Elmax custom rusting and pitting

If heat treated for high wear resistance it will have lower corrosion resistance than otherwise heat treated. 18% chrome composition does not mean it will not rust. There can easily be other factors in play. I'd take a clean soft cloth and wax it with a good paste wax ( Rennisance Wax is great just for this purpose ). That should micropolish off the corrosive bits you can't see and seal off the oxygen to stop more corrosion. That is after a clean water rinse and dry with a clean cloth. Do not use a cloth that has been used by other knives/tools if you are serious about preventing corrosion.

Joe
 
No bleach here, but I had some superficial rust form on a heavily stonewashed Elmax blade once upon a time.

I definitely wouldn’t call it rust prone, but It’s one of the events that spurred my fanaticism for wiping knives down with mineral oil after they’ve been handled.
 
It's best when problem solving to step back and look at what you have. This is a corrosion issue. Which means the steel is reacting to something in it's environment. It's localized so for some reason it is concentrated in one area. This rules out an overall exposure scenario. It's in an area ground away from the surface so it's not likely a raw material surface issue. The pitting is aggressive but still localized to one area. To me this looks like it's galvanic and more likely a something ground in that is non-stainless (from a belt used on another material). I would suggest sending the blade back to the maker and see if he can re-work on new belts and get rid of the pits.
 
If it was my knife and it had cost me over say $200 dollars, i would have a metals lab test the blade steel.
Give you a real report as to what it's made of and how it was heat treated.

But from what i see from your post and pictures, i question the type steel the blade is made of.
 
makers have no reason to lie about steel ( well makers who planning to work for some time)
steel is NOT most expensive part , time is .
1st. Bleach extremely corrosive , it will destroy , discolor almost any material (including micarta).
2nd . almost any stainless steel what could be heat treated will rust or corrode in right situation .

elmax is a great steel, but any tool made of steel has its limitations and requires proper maintenance.
use dish washing soap and old tooth brush clean it in warm water and dry it up before storing ,
wiping blade with oil once in the while will help as well.
And this knife will last you for many many years .
 
I believe sometimes people assume a blade steel with high corrosion resistance , think it's totally rust and corrosion proof.
 
It definitely looks like electro corrosion on the zinc anodes of ship hulls. Seems the chlorine found a metal in the Elmax that was very fond of reacting. Soaking knives a night long in a bleach solution seems a bit overkill. Will damage the handles, too, probably. Wouldn't do that to a custom knife. While in the woods, washing with clean water and drying should be enough (you could also carry along a bottle of isopropyl alcohol). You can do the sanitizing at home : not soaking, just washing, brushing then rinsing and drying.
 
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