How do you get a rust spot or brown color off a stainless steel blade?

P

pilotranger

Joined
Dec 4, 2013
Messages
9
Hello,

I just purchased a folder knife that is supposedly brand new, but the very tip of the blade has a rust spot or brown colored spot. How do I safely remove that spot? The steel is S30V.

Thanks,
pilotranger
 
What finish does the blade have?

If grain is visible, you can scrub with green dish scrub in direction of grain.

If polished blade, use very high grit sand paper soaked in warm water.
 
If the brown spot is actually rust, and it's not covered by the DLC coating (very, very hard stuff), it should scrub off easily with a little metal polish, like Flitz/Simichrome. It would seem very odd to me, if the 'rust' spot was actually on top of DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), which shouldn't rust at all. But if the discoloration is on top of the coating, I'd still think it should scrub/polish off pretty easily with the polishing paste.

Only other thought is, if the DLC itself is discolored for some reason. That might be hard to fix, and/or a possible warranty issue.

If the 'rust' spot is on the uncoated sharpened edge of the blade, then simply stropping with some compound should clean it up. For S30V, I'd think some 1 micron diamond compound should handle it easily.

Another thought: if the spot is on the sharpened edge (especially at the tip), I might also be concerned about heat damage by previous powered sharpening attempts, which can discolor the steel and usually damages the temper of the edge.


David
 
David,
It's a the very tip of the blade, at the point and not covered by the DLC coating. The DLC coating is a "Tiger Stripe" color and the spot is on the silver or metallic portion of the blade. I've ordered some Flitz and will try that to see if it will work. Thanks for your response and advice.

Andy


Obsessed with Edges said:
If the brown spot is actually rust, and it's not covered by the DLC coating (very, very hard stuff), it should scrub off easily with a little metal polish, like Flitz/Simichrome. It would seem very odd to me, if the 'rust' spot was actually on top of DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), which shouldn't rust at all. But if the discoloration is on top of the coating, I'd still think it should scrub/polish off pretty easily with the polishing paste.

Only other thought is, if the DLC itself is discolored for some reason. That might be hard to fix, and/or a possible warranty issue.

If the 'rust' spot is on the uncoated sharpened edge of the blade, then simply stropping with some compound should clean it up. For S30V, I'd think some 1 micron diamond compound should handle it easily.

Another thought: if the spot is on the sharpened edge (especially at the tip), I might also be concerned about heat damage by previous powered sharpening attempts, which can discolor the steel and usually damages the temper of the edge.


David
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