carbon blades

A

ALAN24

Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
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I'm new to this and wonder if here is anyway to keep carbon steel blades from discoloring. Also I've heard about "curing" a blade. Can anyone shed some light on this process.
 
You may mean a patina which is purposely adding a discolored coating to the blade to prevent further problems. You can do what I do and use TC-11 and just keep it clean and dry, works for my 710.
 
if you want to keep it clean and spotless you got to clean it every day and keep it oiled ,a high polish gos a longs way to keeping stains from getting a place to stick. i polished the blade on my opinel and wipe it down with wd40 every week or so so far its spotless. if something shows up ,its back to the buffer. any cureing that iam aware of darkens the blade, blueing exc. and still it will rust if left wet .cutting citrus fruits will darken a carbon blade so fast you can watch it happen
 
Slam Fire the thing is Iron Oxide readily departs the base steel, so as soon as the old rust leaves new rust takes it's place going ever deeper to the heart, until the hole piece is rust.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

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Is this a display knife? or are you going to use it? If it is for display, I know you can coat the blade with. I am not too familiar with them since I use my high carbon knives. You might try asking your local museum curator. If you are going to use it, then there is not much you can do. Keep it clean and oiled, wipe after every use. After awhileit will get a "patina". This is normal, and some people think it adds class to the knife. You can speed up this process by cutting lemons, or onions, or meat,Spreading the "juice" evenly over the blade, and letting it sit for several hours. After you wipe the blade off, the acids in the "juices" will pit the surface of the blade. The more you use it, the darker it gets. Keep clean and oiled to prevent rust.
 
I find it interesting that people will go to the trouble of discoloring a blade, and then work to keep the discoloration! Why not just keep the blade clean and oiled in the first place?
 
oil it when in use and wax it when it is being stored. Ren Wax is nice stuff, but Ed Caffrey says that he uses Johnson's paste wax with goo results. If you can keep a gun from rusting, why not a knife?
 
I'm finding that with my Ivan Campos HBS knife that is made from 5160 steel that the more I use it in the kitchen the more character it acquires. I don't know, I think it looks alright; sort of like the wrinkles that are forming on my face as I work in the kitchen. I do rub the blade with a bit of olive oil after each use but I do not let the patina bother me.
 
For goodness sake, let it stain! That patina seals the surface pores. Rust is porous. Keep the knife clean and dry, and you won't have a rust problem. If the discoloration hurts your eyes, sell the knife and buy one with a stainless steel.

After over 35 years of working with knives and woodworking tools, I've come to appreciate good non-stainless carbon steel more and more. I just paid a small fortune for a Shun Elite Santoku with SG-2 hot-isostatically-pressed powder supersteel hardened to Rockwell 64-66, and frankly, I'm not real impressed. Believe it or not, that cheapo stamped-out non-stainless carbon steel chef's knife you can buy for 6 bucks at Walmart has sharpening and edge holding qualities that are superior in some ways.
 
A good carbon steel blade should last for years, maybe your lifetime, unless you deliberately let it rust. Keep the blade clean and dry, and if you store it wipe down the blade/tang with some kind of rust preventative such as BreakFree, and don't leave it in a leather sheath.
 
65535 said:
You may mean a patina which is purposely adding a discolored coating to the blade to prevent further problems. You can do what I do and use TC-11 and just keep it clean and dry, works for my 710.
Click to expand...

65535 WHAT IS TC-11. IVE NEVER HEARD OF IT.
 
I Live Near The Tx Coast. Salt Air Is A Diffinite Problem In This Area. I Wear An H&k Usp Pistol. I Have To Watch It's Barrel And Sights Which Will Rust If Not Taken Care Of Because Of The High Salt Content In The Air. Knives Are The Same. Rust Is Definitely A Problem In This Area. I Use My Knife For Everything From Bar B Que To Cutting Limes For My Beer.
 
I alway chuckle when I see a thread like this. Carbon steel has been around for since about 1400 BC. Stainless steel was invented in 1912 and was first used for making knives around 1919. The folks who used plain carbon steel knives and swords for a couple of thousand years didn't seem to be bothered by a bit of staining. Why are we?

It's easy enough to take care of a carbon steel blade. If it's too much trouble or you don't like the look of a dark blade, go with stainless. No big deal either way.
 
Alan, you don't really use the SAME blade for limes and BBQ ? What a noob! Everyone knows that a triple-patina Hooberflex Tactical Killer is for limes and the XYZ bbq Master 2000 is best for spreading bbq sauce due to the Horsthaven blade profile....
:D:D
 
i wish i could put an artificial patina that was consistent on every knife i made. i always liked the looks of an old timer with a good patina or any carbon steel knife for that matter.
 
Richard J I have an Old Timer. I found it the vehicle I was issued from the dept. It was probably taken from someone and not given back. I found it and cleaned it up. It holds a nice edge, but I use it for everything. I clean the blade after every use.
 
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