Dealing with a carbon steel blade? Rust?

clayton c said:
Olive oil works good too.
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There is always a possibility of olive or vegetable oils going rancid. Probably not going to happen for most folks, unless they leave the knife lay around for a while or it's allowed to soak into the leather, but why chance it?

I paid something on the order of $2 for a bottle of mineral oil a couple years ago and still have about half of it left after coating every knife I sell or store. It works nicely to freshen up natural handle materials. Some people swear by it as a honing oil too, although I haven't tried that.

I agree with the others who questioned the sheath or rather the leather it was made from. "Chrome-tanned" leather is a big no-no for sheaths and holsters.
 
I prefer high carbon blades.

Polish that thing. Then use it. If it's in a leather sheath, patina it.

I just put oil on my blades, and use them. The ones I don't use, I just wipe down good with oil, then a rust-prevention cloth....and away they go.

I've never had a blade rust on me. My fixed blade EDC is a RAT-3, that I removed the coating from the blade. Even though it goes EVERYWHERE with me, and gets used the most of any blade I own.....and also gets abused the most......no rust.
 
cziv said:
I've found that the best way to avoid rust on my 1095 blades is to use them!
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+1,000.

The following pics are from from BF member bearthedog (not my pics!). Look at the Nessmuk. That is not heat treat scaling. That is a natural patina formed over time with regular use, and if you check out his travel threads (where he takes his knives all over the world into the dessert, jungle, mountains, etc.), you will see how much he uses his knives. With a patina like that, all he probably has to do is wipe the blade down after use and it is doubtlessly very corrosion resistant, despite him regularly taking these knives into the wet, humid jungle and despite these knives being made of O1 (I think).

Pic by bearthedog
IMG_5011.jpg



EDIT: Here's the original knife! The difference is quite astounding, no? Pic by bearthedog
IMG_0106.jpg
 
Force a patina and it won't rust much after that. Use hot vinegar, lime or lemon juice, or stick the blade in a potato.
 
Eezox is generally regarded as the best protectant in the gun world. I suspect it would be equally good at preventing rust on knives. It's worked great for me on all of my knives. Others have used floor wax on their slides to keep them from rusting against their skin...I haven't done that with my knives, but feel it should also work on knives pretty well.
 
I use liquid silicone as sold by A.G.Russell. I treat it, then when I'm using it I keep a silicone wipe in a bag to wipe it off occasionally then clean it of corrosive substances when finished like I would any tool that needs care. No patina needed, and scratches eventually get hand sanded into a satin finish now and again.

Maybe too much maintenance for people who didn't grow up with carbon alloys like I did but I generally prefer non stainless steels for their performance and don't mind taking care of them. I take care of my firearms, and vehicles so why wouldn't tools be the same?

Once treated though a quick wipe down takes a couple seconds. When storing I clean, dry, then use a paste wax. It's difficult telling stainless from tool steels on knives I own that I bought new. Some I bought already with a bit of rust, but the ones I had from new are not corroded or patina-ed.

Joe
 
co556guy said:
I prefer high carbon blades.

Polish that thing. Then use it. If it's in a leather sheath, patina it.

I just put oil on my blades, and use them. The ones I don't use, I just wipe down good with oil, then a rust-prevention cloth....and away they go.

I've never had a blade rust on me. My fixed blade EDC is a RAT-3, that I removed the coating from the blade. Even though it goes EVERYWHERE with me, and gets used the most of any blade I own.....and also gets abused the most......no rust.
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There are more than a few stainless steels that have a lot more carbon in them than steels like 1095 do..... At 1.03% max.
 
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You could also try Tuf-Cloth. I use it on all my blades. I bought two, use one for the main coats, and use one I let partially dry out for buffing and polishing. Works wonders. I heard the Marine Tuf-Cloth does an even better job, but doesnt leave as nice a finish.
 
Fanglekai said:
Try polishing them up to 1500 grit and see if it helps.
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Thanks for the tip, I carry a candiru and strop it often to keep the bevel polised but if I use it out in the yard or woods there is a good chance I will see rust later. Same with the izzy...
 
Even when putting on a patina on my 52100 blade, there was issues with rust. I think its because the finish wasn't polished and despite a patina, the uneven surface allowed small pits of rust to form. I eventually got tired of this and I ended up acid etching the blade, adding several coats of marine tuff cloth, and one light coat of mineral oil. Its safe to say it stands up to rust amazingly.
 
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