How do I get H1 to Rust?

Vinegar worked great by letting it dry on the knife in the sun with two good earth magnets attached and waving another magnet around them creating a DC current and patters. Too cool, I should have patented that one. Cats out of the bag now.
 
Thanx for the input Frank. We had no complaints from users about the stainless clips. We were able to create some dark spots just in our own hard core testing.

We'd rather extend the extra effort and provide the customer with a true trouble free salt water folder.

sal
 
Thank you Sal, I am glad that you make every effort to avoid potential problems before there are any complaints.


Update:

The Salt has been in the seawater so long, I think it will grow barnacles before the H1 will rust, even with the galvanic action. The clip and other parts have held up fine with no rust, with the exception of the head of the pivot pin. Rust is slowly creeping from the edges towards the center, although it took the galvanic action (copper wire in the water) to get it to rust appreciably. This may be an anomaly confined to this particular knife, since the is no rust on the pin for the lock bar (I am guessing that whatever is used to coat it got scraped off a tiny bit around the edge when it was being set).


Next, I am thinking of trying lemon juice, tomato juice, iodine and dish washing detergent. After that I may try a bleach solution.





- Frank
 
frank k said:
Thank you Sal, I am glad that you make every effort to avoid potential problems before there are any complaints.


Update:

The Salt has been in the seawater so long, I think it will grow barnacles before the H1 will rust, even with the galvanic action. The clip and other parts have held up fine with no rust, with the exception of the head of the pivot pin. Rust is slowly creeping from the edges towards the center, although it took the galvanic action (copper wire in the water) to get it to rust appreciably. This may be an anomaly confined to this particular knife, since the is no rust on the pin for the lock bar (I am guessing that whatever is used to coat it got scraped off a tiny bit around the edge when it was being set).


Next, I am thinking of trying lemon juice, tomato juice, iodine and dish washing detergent. After that I may try a bleach solution.





- Frank
Click to expand...


Start with the Bleach. If that doesn't do it, the others (lemon juice, tomato) probably won't either. Maybe a stronger acid like circuit-board etchant (Ferric Chloride?)

You can also try a salt/acid solution with a DC current. One electrode on the metal knife blade or clip and the other in the solution...of course this is cheating as it wouldn't see this in regular use...
 
I can tell you that my Salt 1 has been run in the dishwasher 17 times now and it has not changed it with the exception of the FRN looking washed out some.

I really like having a knife that is nothing to worry about if you get it wet or cut acidic fruits and veges with.

I like my Para-Mil but find myself drawn more and more to the Salt 1 just because of the steel it is made of. I have it on me more and more as I get to know it. The full serrated Salt1 in conjunction with the U2 by Falkniven is the preferred combo carry for me now. I have not had to sharpen my H1 blade yet either which is a real shocker considering how much it has been run in the dish washing cycle.

This thread is just too wild to believe. I think you have a real winner here Sal. You may want to consider offering this steel in limited runs in the other more popular knives in your line up. You may be shocked at how well they sell.
 
Update:

Tried dousing the Salt with lemon juice and leaving it out to dry, with no effect as expected. The lemon juice also had no effect on the Forschner kitchen knife or a S30V blade. Apparently, lemon juice is not at all aggressive at causing rust on stainless knives.


I also tried some cold gun blue (Birchwood Casey Perma Blue paste) on the Salt’s H1 blade along with the Forschner kitchen knife. After about 45 min. the Forschner was starting to turn from a dark blue-black to a slightly dark orange rust color and the Salt’s blade was starting to turn a very light gray. I washed the bluing paste off to see what had happened. Surprisingly, everything rinsed off the Forschner leaving it looking new with no rust or permanent color change. Most of the light gray color washed off the Salt with some dish soap and some scrubbing with a paper towel. A few faint traces of light gray “stain” remained, though you have to look closely to see them. FWIW, though virtually rust proof, it is possible to turn H1 a blotchy washed out gray with the aid of cold gun blue.






- Frank
 
Thank you Sal, I am glad to have the opportunity to play with the Salt.


Update – Iodine (Batadine solution) – No effect on the Salt blade or clip, small rust spots on the Forschner kitchen knife, dose not seem to be as aggressive as plain sea water.



- Frank
 
JediKnight86 said:
Dude, ok two things wrong with that statement. First, he just said battery acid. ACID! Drano, in case you didn't know is a very basic solvent, not acidic, just like every other household cleaner. Secondly, would you put drano down your pipes if you thought it could rust a knife? DUH :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
(Commentary)Actually, extremely basic substances, such as Drano or bleach will also corrode steel. DUH:rolleyes:
Besides, you are supposed to rinse out the pipes with water after clearing them, sillyhead. (/Comentary)

The Chromium in stainless steel forms a protective coat of chromium oxide. this is what makes stainless corrosion resistant.

The citric acid in the lemon juice should actually help reverse some of the rust on the pivot pin if it is stainless. The citric acid removes iron from the surface of the steel, but leaves the chromium behind. This is one method of doing the passivation process that was spoken of.

The usual cutlery Stainless steels rust in saltwater because the chlorine ions rip apart and disolve the chromium oxides that make stainless steel rust resistant.
I don't know (yet) how this is differnent in the low carbon precpitation hardenening steels, such as H-1. (I will do some more research.)

Have you been changing out he water in the jar with new seawater? perhaps the solution was quickly been saturated with the disolved chromium.
 
I just chaged the water, will see what happens in the next few days. After that I will add bleach to the seawater.....



- Frank
 
Update - it has been over a week, and no rust on the blade, clip or anywhere else except for the pivot pin.

Now trying 50/50 mixture of fresh seawater and bleach (5.25% Sodium Hypochlorite).




- Frank
 
THIS is why I love Bladeforums!

And this is also why I love Spyderco knives.
You get such great performance at such an affordable price that folks are willing to destroy their knife just for testing purposes.

Can you imagine asking someone to try this stuff with their Sebenza!

BTW, I have recently ordered an Atlantic Salt--I've got to try this H-1 for myself.

Allen.
 
The bleach is much more aggressive than the plain seawater/galvanic action. The pivot pin is starting to rust heavily (on both sides now), and there may be some rust starting on part of the edge of the clip where the finish is worn (I am not 100% sure yet because there is a lot of rust in the water from the pivot and it may have settled on the clip). Still no rust on he H1 blade. :D



- Frank
 
It is my understanding that carbon in steel acts (among other things) as a catalyst which accelerates the formation of rust (iron oxide). That is why the replacement of most of the carbon by nitrogen, along with high chromium content, makes H1 steel more rust resistant than other grades of martensitic stainless steel.
Conventional martensitic stainless is hardened by carbides of alloyed metals in the matrix of the steel. But H1 is hardened mostly by nitrides with some carbides, thereby achieving an exceptionally high level of rust resistance.
 
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