Photos Can this be rust on 440c?

S

Skinner79

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Feb 5, 2019
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I have a piece of 6x12 steel that has been sitting in my shop for a couple of years. I noticed that it has a layer of rust on one side. I realize that "stainless steel" isn't perfectly resistant to rust and corrosion, but the amount of rust on this piece surprised me. Do y'all think this is really 440c? I purchased it from what I assumed to be a reliable source, but of course mistakes can be made. It just came marked like you see in the picture.

52071359695_53e0fa5ff8_z.jpg
 
Skinner79 said:
I have a piece of 6x12 steel that has been sitting in my shop for a couple of years. I noticed that it has a layer of rust on one side. I realize that "stainless steel" isn't perfectly resistant to rust and corrosion, but the amount of rust on this piece surprised me. Do y'all think this is really 440c? I purchased it from what I assumed to be a reliable source, but of course mistakes can be made. It just came marked like you see in the picture.

52071359695_53e0fa5ff8_z.jpg
Click to expand...
You need to harden steel to become stainless
 
Stainless really isn't stain free, its stain-less... Anything will oxidize given enough time.
 
440C rusts like mad before HT. One can be grinding a blade, dunk, wipe, head to the refresher and return 5 minutes later to a fine coat of rust.

If that sheet is somewhere exposed to outdoor humidity changes for a couple years, it's not at all surprising it has a light coat of rust.

As stated, the magic happens in heat treat.
 
Thanks for the replies! I didn't know that heat treating was the key to rust resistance. I have learned something here!
 
something about chromium in solution or whatever
 
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