Cold Steel VG-1 Stainless is Stained!

Rat 1 said:
I wouldn't trust Spyderco on that. I still believe H1 steel will eventually rust if used in corrosive environments for long periods of time.
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It may rust in some corrosive environments but I would guess that those environments would be pretty hazardous to one's health.

Lock1454 said:
People have tried and were unable to get it to rust under any normal conditions. The only way they were able to get it to rust was keep it submersed in some sort of pool detergent (I can't remember exactly what it was), for over a day.

Did a quick search to try to find the post about this, couldn't find it :\
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I believe it was pure chlorine. I've had an Atlantic Salt come into contact with bleach (we used it for getting seaweed off of lobster buoys) and herring brine. The brine was the fluids that come from the fish after it is salted. This brine has a much higher salt content than sea water. Contact with my bare hands left them dried and cracking. Touching the salt crystals left my hands slippery. I have had this knife submerged in the sea for long periods of time, submerged in the brine (accidentally) for long periods of time, and actually cleaned it with bleach to get the smell of fish oud of the handle scales. The only corrosion I ever saw was in the lettering, inside of the Spyderhole and the jimping caused by leftover metal particles that were remnants of tooling.

Back to the OP-

is it rust or a patina that is forming on your knife blade? A patina is a chemical reaction that actually will protect your blade from rust caused by long-term usage. Think of it as nature's blueing. I have noticed that even VG-10 will take a darker shade after using it at sea, or when cutting certain foods like tomatoes, potatoes, apples, oranges, lemons and limes. I have never really had rust form on it though.

I have no experience with VG-1 that I know of but I would guess that the reaction is similar and you are getting the beginning of some type of patina on the blade. Don't worry if your knife looks used. Used knives are pretty :)
 
VG-1 may form a little reaction to acids, but it won't form a regular patina like steels with much less chromium. Polish the edge while sharpening and polish the sides for fun and you'll be all set. Don't know how or why, but the shop that heat treats VG-1 for Cold Steel does a fantastic job.
 
Smash05 said:
A little metal polish goes a long way. I have had to polish every one of my stainless knives at one point or another for some reason, except for H1. Fruit acids are pretty nasty when it comes to blades - so much in fact that I use them to patina my carbon paring knives.
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I have never used metal polish. I am curious if the polish will also take out light scratching?
 
Just pared & sliced another apple (my a.m. breakfast) and you're right, it still cust like a laser! I rinsed it immediately and it still looks good.

What I've noticed is: the repeated use for carving steak, apples, fruit etc. has somehow made the stains disappear?

I think whatever I noticed a couple days ago has blended into one uniform color.

It looks all one color - softer - not like a mirror anymore. I'm happy with it now. No more blotches! :)
 
Rat 1 said:
I wouldn't trust Spyderco on that. I still believe H1 steel will eventually rust if used in corrosive environments for long periods of time.
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Well I think you would be wrong. Many people have tried to get it to rust without success. Someone was able to damage the steel with chlorine (I think). Yeah if you dunk your knife into a vat of acid there is going to be damage to the steel. Any normal use there is not going to be any rust.

I don't need to trust Spyderco because I have treated mine pretty bad. It has cut up lots of food (which can be quite acidic) and been in lots of salt water and has not shown a sign of rust and I rarely wash it after use. I don't know what else you would want to use it for that you think will make it rust.

Which models do you have in the salt series?
 
Is H1 technically a steel or an alloy?:D

VG1 is stain-less as has been mentioned. It will rust, just not as easily as carbon or tool steel and it will not pitt as quickly or as deeply.

Stainless steels are not an excuse for lazyness or good habits in knife care terms. Food acids from fruit and red meat tend to attack most steels quite quickly.

I find cutting Pizza is very hard on many steels. Lots of salt in the food.

BTW, I am not calling the OP lazy!:thumbup:
 
bcornelis said:
I have never used metal polish. I am curious if the polish will also take out light scratching?
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Not on steel really. It will clear up any light oxidative (is that a word??) haze and can put a a bit of a shine on bead blasted blades, but trying to get anything but the finest scratches off of a satin finished blade isn't practical with metal polish. Excellent for removing fine rust spots and brightening up the blade, and over time polishing helps eliminate surface imperfections that promote rusting.
 
charts show 14 to 15% chrome. most say it takes 16% to be about 99% free of rust. maybe a steel knut will enlighten us.
 
It's been about 2 weeks of using my little toy butcher knife that CS markets as a neck knife. It won't stay in the sheath if you tip it upside down...lol

However, it's my cool little personal butcher knife. I've cut every morsel of food eaten at home since getting it and it's a nice even color now and hasn't changed at all.

Kinda like good kitchen cutlery as someone mentioned.

It doesn't have the mirror finish that it came with but it looks super cool whittling the fat off the egde of a pork chop or paring an apple.

When the table is set I use it for my knife instead of the regular kitchen knives. Heck, if it won't work as a neck knife, it's makes a helluva table knife!
 
cziv said:
It's been about 2 weeks of using my little toy butcher knife that CS markets as a neck knife. It won't stay in the sheath if you tip it upside down...lol

However, it's my cool little personal butcher knife. I've cut every morsel of food eaten at home since getting it and it's a nice even color now and hasn't changed at all.

Kinda like good kitchen cutlery as someone mentioned.

It doesn't have the mirror finish that it came with but it looks super cool whittling the fat off the egde of a pork chop or paring an apple.

When the table is set I use it for my knife instead of the regular kitchen knives. Heck, if it won't work as a neck knife, it's makes a helluva table knife!
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I have one of those little guys and I keep it and a small Epicurean cutting board in my EDC bag. Makes a great on-the-go meal maker! VG-1 will discolor pretty easily, but I haven't had any trouble with rust in over a year of use. :)
 
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