Corrosion resistance of highly polished 1095cv???

I'm gonna chime in here and say that a polished knife (at the very least worked up to 600-800 grit) will stave off rust better than just a plain stripped one. Can't really change the chemistry of 1095CV, but you can make it so there are less places for moisture to hide and for rust to get a foothold. You'll still get patina (food and plant acids will see to that) but rust should be less prone to happen if you take decent care of your knives (and I know you do). For everyday care I find that mineral oil, or something like Howard Butcher Block Conditioner (mineral oil, beeswax & carnauba wax) works fine. Totally food safe, you can get it (at least the plain mineral oil) anywhere and if you have an empty eyedrops bottle you can carry a long lasting supply in a very small package. Granted, it doesn't stay on very long...but it's dead simple to obtain and use, doesn't smell bad, and is a good preventative if used daily. Also doesn't go rancid like most vegetable oils.
But polish - yeah, polish. It's worth it if you're only going to do it to a couple blades, but you also have to make sure you're thorough and work your way up through the grits so that you don't leave any valleys (scratches) deep enough for rust to hide. That's my take, anyway - my 11 that I modified got a satin polish and has patina'd a bit since then....but I've not had a problem with rust as I have had on some of my other Beckers - and my backyard is a salt water estuary; lotsa stuff here seems to spontaneously corrode.
 
One solution to the polish issue is a buffer, a sisal wheel and some cut & color compound. Stuff cuts aggressively enough to throw sparks.
 
That's all great information and suggestions, All. Thanks for the input. I think what I'm going to do is bring some sandpaper of various grits with me this winter along with some Frog Lube and Eezox and go from there. It may not be that much of a problem.

Survivormind
 
Another option might be just to give it a good acid etch, it wont completely prevent rust but a covering of oxidation should help resist some. It would be a bit more durable than a patina (its just a heavy one), but anything short of coating the sucker you'll still run the risk of rust. I'd say give it a bit of a polish to remove any peaks and valleys, see how that works, give it a heavy etch with boiling vinegar/pcb etchant, or do both! :D Another thing you could just coat you a rag in some wax/oil, and put it down in the pocket of your BK5 sheath, just a dry rag, or maybe just an eye dropper of oil. That way you can slick it/wipe it up ever so often. In the winter time (from my experience) the problem is the snow, it falls/gets on your knife, you dont notice it, and later you'll see little specs of rust. It happens, truth be told though a little bit of rust isnt going to hurt much of anything. It may give the blade some character after you remove the red rust, but its just character ;) Scotch brite pads make sort work of rust and just about anything else. Good luck out there buddy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top