Got a used Brown Mule sodbuster

Z

Zorobabel

Joined
Nov 6, 2019
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I just received a KC35 Brown Mule made in Italy. It seemed carbon in the photos, but described as stainless. I bid, won and received it today.
The tip is dull/blunt, no blade play. It seems a wire brush was used to clean it up some. I let some mustard sit on the blade for an hour, still not sure if it's carbon or not. It smells like carbon though. Blade spine is 2.8 mm.
The handles have a damp rag smell, what type of wood is it?
Fit and finish is not great.
I would appreciate some tips on cleaning up the insides.
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Thanks, I used q-tips dozed in alcohol, the liners shine now.
I used 2 drops of 3in1 oil on the pivot area, worked it, then wiped off the grayed oil.
 
That is a big Sodbuster. I never heard of them before, but I like it. I use the same method afishhunter afishhunter , usually I wrap the toothpicks in a piece of cut cloth or paper towel.
 
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It's carbon steel, i.e., NOT stainless. The staining left by the mustard is indicative of that, as is other spotting & pitting seen in the pics. As mentioned in the OP also, the 'smell' of carbon steel is apparent too, when vinegar or mustard reacts to it. Looking around at vendor descriptions for these, they also describe them as 'Solingen high carbon steel' or just 'carbon steel', which would also bear out it's likely not stainless.

There are some really high carbon stainless steels like S30V, etc, that can 'patina' or stain with exposure to acids like vinegar (such as in mustard). But I guarantee, in the price ballpark for these knives, they aren't using such a steel in this one. More likely, it's something akin to 1095, etc. Just simple, inexpensive carbon steel, likely with carbon content somewhere in the 0.8% - 1% range. Stainless steels in knives of this price point would be more like 420/440-series stuff, which will never stain or patina with a simple short-term exposure to vinegar or mustard. So, in knives like these, it's easy to see the difference with a vinegar or mustard test.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
Stainless steels in knives of this price point would be more like 420/440-series stuff, which will never stain or patina with a simple short-term exposure to vinegar or mustard.
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From my experience, 440A and 425HC won't stain/patina with long term (as in a week plus) exposure to vinegar, mustard, or even ketchup/catsup.
Battery acid might etch them, but I have not tried that ... I don't believe I will, either. :)
 
afishhunter said:
From my experience, 440A and 425HC won't stain/patina with long term (as in a week plus) exposure to vinegar, mustard, or even ketchup/catsup.
Battery acid might etch them, but I have not tried that ... I don't believe I will, either. :)
Click to expand...

Agreed. Salt or saltwater could do it too.

I have a Victorinox SAK that I left forgotten in a toolbox in the covered bed of my pickup for maybe a couple years or longer in the central Texas humidity; it actually rusted enough to stick the blades shut. Should also note it was all red rust, and still no dark 'patina' or black-spotting at all. But that was extreme long-term exposure, and that's pretty much what it takes to faze stainless steels like these.
 
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That is a big knife, but 4 5/8” is about standard for a full-size sodbuster. Both my standard Case Sodbuster and my Loewen hippekniep are 4 5/8” closed. I have carried them, but don’t really care to at that size.
 
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