Keeping Carbon Steel Blades Rustfree

R

Rick1955

Joined
May 6, 2000
Messages
358
Other than occasional use of oil, etc on cabon steel blades on pocketknives, does anyone know of anything else that can be used to keep knives of that type rustfree?

I happen to like pocketknives with carbon blades - they stay sharper longer, and are kind of old timey. I have all three sizes of the Scrade Old Timer Middleman stockman pocketknives that I routinely carry. In wet and humid weather the blades start to develop rust spots quickly. I keep a thin coat of oil on them but it wears off quickly. I also use some stuff called Blue Majic Liquid Metal Polish that cleans em pretty good and protects the blade some.

Anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks.


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Your survival knife is the knife you have on you when a survival situation arises.
 
Hi Rick,

After we did in-house testing with Marine Tuf-Cloth by Sentry Solutions, I became an instant fan.

We took an older Tigershark with a carbon steel blade (0-1), coating one side with a standard oil and the other side with Tuf-Cloth, then placed it in a salt water solution. The oiled side rusted big time, the Tuf-Cloth side was nearly rust free. Huge difference!

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Ron Andersen
Consumer Services Manager
SOG Specialty Knives & Tools, Inc.

Website: www.sogknives.com / Email: ron@sogknives.com

SOGLogo3.gif
The SOG Forum
 
Rick1955; look up just under and to the right of the 'Post Reply' button; there you will find the 'search' button. Perform a search for 'rust prevention', and you will find three threads within the past six weeks.

Even more threads on this subject can be found in the archives.

Happy searching, Walt
 
Walt2
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Rick1955:
Other than occasional use of oil, etc on cabon steel blades on pocketknives, does anyone know of anything else that can be used to keep knives of that type rustfree?

I happen to like pocketknives with carbon blades - they stay sharper longer, and are kind of old timey. I have all three sizes of the Scrade Old Timer Middleman stockman pocketknives that I routinely carry. In wet and humid weather the blades start to develop rust spots quickly. I keep a thin coat of oil on them but it wears off quickly. I also use some stuff called Blue Majic Liquid Metal Polish that cleans em pretty good and protects the blade some.

Anyone got any other ideas?

Thanks.


</font>
Click to expand...
If you are one of the unlucky ones like me who has a very high acid content in your body, good luck trying to keep a carbon knife from rusting, especially when in hot weather and you start sweating.I am 63 years old and this has been a problem all of my life regardless of what I use.

 
I will second Ron on the Marine STC. It does work, esp if you retreat with it often. The more you use it, the better it seems to work.

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Sentry Marine Tough Cloth - as you have heared, it doesn't get any better.

It makes chewing jerky easier if you rub it on your teeth, too.
biggrin.gif
(NOT endorced by Sentry)

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Chris Hatin

http://www.hatintec.com

"Are you ready for the defendant, Judge?"
"Yup. Bring the guilty bastard in."
 
I think the Tough Cloth is a great product as well. Nevertheless, one should understand that it is not possible to keep carbon steel knives completely corrosion free forever if one uses it. In time, they will get little black spots. Certainly the Tuf Cloth will delay the process.

I sometimes carry a 19th century original Russell Barlow whose blade has a nice black patina after all these years. I sort of chuckle thinking that the black blade is right in line with current fashion.
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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com
 
I haven't found anything that works under really hard use, but some things help. Tuff Cloth, and the more concentrated Marine Tuff Cloth are good. Renaissance Wax is almost as good. Many people prefer light oils and the one you choose depends on your use and toxicity or potential rancidity of the oil.
Whatever you use, consistent maintenance and care will be necessary.

[This message has been edited by HJK (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
If you are using the knife, oils and products like Tuf-Cloth do nothing for the contact areas as they are abraded completely off within a few minutes work. They are fine if you are storing your blades but otherwise they do not provide a functional level of corrosion resistance on any contact areas.

That being said, if you use the knife often enough you will abrade the rust off anyway. Knives tend to rust when they are put away after bing exposed to a corrosive enviroment. So your best bet is to get into the strict habit of cleaning them, flushing them off with water, drying and them applying a light coat of mineral oil or whatever you like.

