How stainless is CTS-XHP?

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Gideons

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Hey BF,

I have one the knives I EDC the most has CTS-XHP and I see some "dark specs"/staining on the blade. From previous reviews this reminds me of what sometimes happens to D2 steel. Any advice on how to deal with this, or how to prevent it in the future? I live in Canada, so not a super humind climate lol.

-Gideons
 
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It is highly corrosion resistant, according to the specs from Carpenter. My American Lawman is in CTS-XHP, but with the DLC coating. Haven't noticed any specs along the exposed edge, but I do wipe it down with BreakFree CLP from time to time.
 
xhp is kinda a more stainless d2. easier to get sharp than d2 and basically in my experiences with it...seems to keep all the good stuff of d2 and shed most of the downsides of d2. I've had pretty good luck with it on being stain and rust resistant. i live in the deep south swamps and havent had any issues as of yet.

maybe carefully so not to change the finish of the knife......polish off the spots and i often use similar to a car wax to protect them. i find it holds up better than messy oils and silicones etc. wears off from cutting but blade cleaned after and redone with wax seems to hold up well for me.
 
On my Domino I tend to get staining similar to carbon steels, but I haven't had any rust issues at all.

Weirdly enough, my XHP seems to stain more than CruWear. It may be that I wipe down my CruWear knives more than I do the XHP ones, but it's one aspect of the steel I've noticed.
 
McFeeli said:
On my Domino I tend to get staining similar to carbon steels, but I haven't had any rust issues at all.

Weirdly enough, my XHP seems to stain more than CruWear. It may be that I wipe down my CruWear knives more than I do the XHP ones, but it's one aspect of the steel I've noticed.
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Ah okay, I think it would be more appropriate to refer to this as staining instead of rust.
 
The percentage of chromium isn't the only clue as to how Stainless something is. You have to look at the carbon content as well. With 1.60 it's not surprising that XHP isn't going to make a great dive knife.

It's especially true with XHP since chromium is the primary Carbide former which leaves less FREE chromium for stain resistance


The carbon bonds with the chromium during heat treatment to make chromium carbides. You WANT that so you get edge retention and a killer edge. Im sure there are ways to heat treat to enhance the corrision properties but at a reduction in edge retention.

So enjoy the edge and Don't worry about staining.
 
I don't have any staining on my Domino and it's been my main knife since 2013. No staining on my Dice, Hungarian, or Code 4 either. I'll try cutting some lemons later and see if that does anything.
 
Use bar keepers friend to remove light rust. Few other things help just Google it.

I keep my single xhp blade oiled but don't think it will rust on me otherwise as it's a slyz bowie and it's got a mirror stonewashed blade. As mentioned above wax works as well as mineral oil or fluid film.
But I don't think it's necessary if you keep it dry after use.

Xhp is commonly referenced as the powdered version of d2 which it is not... Because that's cpm-d2 and feels very different than d2 all together from my perspective.
 
Living near the ocean, with great humidity, some steels don t do well for me with outdoors work. As much as I would like m4, the corrosion is a problem. I also have problems with zdp. But so far, no problems with xhp from both Spyderco and Cold Steel over the last couple of years. Just rinse the blades off at night, most nights.
 
Gideons said:
Hey BF,

I have one the knives I EDC the most has CTS-XHP and I see some "dark specs"/staining on the blade. From previous reviews this reminds me of what sometimes happens to D2 steel. Any advice on how to deal with this, or how to prevent it in the future? I live in Canada, so not a super humind climate lol.

-Gideons
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Try polshing with flitz. If that doesn’t work then try below.

If it is a blade that has that satin “scotchbrite” finish you can use a purple scotch brite pad to easily remove the rust. However it will leave streak mark striations in the blade steel so be sure to go the same direction as the streaks on the blade.
 
I've had stains on most of my xhp blades. It wipes of with little effort. But still it's stainless not stainproff
 
Lapedog said:
Try polshing with flitz. If that doesn’t work then try below.

If it is a blade that has that satin “scotchbrite” finish you can use a purple scotch brite pad to easily remove the rust. However it will leave streak mark striations in the blade steel so be sure to go the same direction as the streaks on the blade.
Click to expand...

The knife I'm specifically talking about is one of my Spyderco Dominos.
 
Gideons said:
The knife I'm specifically talking about is one of my Spyderco Dominos.
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I recommend trying out polishing with flitz metal polish first.

Warning: using scotchbrite pads WILL mark your blade. Do not try it unless you are willing to risk messing it up.

The Domino has that striated scotch brite finish going sort of vertically/diagonally from spine to edge. The purple scotch brite pad will leave those exact marks on the blade so you could in theory use it to remove the rust, just make sure your strokes follow the lines that are already on the blade. If you do decide to try it use the gentlist strokes possible following the stroke pattern already on the knives.

Here are the purple scotchbrite pads I use. You could try a less “extreme scrub” type.
QvqF5Sh.jpg


Here is a cheap knife I will now mark with them to give you an example of the finish these pads leave. (Note the auto hamon, kinda cool)
xMCXA9o.jpg


Here I have rubbed the blade horizontally (from bolster to tip) with the scotchbrite pad. See the satiny finish it left? The mirror polish is gone. In your case you would want to follow the lines already on your domino’s blade. (On the domino they run vertical/diagonal from spine to edge)
ffGDNBd.jpg


See how the lines on the domino run? You would want your strokes with the scotchbrite pad to follow those lines.
SP172CFTIPa.jpg


If your knife is a user and you don’t mind potentially marking the blade with imperfect strokes then this is a fine fix. Just make sure you match the lines already on the blade and it will remove the rust while blending with those lines quite well.

However I recommend you try flitz polish first.
 
I was carrying my Cold Steel Talwar on a particularly rainy night at work. My pants stayed soaked through for about 3 hours, by the time I got home I had a few spots on the blade but I was able to strop them right off. Overall I have been very happy with XHP's corrosion resistance.
 
From the knives I’ve had, I think it’s in the same ballpark as S90V based off of personal experience. I’ve had S90V get a few small freckles, but that’s about it.
 
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