Cabon/tool steel and pepper spots

[silenthunterstudios]

I hope that this can stay here, I'd like to hear what you traditional knife owners use. I've got a couple carbon steel and tool steel factory blades, with pepper spots. Some of these I carry every day, like my Tracy Larock dogleg jack and Lannys Clip. I am one hundred percent sure I can send them in to Tracy to get cleaned up, I can also ask a knife maker friend of mine to clean them up. I've Flitzed both of them, and I've started putting some oil on them to keep them clean. I use them for everything, I work an office job where I can't carry them, but outside of work, I carry them every day. I also have an issue with a few old Tidioute and Northfield knives, especially my 73 single blade trapper I have put a patina on several times.

I'm not talking big rust spots just pepper spots. What do you do use to remove those spots? These knives are stored in a Harbor Freight tool chest with silicate packets.

 

[BlockPsycho]

I used 4000 grit micro-mesh pads, they smooth out the spots pretty quick without affecting the patina or finish.

 

[kamagong]

I think they're unavoidable on a user knife unless you want to wipe the blade with Flitz every night.

 

[brownshoe]

If Flitz won't remove them, you need to use sandpaper and will forever change the finish. Just live with it. Oil or wax after use will help minimize them. A rinse and a wipe during use will help too. If you use sandpaper, I usually go 400, 600, 800, 1200 for a polished 1095 blade.

The only true solution is stainless steel

 

[mnblade]

Miracle Cloth! They're dirt cheap and last a long long time.

-- Mark

 

[knarfeng]

I don't remove pepper spots. I just oil them and make sure they stay black rather than red.

 

[Ernie1980]

I consider those spots part of the deal with a carbon steel knife and leave them be. (unless they turn red)

I live in a humid climate and if I tried to keep my carbon blades shiny I would go bonkers! If you are looking to oil your blade you might want to read this thread first for good info:thumbup:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-a-not-so-little-rust-prevention-test-round-2

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I don't remove pepper spots. I just oil them and make sure they stay black rather than red.

That's what I do. Sometimes a little red will 'hide' within the black spots. So, a brightly-lit inspection with a magnifier on occasion is a good idea. If there is a little red there, a scrubbing with some water-moistened baking soda (to coarse paste consistency) usually cleans the red rust away. If no red in the spots, I just let it be, and it becomes part of the blade's patina. And a patinated finish will help to resist new isolated spotting as well, I've noticed. It's challenging to forever prevent spotting on an unpatinated carbon-steel (non-stainless) blade. I've seen spots turn up in one afternoon's worth of pocket carry in humid weather. Sooner or later, it always creeps in, so I've found a controlled patina, or at least a well-monitored one, to be an easier-to-live-with compromise.


David