Even with this though, as Fred noted it is very difficult to keep discolorations and spots off of carbon steel blades. Some rust that quickly that even a few minutes exposure to fruit acids will cause visible corrosion.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
Two coats of Renaissance Wax the first time around with periodic reapplication works good for me. I agree with the opinions that it is hard/impossible to protect carbon steel blades that get regular use: Thus the advent of stainless steels.
 
I took advantage of Russell's free trial offer of a bottle of their "Rust Free". I have no idea what is in it, as the chemicals that they use to formulate the somewhat thick liquid are not listed on the side of the little bottle. I'm trying a little experiment though. I put some on a polished "regular" carbon blade about a month ago. I'm still waiting. It seems to have made the blade a little "shinier", however there is no sign of rust or even those "little dark spots" as of yet. I'll let you know.

Will
 
A little Militec-1 does it for me.

Apply a drop and spread it around. Heat with a hairdryer for a few minutes and let it cool. Wash with HOT soapy water and watch the beads run off like a well waxed Ferrari.

Best part is absolutely NO oily film or hazy residue.

Bonus. Benchmade did a test in which Militec actually helped the blade maintain it's edge.

[This message has been edited by horizonod (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by horizonod:
A little Militec-1 does it for me.

Apply a drop and spread it around. Heat with a hairdryer for a few minutes and let it cool. Wash with HOT soapy water and watch the beads run off like a well waxed Ferrari.

Best part is absolutely NO oily film or hazy residue.
Bonus. Benchmade did a test in which Militec actually helped the blade maintain it's edge.

[This message has been edited by horizonod (edited 06-22-2001).]</font>
Click to expand...

How would this happen? All I can think is if the edge of a knife rusts, it gets weak and thus edge holding drops like a stone. Oh and I love MT-1!

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!

[This message has been edited by The General (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
I absolutly love my Schrade Old Timers because they take such a keen edge. since appearance isn't my primary goal, I use progressivly finer grits of wet/dry sandpaper to take the blades to a mirror finish. With a mirror fininsh, there isn't as much of a rough surface to give rust a chance to start.
The downside is maintaining the mirror finish
frown.gif

I went to NAPA and bought an assortment of 1 sheet of every grit they had, from 320 all the way to 1600 grit.
It helps a lot to stop the little rust spots that develop. Course, if you get a scratch in the finish it doesn't help that, but it does keep the blade from rusting in my pocket between use.

Aanother thing I did on one of my OT's was polish it, then stick the blade in a pile of raw hamburger and leave it overnight. It turned the blade black, but it doesn't rust that much anymore.

[This message has been edited by Hal (edited 06-23-2001).]
 
I'm curious about gun-blueing. (sp?) Is hot or cold blueing better? Does it really help in rust prevention or is it only for show?

Also, can it happen naturally? I ask this last point because I have an old pair of pliers (really old. Even my father isn't sure when he got it). It seems to have been in the family forever. It appears to have a blueing job done on it. The jaws are black, and at the ends of the handle, where the plastic has broken off and revealed the metal, it looks the same. The plastic stuff is really tough and sticks very well to the handle, but recently, a little more broke off revealing some fresh parts of the handle. These were a dull grayish colour, nothing like the jaws or the handle tips. So I thought it couldn't have been done in production. This "blueing" really seems to help in rust resistance. Although it still rusts sometimes (eg. if I leave it wet too long), spots will appear, but fewer and less likely than my new pliers (which are still mainly shiny).
 
Bluing definitely helps against the effects of corrosion. I have tried at least a half dozen brands over the years and the absolute best without a doubt is Brownell's Oxpho Blue. It is like a type of parkerizing but without the rough finish. Rub on a couple of coats with a small piece of steel 00 wool to smooth it out and even the color.

TIP: Pour out whatever you intend to use (small amount)of it into a film container which has been cut in half and throw out any left that you do not consume from the film container. Do not use right from the bottle or you will contaminate and spoil the rest.
Also, if you decide to try the Oxpho Blue get the jel instead of the liquid.

It really works well for me.

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Alex Penton

[This message has been edited by alex (edited 06-25-2001).]
 
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