Chamfered edges?

My infi ratweiler has the edges done :-) AzTim stripped one of mine for me. I posted a couple pics in Swamp Rat forum :-)
 
Kenneth F Huls said:
I do not use a brass or bronze brush or a razor blade, etc, to help get the job done as it can scratch up the decarb, which is a "patina" that I particularly prize in tool appearance and utility (heck, I would pay a little for that finish!). Rather, I bathe 'em until the coating sloughs off easily with a push from a wooden paint stir stick. Stubborn spots come off with a bit of elbow grease using the stir stick, too, as long as the bath had been long enough. I hope you have better luck at some point!
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You don't have MASSIVE rusting problems by leaving the decarb on the blade?
 
dogboye said:
You don't have MASSIVE rusting problems by leaving the decarb on the blade?
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Rusting??? Not at all. The decarb on my strippers has remained constant in appearance through years of use. Well, it can get scraped up through use, but that's it.

Interesting. Why?
 
Kenneth F Huls said:
Rusting??? Not at all. The decarb on my strippers has remained constant in appearance through years of use. Well, it can get scraped up through use, but that's it.

Interesting. Why?
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Without getting crazy in depth. It’s been said that the decarb layer causes or in itself rusts. By totaling removing = much less chance of rust.
 
What duramax said. I've always done my best to get rid of it. And where I don't completely rid the INFI of it, it will almost rust while you are looking at it, it seems. If you go look at the DS6 vs. AD6 thread, on the last page, you can see where I stripped my DS6. After more than an hour of sanding and polishing, it appeared totally clean. I went in, washed it well, and by the time I dried it with a dry towel, places that I hadn't completely gotten clean of decarb were showing red rust. And I mean this took, at most, only a couple of minutes. BACK outside with the Dremel and sanding/polishing. After another about 20 minutes, I thought I was finished. I put it away, thinking I was good to go. About 3 days later, I took it out to photograph to post here, as I had said in that thread I would do. You can see what I found. Some of the decarb had been left in the fuller on one side. It showed red rust. What you see in the photos is after I wiped it, and it only appears black. When I put it away 3 days prior. That fuller looked just as clean as you can see the one on the other side is. You can also see the red rust at the tang, just in front of the Res C. That had been worked extensively. To the point that the Res C has been slightly re-shaped at the front. Not enough to really tell, as I smoothed it pretty good. As tough as ResC is, it won't stand up to rotary sanding (slow speed; no heating of metal... or ResC for that matter). Anyway, just on a whim, I looked at it again this morning before I left for work. I still have some work to do on that really bad spot at the tang. But the fuller is clean on both sides now.

Anyway, all that to say that incompletely removed decarb certainly appears to be phenomenal at rusting....

And I guess I kinda DID go crazy in depth ... :rolleyes:
 
Wow
I am not sure what to say or think here with this info. I have several strippers that I have not removed what I believe to be "decarb" - gray "patina" that is revealed upon stripping the coating. One example: I have extensively carried and used my Skinny ASH in the field that is a stripper. I cannot count the canyons, mountains, and trails that it has descended, ascended, and traversed with me over maybe the last 6 years. Never have I gotten a speck of rust on it. Never. I am used to high carbon steel blades and when new to INFI I religiously oiled my Busses - including strippers. I gave up on it fairly quickly and now I never - never - oil INFI, without regard to whether they are satin, DC, or strippers. I do live in a very dry climate (Sonoran Desert), and now that I consider it, the INFI knives that I take into wet, soggy slot canyons have not been my strippers, but they have gotten wet in streams, rain, etc. I dry 'em off pretty quickly and thoroughly, but hearing what you two describe I just don't understand and cannot explain this.
I am thinking I need to do some home experiments here.
 
My experience with high carbon tool steel knives over the years (decades) has been that rust can and almost invariably will appear simply as a result of directly handling the steel unless I wipe it down (and clean with rubbing alcohol on my bestest swords) and apply a fine coat with a good oil (I use a light mineral oil - sewing machine oil, actually - on such knives (and definitely on tamahagane and oroshigane Japanese swords)). YET, I never wipe down an INFI stripper - let alone clean it with alcohol and coat it with oil - and no rust - ever.

???
 
