I was taking it to the beach swimming everyday. Only had remoil to coat it with. The flats and bevels were fine, but the spine being a little more rough, usually got some tiny orange spots. They rubbed out easily with a rag and some oil, and when I got home I sanded the spine down to 400 grit.
It held up to days baling hay when I was sweating buckets, and it was always packed full of baler dust. Never had trouble.
 
I put my delica (and native) in the mail today on it's way to spyderco.

we'll see what develops out of it.
 
I also own an ATS-55 Delica and it happens from time to time to notice small, very small spots of rust. They go away very easy, so there's nothing to worry about. Now I must confess that I abuse a lot of this little knife and in the past 3 month, the only maintenance it got was some cleaning with warm water and neutral detergent; this is supposed to act as lubricant too. :eek:
 
It is the belief that this steel aught to be better that causes me to ask for a replacement. If I thought this steel was just a bad steel, I would probably never buy another Spyderco knife again as I would feel 'hard done by'.

I don't think this is true as Spyderco are a very good company. Still waiting for a response tot he e-mail though. Its been five days now, thats quite a slow response time.:(
 
Wayne,

I had some questions about Spydie maintenance and repair and emailed them. I did not get an email reply, but I did get a phone call from Mike. I have to say that I have never had anything but excellent service from Spyderco. Give em another try and see what happens... you might give them a phone number also.. Mike will leave a message if you aren't there to get the call. (assuming you have an answer machine of course)

Chuck
 
Got my blue delica and SS native back today from spyderco.

The blade was cleaned off of corrosion (or what little was there).

They told me to try car wax with carnaba wax.

seems fair enough.
 
My ATS-55 bladed Delica was my faithful travel companion for some years and saw a lot of use until I have lost it in the Paris this year June. I didn’t experience any rust problems even being two weeks very close (the apartment was placed not farther than 50 meters from coast line) to very salty Adriatic Sea being carried very close to my body (inside of the waistband of the beach shorts) in pretty hot weather.
 
i too live in Louisiana, carry and use my endura everyday for the past 2.5 years with NO problems with rust(i fish every weekend around here, its been to florida 3 times in the saltwater,and numerous camping excursions). i have found it to be very low matinance, only oil it once a month maybe and its still in very good condition. so far i have been very pleased with this blade and the metal used. i hope that none of the problems you guys are talking about happen.

BillyP
 
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