I’ve got stripped SR101, bare A2, D2, M2, O1, W1 (or is that W2?), even 1095 that I have no rust problems with, all treated exactly the same, and even stored in the same location as that DS6. The only ones I’ve had any problem with are that DS6 and a SAR5. Both of which exhibited the same sort of spotty rusting where I thought I had it bare but some decarb remained. I had sanded the SAR5 til it had a noticeably thinner blade, and especially thinner behind the edge. I ended up sending it to a guy on the board here that had offered to bead blast it for me. After that, I’ve yet to oil it, and no rust.
Now I’m thinking I need to strip another INFI, leave the full layer of decarb, and see what happens. I can fully believe that the undisturbed layer of decarb could protect the INFI, and not rust. I forget what the chemical composition of the decarb is, but it’s here on the board somewhere.
 
dogboye said:
I’ve got stripped SR101, bare A2, D2, M2, O1, W1 (or is that W2?), even 1095 that I have no rust problems with, all treated exactly the same, and even stored in the same location as that DS6. The only ones I’ve had any problem with are that DS6 and a SAR5. Both of which exhibited the same sort of spotty rusting where I thought I had it bare but some decarb remained. I had sanded the SAR5 til it had a noticeably thinner blade, and especially thinner behind the edge. I ended up sending it to a guy on the board here that had offered to bead blast it for me. After that, I’ve yet to oil it, and no rust.
Now I’m thinking I need to strip another INFI, leave the full layer of decarb, and see what happens. I can fully believe that the undisturbed layer of decarb could protect the INFI, and not rust. I forget what the chemical composition of the decarb is, but it’s here on the board somewhere.
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Interesting, dogboye, that it was on stripped and mostly (?) decarbed blades. Yes, my stripped Skinny ASH, 3B2, and now my HOG Badger have intact decarb and no problems at all. I would be very interested in your experiment as your pondering on the effect of the full layer vs partial/remnant is the only thing that makes sense to me here. But I am no chemist! Given that decarb can't be metal (right?), then it makes no sense to me that IT rusts. I have no theory on why remnants of it would cause rusting on metal with which it has contact, though. Just always seemed to me to be a good protective layer, which I think looks like a cool tool finish as opposed to "paint."So far, years, it has worked for me. But I do not chop with those particular blades, just cut, so the decarb has not been rubbed off much at all. It has just looked cooler (to me) over the years of use.
 
IMO....that steel will perform and look better after that decarb layer is sanded off.
Still looks awesome regardless!
 
Kenneth F Huls said:
... But I am no chemist! Given that decarb can't be metal (right?), then it makes no sense to me that IT rusts. I have no theory on why remnants of it would cause rusting on metal with which it has contact, though. ...
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I'm neither a chemist nor metallurgist, but I have a friend named Google ;) - here is some info from Wikipedia:
Decarburization
The term is typically used in metallurgy, describing the reduction of the content of carbon in metals (usually steel). … The removal of carbon removes hard carbide phases resulting in a softening of the metal, primarily at the surfaces which are in contact with the decarburizing gas.
Incidental decarburization … done during heat treatment or after rolling or forging … the material is only affected to a certain depth according to the temperature and duration of heating. … The decarburized surface material can also be removed by grinding.

So "decarb" is steel with some of the carbon removed, and I'm guessing some other changes as well, some or all of which contribute to increased rust formation.

zombieassassin said:
IMO....that steel will perform and look better after that decarb layer is sanded off. ...
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This makes perfect sense based on the above. I have read where some users say that after the initial edge is removed when the knife is first resharpened, that performance is better - I suppose this makes sense also.
 
dogboye said:
Next blade I strip, I’m leaving it. We’ll see what happens. Bookmarking this thread so I can zombie-fi it whenever that happens (might be a while). :D
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I’m gonna do the same. I picked up a Boss Jack CG. I started the etching process and will strip it next. I intend to leave the decarb and see what happens. I’ll start a thread about it with pics. Just a heads up Dogboye. Keep an eye out for it. Maybe Sunday night.
 
Thanks for the info, gk4ever2. Interesting for sure. Still, never have I had the rust problem. But again, I live in a very arid climate and wipe wet blades off pretty quickly and thoroughly. As for "look(ing) better," zombieassassin, well, that is of course subjective - but to each their own of course! :thumbsup:
 
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